Hey, this is Matt, Territory Sales Manager for NH & MA for Baxter Brewing! As a father to a toddler who will be turning 3 this July and also welcoming a newborn later that month, I am honored to be dropping the Father’s Day blog for you all! I am still early on in my parenting career but am entering my 8th year in beer sales. While I am much more seasoned in my profession, I’m finding the parallels between working in beer sales and being a parent aren’t far off.
Balance
Both beer sales and parenting require a delicate balance. In beer sales, you are constantly maintaining your key accounts while pursuing new ones, visiting restaurants, bars and package stores or working events in the trade, keeping up with admin and market trends, all while trying to meet sales targets. As a parent, I soon will be balancing my time between a toddler and a newborn; making sure my toddler doesn’t feel neglected, while also making sure the newborn is getting what they need. Spending quality time with them while balancing household duties, appointments, work, and being a good husband. All of these roles require the ability to prioritize and multitask effectively to guarantee any chance of success!
Patience and Persistence
Success in the beer sales industry isn’t instantaneous, often taking years to establish yourself amongst the masses to stand out to your wholesaler and account partners. Whether it’s that rep that won’t hit the send button or the account you’ve been to half a dozen times with nothing to show for, maintaining patience and persistence to win them over is the best recipe for success. Being a parent is no different; between things like trying new foods, potty training, or correcting bad behavior, showing patience and persistence will only strengthen my relationship with my children and create the desired outcome in time.
Creative Problem Solving
In beer sales, you deal with such a variety of characters and situations daily. Your dream high volume accounts that you have great relationships in and don’t require a ton of maintenance and sometimes quite the opposite, challenging buyers that price the product incorrectly, demand swag and samplings all for a couple cases of your product. Oftentimes requiring you to come up with creative solutions to cater to an account needs while also spending your time wisely. As a parent, I am constantly having to negotiate things like taking one more bite of dinner, putting on a jacket, or getting and staying in bed. There is no cookie cutter approach to parenting or sales, what works for one buyer or child might not for another, requiring creative solutions catered to the individual.
Celebrating Wins
The beer industry is all about small victories! From running a successful promo to landing new distribution, there is often plenty to celebrate and share a pint over. You have your larger milestones as a parent, such as a child’s first steps, first tooth or first time using the potty by themselves. Other times, getting a full night’s sleep, a day without any meltdowns or sharing a toy nicely is worth celebrating as well!
Seeing Growth
One of the most rewarding aspects in the beer industry is seeing the growth of your brand. Especially when you can admire that growth, knowing you were the driving force behind it! It goes without saying, seeing your child grow from a helpless little nugget into a confident, capable individual is all a parent could ask for. Seeing them do something in the exact fashion you showed them and that leading to their happiness and success is the best feeling.
In closing, they often say nothing can prepare you for being a parent. While that often feels true, in life, you are constantly experiencing and learning skills that you would never think are interchangeable. So far, I’ve found that maintaining a good balance, expressing patience, being creative, celebrating wins, and admiring growth are not only the makings of a great beer sales professional, but that of a great father as well. Cheers to all the hard-working dads out there, and we hope you have a happy Father’s Day with a cold Baxter beer in hand!
Cheers,
Matt, NH/MA Territory Sales Manager