Post by Michael Lambiase

Adam Kroener built Carbliss - THE PREMIUM Ready to Drink Cocktail in Wisconsin. He called it a hokey little brand from the Midwest. He walked into a Georgia store and ran into a rep from a large national brand. The rep said: I know. That's why my day is no longer good. I have tried yours. That's not a sales story. That's a product story. Carbliss is up 19% in dollar sales this year. Sitting in the top 50 spirits-based RTD brands in the country. From Wisconsin. Without a celebrity. Without a national distributor relationship at the start. Without a $50 million launch budget. What Kroener built was a brand that a competitor's rep in a market he wasn't supposed to be in had already tried. That's distribution equity. That's word of mouth inside the trade. That's the thing you can't buy. The #RTD category is crowded. Carbliss is finding space anyway. The lesson: your most powerful sales tool is a rep from another company telling their customer they've already tried yours. #TheFounderFile #Carbliss #BevAlc #RTD #Founders #SalesLife