What is the most cost-effective sales approach for premium spirits in on-trade versus off-trade channels?

Premium spirits require different sales strategies depending on channel maturity and brand stage. Early-stage brands often struggle to justify dedicated regional sales teams on ROI grounds, especially in on-trade where bar loyalty is weak and listings are short-lived.

**On-trade (bars/restaurants):** - **Direct founder-led sales** — Members emphasize that founders win more business than hired salespeople because buyers value founder relationships and product knowledge. Consider hiring ops/finance staff instead so you can spend more time selling yourself. - **Small geographic focus early** — Hit a small area hard, build relationships through repeat visits and personal drinks with bar staff. Hire someone passionate and charismatic rather than an expensive salary hire; listing conversions take time and national accounts demand heavy rebates and listing fees. - **Hybrid distributor + small in-house team** — Partner with a good niche distributor who has existing on-trade networks and represents several high-quality brands. Keep your own payroll small and focus on making your brand the distributor's best performer. This reduces upfront investment while leveraging their relationships.

**General considerations:** - **Regional teams struggle on 1-year ROI** — Members who've run regional and national teams note these rarely pay back in year one; they're longer-term investments and require feeding in larger national customers to make the economics work. - **Distributor vs. in-house trade-off** — Distributors reduce outlay and provide a "moment of truth" reality check on where your brand actually sits in the market (versus founder optimism). However, your brand becomes part of a portfolio and won't receive exclusive focus. - **Stage matters** — Early days demand geographic focus and relationship-building; scaling to national accounts requires commercial discipline, bigger salaries, and tolerance of expensive listing fees.

**Caution:** Members warned that even strong salespeople struggle to justify ROI when bar margin matters more than loyalty, and that hiring sales teams can expose your brand to harsh trade scrutiny—sometimes revealing the brand isn't at the level founders believe.