The Answer's in the Outlet

Met a thoroughly engaging chap today at what’s evolved from an office stationers to become a £200m powerhouse.  He’d previously spent twelve years working for Coca-Cola in just about every sales role imaginable.  We got to discussing what was best-practice for reps to tap into and he gave a fascinating insight into what successful reps at Coke did if sales weren’t rolling in as healthily as they thought should be.

“The answer’s in the outlet” refers to realising you couldn’t do anything from endless phone calls or studying data on print-outs for hours on end.  You simply had to visit the store yourself and try and make sense of things.

And in most cases, the display wasn’t quite right, or not in the agreed, right, place, such as wrong gondola or what have you.

A cracking reminder that the only place you can ultimately make a difference sometimes is at the coal face.