4 Weeks From Concept to 1st Ship
The time I had 4 weeks to deliver a display program. 8,500 cases. Over $2M of incremental sales. An entirely new structure — nothing in our existing portfolio came close
Our VP of Sales had just returned from the Sweets & Snacks Expo. A key retail customer just had a CPG manufacturer drop out of their largest recurring summer promo. He’d promised this retail customer that we could deliver the required display program to fill the gap.
Helping retail customers out of tight spots was nothing new. What made this situation unique was having only 4 weeks until the first ship date.
Here's what made it possible.
The right production model. We had a strong turnkey supplier. The supplier's co-pack facility was set up within our most centralized DC, with its own loading dock. This significantly streamlined packaging and product delivery. Minimal bottlenecks unlock maximum speed.
The right team. I worked with a cross-functional group with a very high service orientation. Each team member knew what to do and got it done quickly — including coordinating product delivery from three separate factory locations.
The right supplier. Within an hour of getting the news, I was sitting with my supplier mapping out a plan. Their structure team started work that afternoon. We continued to meet at least once a day. When it came time to print the packaging, they made room in their production schedule. That's not a given — they did it because the relationship was already there.
The right account manager. We met daily, often multiple times. Reachable any time I called or emailed. He did a great job of managing and communicating with his customer. Customer-specific programs inherently require a high level of input from the retail customer. Availability in situations like these is mandatory when working at this speed.
Four weeks. First ship met. We successfully rescued our retail customer. $2M of incremental NPS captured.
The result of all this effort? They selected us for this summer promo for three more 3 years.
