What is CBD? Cannabidiol, Better Known as CBD, is a Popular Natural Remedy: “A Sales Presentation” Assignment

Introduction

What is CBD?“Cannabidiol, better known as CBD, is a popular natural remedy used for many common ailments. It is one of over one hundred chemical compounds known as cannabinoids found in the cannabis or marijuana plant”(Kubala, 2018).

The Irish nation is more health-conscious than previous generations and supplementation is growing increasingly more popular year on year. Cod Liver Oil, Calcium and iron are among the top sellers of Vitamins, minerals and supplements in Ireland. With that said, according to (Mintel Academic, 2019) cod liver oil products could see a greater level of competition from CBD products. Since CBD claimed to be effective in the treatment of joint pain. 68% of the Republic of Ireland consumers claimed that they would be willing to find out if CBD based products could help them with their health issues.

Analysis of the main competitor

CB1 Botanicals are an Irish company that produces CBD oil. It is one of two companies in Ireland that are compliant with FSAI (Food Safety Authority) rules. The rules state that only cold-pressed CBD oils can be sold in the Irish Market. However, most CBD products on the shelf, are CO2 extracted. These are classed as novel food; therefore, require authorisation from the European Union to be sold (Fsai.ie, n.d.). Although this rule has not been enforced, when it is; currently only CB1 Botanicals and Celtic Wind will be allowed to stay on shelves.

CB1 Botanicals maintains best practices that promote environmentally friendly growth. The company also removed 265 tonnes of carbon from the environment in 2019. The company have full control of their supply chain and all their work from seed to bottle is heavily monitored and regulated(Cb1botanicals.com, 2020).

CB1 Botanicals have a range of three products. All 30ml bottles, each with a different dosage of CBD, 300mg, 500mg and 1500mg. Each strength comes in an original or peppermint flavour.

As a result of its processes, the company is certified organic. This is one USP that they have over Celtic Wind.

Analysis of our product

Celtic Wind is an Irish-Owned company that was set up in 2012 “to capitalise on the growing demand for ancient crops and grains – and create a sustainable future for people and the planet with hemp” (Celtic Wind, 2020).

Like CB1 Botanicals, the company also have full control of their supply chain. Celtic Wind has a full range of CBD Oils, Capsules, Powders, Petcare and skincare. While some stores may only sell their oil, they also have access to their extensive portfolio to diversify the store’s product offering.

Celtic Wind is the only CBD oil that is currently on the shelf in Boots and Lloyd’s Pharmacies across Ireland. The CBD market has plenty of competition; However, Celtic Wind is the current market leader due to its vast distribution in Ireland.

Celtic Wind’s USP’S:

• Current market leader in Ireland.
• Compliant with the FSAI – Licensed to sell.
• Extensive portfolio.
• Scalable Distribution – Can fulfil any size orders.
• Fully traceable from seed to sale
• Customer Service Support – Fully dedicated in house team

The objective for the sales presentation

The objective of the sales presentation is to underline the business benefits that Superdrug Pharmacy could avail of should they agree to an initial order proposal of our product. This will be a dynamic presentation covering a business projection along with a playbook covering multiple items, such as:

• Understanding the industry.
• Market trends.
• Understanding the potential buyer and its interaction with Superdrug Pharmacy.
• Understanding the potential buyer’s needs.
• Presenting the value proposition of CBD Multi- Complex products.

As R. Peter (2019) states, B2B salespeople must understand their customers’ value to develop an appropriate bundle of benefits that will allow them to win their customer’s business on a repeatable and sustainable basis”. Therefore, the main goal of this sales pitch is to cover all the above stated and to build awareness of our CBD Multi- Complex products. We want to provide all the information about this product and its benefits.

The retreat objective of this presentation intends to impact the buying centre, the decision-making people tasked with the responsibility of analysing if this new line of products will have a positive impact on new business growth, and the return of investment usually projected through a forecast. According to McWilliams et al. (1992), there are as many as ten people that can be involved in the purchasing decision when it comes to acquiring a new product. Providing this information in the sales presentation will picture a possible forecast already, therefore gaining advantage and opening the ground for further meetings to successfully close a sale.

List of questions

Asking revenue-based or cost-based penetrating questions to the decision-making people can help identify multiple everyday needs which can be used by the salesperson to build up a bundle of benefits sufficiently robust to win the business.

 1. Profitability questions:

What do your buyers appreciate the most and the least about your products?

Are your successful sales against competitors based on brand, price, quality? Which are the most important?

2. Costs related questions:

How do you keep your competitive advantage in the market?

How important is the cost of rapid order fulfilment?

Do you operate globally?

On a scale from one to ten, how important is the provenance of your shelf products (locally sourced, etc.?)

Do you compare cost and quality?

3. Business-related questions:

How many competitors do you have?

What type of threats do you see for your organisation?

What is the company policy regarding bio and locally sourced products?

Four questions

1. How does your organization handle online negative product reviews?

• We have a dedicated social media team which answers all reviews and makes sure to follow up individually with all buyers to ensure satisfaction.

2. The BBC report on your Celtic Wind CBD Multi-Complex Hemp Oil Concentrate, displayed on the bottle to contain 500 milligrams of CBD. Their test results for the tested sample showed barely detectable amounts – 0.00075%. How do you tackle this critical information which argues the product’s ingredients?

• Our products are fully traceable from seed to sale. We have multiple lap reports that we can share with you regarding our oils. On the BBC show, all the oils were tested the same way. However, not all the oil was the same, and ours is the exception. Celtic Wind is cold-pressed and not C02 extracted, therefore it cannot be tested the same way.

3. If you were temporarily unable to deliver the required quantity of product we order, could you be able to find an alternative product to satisfy this need? If so, how long would it take to incorporate the substitute product into the production process?

• We’re leading the way in the hemp industry, constantly innovating with new ideas and technologies so we can share the power of hemp with the world, and we have 200% extra stock to ensure potential increased orders. Until present, we have never failed to honour an order.

4. Why should I choose you over the competitors which are giving me a better price?

• If you want the best quality products for your customers, you should choose us. Our oil has all the nutritional properties if 100% hemp Oil.  It means you obtain the abundance of naturally occurring cannabinoids and over 150 different compounds, including Omegas 6 and 9, terpenes and flavonoids.

Three Objections

Objections are a natural thing to have when conducting a business transaction.

• “The pricing is quite high – I can source a similar product for much cheaper from a different brand.”
• Indeed, you may be able to source another similar product; however, our product is the only one of its kind in Ireland to be extracted in our way. Our product is cold-pressed extracted, meaning the result is much purer, with no added solvents, it is chlorophyll free and has minimal risk of contaminants, unlike other extraction methods. Essentially, you are getting a much better concentration of CBD in our product than others.
• “I’m unsure whether or not the timing is correct for me to introduce these products to our customers – we retain a lot of loyal customers who have shown that this sort of stuff is not something that they would buy. It would be a risk for me to stock your products.”
• On the contrary, the timing could not be more perfect. CBD products – not only the oils, have been increasing in popularity at an alarming rate in the past couple of years. While it may still be a niche product, the demand is indeed growing with several top drugstore retailers and pharmacies claiming high-profit margins. Putting our products on your shelf will also open your stores up to a new demographic of a customer – ones that are loyal to CBD and its benefits. Creating ease of access with our products will ensure that customers regularly visit to keep themselves stocked.
• “It’s still quite a risky product to stock here – I’m not sure I want to be locked into a long-term contract if it doesn’t work out and ends up costing us more money.”
• We would be happy to work with you and address your concerns in more detail, and the option of a month-to-month contract or a quarterly sales review contract is also on the table. That way, you can keep track of how the sales are doing, and whether it’s having an impact on your stores month to month, if you don’t like the results, you can pull the product at the end of the month.

Two concessions

We will be willing to work with you throughout the negotiation to agree on terms that work best for both parties.

• If you agree to sign a contract with us for one year, we will reduce our price by 5% and supply you with all the marketing materials you will need free of charge. We will send in representatives to stock the shelves and present the product to customers. We will also offer a full training package for select staff members which will include a pack containing full-sized products of our full range.
• If you agree to sign a two-year contract with us, give us a gold standard location on your shelves. Purchase a minimum of one hundred and fifty units of each product each month; we will reduce our pricing by 5%. We will also reduce our commission on sales by 3%. To add, we will provide full training for staff and a comprehensive marketing campaign. During this above the line marketing campaign and will also add your business logo to our target audience.

Two Negotiating Tactics

Two negotiation techniques that could be used are “the well is dry” and “divide and conquer”. If the “well is dry” tactic is used, the negotiator illustrates that there is no scope for further negotiation and thus the deal would either go ahead or not at all. This tactic is considered a dangerous one, as the other party present in the conversation might end up with a halt. The Members in the organisation will have a completely different set of motivations with the inclusion of desires that stays in good terms. Individuals need to remain on good terms and understand the behavioural languages followed by this; an assessment can be tested (Fleming and Hawes, 2016). When the individual takes their eyes off the substantive ball then teams can gain control of the proceedings. Thus, when one of the team disagrees, then the other team can take the side of the winning points against the internal opponents.

The second negotiation tactic is used to divide and conquer, which is considered as the most common negotiation tactic that is used in industrial selling. This is because many people are

involved in the process of buying. The salesperson approaches each of the individuals in turn and gets agreement for moving ahead provided that the other should agree to it. Thus, there is no one left to create a veto situation for dealing. It is quite common that the negotiating team members would have different viewpoints wherein some of the points would be hard-line while the rest will be moderate (Nielson and Border, 2016). Divide and conquer is one such tactic which is when explained to the customers, met heard is “yes, that is what exactly should be done”. This tactic is brilliant; however, traditional sales tactics that are mostly used by the sales force over the years. The higher the client organisation is, the better this tactic becomes for the sales force.

Closing Technique

The closing technique that will be used to accomplish the sales target is soft close. The soft close refers to the Way in which the prospects are shown with the benefits of the products. The potential customers are then asked a low impact question that would open the Way for learning more. For example: If the maintenance of the widget gets reduced by 25% and the productivity of the widget gets increased by 15%, then will they be interested in learning more about it? The salesperson, in this case, has clearly illustrated the benefits without making any significant demands (Adamashvili and Fiore, 2017). If the previous example is too direct, then the salesperson can also ask the same in a different tone For instance: If the maintenance of the widget is reduced by 25% and productivity is improved by 15%, then will it be in alignment to the goals of the company? The Way of asking this kind of question eliminates the requirement of commitment.

Follow-up

We will follow up with you regularly throughout the tenure. We will send out a representative each quarter to assess how the product is doing and to provide top-up training for existing staff and even some more in-depth training for any new staff you may have hired. We are aware that certain times of the year will be hectic, like Christmas, but due to the nature of our product, we know that exam periods can also be a busy period. We will contact you to discuss your sales leading up to these busy periods and discuss whether you will need extra stock allocated to you during these times. This allocation will all be at no additional charge to you, as we will advance the following months stock order.

We know that as a business with a high volume of customers on a day to day basis, it is not feasible for us to contact you week-in-week-out. Our support team are on hand whenever you need them, and they are highly capable of working out any issues that may arise.

In the first four months, we will call you to check-in and see how the product is doing and see if it has had any impact on your sales within the store. As we have got some new products in our forecast, we will send you regular updates on the progress of these products, and should you wish to incorporate them into your stock, we will send out a sales rep to discuss further.

This, of course, is all done with your permission, should you choose to opt-out – we will contact you a few weeks after the products have gone live on your shelves and any further contact will be on an as-needed basis.