THE ROLE OF THE PRESIDENT

 by SAM BOYER

Everyone knows the role of a salesperson, delivery driver, and most other positions within a beer distributorship.  The president’s role is more complex.  The president’s role however varies little from distributor to distributor, regardless of size or market.  Overall, the president is responsible for maintaining a leadership position that directs all employees towards the achievement of the sales goals, expense control, inventory investment, and capital expenditures.

The president is responsible for determining the structure of the distributorship and staffing all positions.  He/she must require the established chain of command be followed at all times.  The president must select, train, and maintain a staff that is professional and effective.  He/she must supervise the implementation of programs to ensure equal opportunity for all employees regardless of race, sex, religion, origin, or disability.

The president must work with the managers to develop, implement, and enforce distributorship policies and procedures and on a regular basis formally evaluate the performance of employees.  Workplace safety must be part of the role of the president; what can be more important than the safety and well being of his/her employees?  The president must take a lead role with workplace safety.

Most distributorships are family owned and do not have a board of directors.  However, the president still has fiduciary duties.  He/she has a duty to protect all assets from loss and abuse; this includes real estate, equipment, computer data, inventory, cash, and receivables.  The president has a responsibility to ensure the interests of the entities that rely on the viability of the distributorship are protected.  These entities may include family members, suppliers, creditors, and employees.  This requires the president to be an excellent administrator.

This administration requires internal controls, systems, and reports are used properly.  It also includes maintaining adequate cash flow so the distributorship can internally finance the buildup of inventories and the purchase of capital equipment.  The president must direct the financial and banking affairs of the distributorship and work with the controller to establish and use a budget.

Additionally, the president (and the management team) must review and analyze financial reports on a monthly basis and take the necessary action to correct problems.  A significant part of this review must be to closely track payroll expense and take the steps necessary to stay within budget.  Payroll is the largest expense for any distributorship, control it, and the control of other expenses is significantly enhanced.  The ultimate role of the president is to achieve reasonable profitability.

The president must promote the sale of products through personal selling efforts and regular contacts with individual key accounts and buyers.  The president of a beer distributorship in today’s competitive environment must be out in the market.  He/she has to be the top salesperson.  In a beer distributorship, nothing happens until someone sells a case of product.

The president must review the results of the monthly and quarterly incentive programs and provide input into needed corrective action.  He/she must also evaluate and provide/solicit feedback on the results of the sales strategies.  With the senior sales managers, the president must review the sales performance of the accounts producing the top 20% of the on-premise and top 50% of the off-premise volume.  When necessary, corrective action must be ordered and taken.

Additionally, the president must meet with the senior sales managers to review the monthly and YTD sales of each brand and take corrective action when necessary.  He/she must also meet with the senior sales and inventory managers weekly to review on-hand levels, forecasts, and pending orders.  It is the role of the president to ensure the consumers are receiving the freshest product available.

The president must maintain a high profile with retail trade organizations, civic groups, suppliers, and government bodies to maintain and improve the business climate and relationships.  This includes maintaining regular contact with city, state, and federal agencies to ensure company policies and activities comply with regulations.  He/she must also represent the distributorship during community projects, public, social, and business gatherings.

The president has to be an effective communicator.  He/she has to be able to inform employees of developments within the business/industry that affect them and communicate pertinent information regarding pricing, advertising, supplier programs, and sales trends.  Moreover, the president must maintain an "open door" policy to allow the employees’ access when appropriate.

The role of the president of a beer distributorship is complex, demanding, and certainly not fully discussed here.  However, it can also be very rewarding, both financially and emotionally.  The opportunity to lead a group of individuals to the achievement of effort stretching goals is exhilarating.  The ability to control a complex operation and grow your company at a faster rate than your competitors is the maximum motivator.

Not every president can be expected to operate at a top level in all these roles.  However, every president should be aware of his/her strengths and weaknesses and have a senior management staff that complements them.  When this balance is in place, the management team presents a united and effective team to employees, suppliers, retailers, and most importantly to competitors.

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