1
"The broker owns the strategy."
The broker can help execute and sharpen the plan. The brand must still own the shopper, category, retailer, product, and growth strategy.
C13 • Broker Effectiveness Mini-Course
Your broker may not be failing you.
You may be managing a shared sales force as though it were dedicated to your brand.
Get clearer expectations, stronger accountability, and more reliable retail execution from the broker relationship you are already paying for.
One broker
One retailer
One clearer plan
Choose Your Best Starting Point
Start with Broker Effectiveness for $97 or choose the complete 11-course Retail Operating System™ for $597 on the next page.
The gap between the plan and the shelf
The retailer approved the promotion. The shelf was empty.
The strategy can look right on paper and still lose value in execution. The report may eventually show weak sales. It may not tell you whether the shopper ever had a fair chance to respond.
The display never got builtThe plan was approved. The store reality was different.
Inventory was not on shelfProduct may exist in the system and still be unavailable to the shopper.
Placement changedThe item may be harder to find or surrounded by the wrong comparison set.
The retailer or competitor changed the conditionsA good plan can become stale before the recap arrives.
Why the broker matters
Your broker is often closer to the moment the plan meets reality.
They should not own your strategy. But they can help you see field conditions sooner, bring back useful evidence, and protect the plan from execution surprises while there is still time to act.
That is the capability this course helps you build.
The expensive misunderstanding
Hiring a broker is not the same as building a dedicated sales team.
A broker may represent many brands, manage hundreds of items, support several retailers, and work within systems designed to create consistency across the portfolio.
Do not hand the keys of your brand to anyone. Your broker can create reach and leverage. The brand must still own the route, priorities, tools, standards, and definition of success.
Watch the course preview
Stop waiting for the relationship to improve on its own.
Learn why good brokers drift when the operating expectations are unclear—and how to create a simple rhythm that helps both sides succeed.
The three beliefs that keep brands stuck
Better broker performance begins before the next status meeting.
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"I need to manage every activity."
You do not need another full-time job. You need a clear decision, an owner, expected evidence, and a predictable review rhythm.
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"A new broker will fix it."
Sometimes the fit is wrong. But changing partners without changing the operating model often recreates the same frustration with a different company.
Already used the free Broker Advantage resources?
You have identified the gap. Now build the working rhythm behind it.
The 5-Minute Broker Advantage Check™ helps you capture what is changing in the field. The Broker Advantage Playbook™ helps you create a clearer assignment. C13 goes deeper into the repeatable system behind communication, evidence, accountability, meetings, scorecards, retailer feedback, and follow-through.
What you will learn
Lead the relationship without micromanaging it.
- Define the broker's role and the brand's role
- Clarify what success looks like
- Focus activity on the priorities that matter
- Set practical KPIs for distribution, pricing, promotion, and placement
- Use a simple scorecard to make progress visible
- Create clearer retailer-ready direction
- Build a consistent follow-up rhythm
- Decide whether the issue is clarity, execution, capability, or fit
The quick win
Apply the course to one real relationship first.
Do not begin by trying to repair every account, region, and broker team at once. Start with one broker, one retailer, and one priority where better clarity can change the result.
Your first Broker Clarity Review
1. Name the priority
2. Define the expected action
3. Identify the evidence due
4. Decide the next move
What you can put to work
Three practical tools turn the lessons into a working habit.
The course is not designed to give you more broker theory. Use these tools to make one live relationship clearer.
Broker Clarity Starter Scorecard
Track the broker or rep, retailer, current priority, expected action, evidence due, due date, result, and next action.
4-Question Broker Clarity Review
Turn a status update into a decision meeting: priority, what happened, evidence, and the next action with an owner.
30-Day Broker Action Plan
Define one retailer priority, equip the broker, review field evidence, then decide what to repeat, revise, escalate, or stop.
How I learned it—and earned it
I have worked on both sides of the broker relationship.
I did not choose broker effectiveness as a specialty. The industry kept handing me the problem. I was asked to manage broker performance and build tools around it at Unilever, did similar work at Kimberly-Clark, and later worked from inside a broker environment while supporting SPINS customers and reporting tools.
When I began writing about what I was learning, the questions kept coming. That work helped lead to hundreds of published industry articles, speaking and keynote opportunities, and brands bringing me in to train senior leadership teams on broker and trade effectiveness.
The lesson was never that brokers are bad. The lesson is that a shared sales force can create enormous leverage when the brand supplies clear priorities, useful tools, shopper and retailer context, evidence, and accountability.
What changes
Stop managing personalities. Start managing outcomes.
Before
- Updates feel vague
- Priorities shift constantly
- Retail execution is inconsistent
- No one agrees on what "good" looks like
- The founder keeps stepping back in
After
- Expectations are visible
- The broker knows where to focus
- Evidence supports the conversation
- Follow-up produces a decision
- The relationship becomes easier to lead
Your instructor
Daniel Lohman, CPSA
I have worked across store operations, field sales, broker management, category management, mainstream CPG, natural and better-for-you CPG, syndicated data, trade, retail execution, and founder leadership.
I also know what it feels like to be the founder depending on outside partners to represent the brand well. This course is designed to give you a practical first step—not another theory-heavy project.
Frequently asked questions
Still deciding?
Is this course anti-broker?
No. The goal is to help good brokers succeed and help the brand become a better partner. Clear expectations, useful tools, focused priorities, and accountability improve the relationship for both sides.
What if my broker really is the wrong fit?
The course helps you separate a clarity problem from an execution, capability, or fit problem. That gives you better evidence before you renew, restructure, or replace the relationship.
Do I need sophisticated data or a new platform?
No. Begin with the broker updates, sales reports, retailer priorities, and information you already have. The goal is a clearer management rhythm, not another software purchase.
Who is this for?
CPG founders, CEOs, sales leaders, and brand teams that use a broker or outside sales partner and want clearer progress, stronger execution, and fewer recurring surprises.
How quickly can I use it?
Apply the framework to one broker, one retailer, and one priority as soon as you complete the course. The first goal is not a company-wide transformation. It is one clearer plan and one better conversation.
I already downloaded the free Broker Advantage resources. What does C13 add?
The free Check helps you capture field reality. The Playbook helps you create a clearer assignment. C13 helps you build the repeatable management rhythm behind the relationship: expectations, evidence, scorecards, meetings, accountability, retailer feedback, follow-through, and the ability to separate a clarity problem from an execution, capability, or fit problem.
What is the guarantee?
You have 14 days to review the course. If it does not give you practical ideas you can use in your broker relationship, email Retail Solved and your purchase will be refunded.
One relationship can become the proof
Get more value from the broker you already have.
Start with one broker. Clarify one priority. Build one operating rhythm your team can repeat.
Instant access • $97 focused-course option • Complete-system option on the next page • 14-day money-back guarantee
