Get Proven Strategies To Grow Sales And Profits

Category Review Strategies to Grow Sales & Profits

Why category reviews feel risky – even when your brand is “doing fine”

For many founders, category reviews trigger a familiar feeling:

Anxiety
Scrambling
Defensiveness
Fear of losing space

Even brands with solid sales often feel exposed.

Here's why:

Most brands walk into category reviews prepared to defend themselves – not prepared to guide the outcome.

And when you're reacting instead of leading, decisions happen to you, not with you.

That's expensive.

How to turn category reviews from a threat into one of your greatest growth opportunities

How retailers actually use category reviews – and how this course changes your role

Retailers don't run category reviews to evaluate brands.

They run category reviews to:

simplify decisions
reduce risk
improve performance
grow profit

Most brands misunderstand this completely.

They show up with:

brand-centric stories
defensive arguments
isolated performance slides
emotional attachment to SKUs

Retailers are looking for something else entirely.

They want:

insight
clarity
direction
confidence

This course shows you how to shift from brand logic to retailer logic – and how to use category reviews to your advantage.

In this mini-course, you'll learn how to:

Understand the real purpose of a category review
Prepare for reviews proactively – not reactively
Position your brand as a category solution, not a risk
Identify which SKUs to defend, grow, or let go
Align recommendations with retailer objectives
Grow both sales and profitability through smarter decisions

This isn't about “winning” a meeting.

It's about shaping decisions before they're finalized.

What changes when you approach category reviews strategically

Before:

You react to retailer direction
Space feels fragile
Decisions feel subjective
Profitability gets squeezed

After:

You help define the narrative
Tradeoffs make sense
Space decisions feel logical
Growth is intentional

Category reviews stop feeling like audits.
They become opportunities.

What this course gives you – and why it pays for itself quickly

Category Review Strategies to Grow Sales & Profits is a focused mini-course designed to help brands show up prepared, credible, and confident.

You'll walk away with:

A clear framework for category review preparation
An understanding of how retailers evaluate categories
Tools to make smarter, profit-driven recommendations
Language that earns trust and reduces friction

Apply this to:

one category review
with one retailer

and the impact on space, assortment, and profitability often pays for the course immediately.

Then repeat it:

across retailers
across categories
across review cycles

That's how leverage compounds.

This course is for you if:

Category reviews feel stressful or unpredictable
You want more influence in space decisions
You're tired of defending every SKU
You want growth that improves profitability – not erodes it

Ready to turn category reviews into a strategic advantage?

Stop reacting.
Start guiding the outcome.

Enroll in Category Review Strategies to Grow Sales & Profits

One review.
One clear narrative.
Better decisions – for everyone.

LEARN PROVEN STRATEGIES

Confidently Grow And Scale Your Brand

Maximizing Your Promotion ROI means More Runway For Sales Growth, Higher Brand Valuations, Better Terms When Negotiating With Investors, Fuel For More Innovation, Greater Support For Mission-Based Causes, …

JUST IMAGINE IF YOU COULD....

Quickly level-up your skills without struggling to figure out how to navigate the advanced strategies big brands rely-on.

Get an ”equal seat” at the table with key retailers where the decisions that impact your brand are made.

Level the playing field between you and your most sophisticated competitor.

Remove the overwhelm and anxiety (feel excited and confident) about finally moving your brand in the right direction with the tools and resources you need to succeed and thrive.

Gain a sustainable competitive edge by instantly capitalizing on advanced strategies your competitors overlook or ignore.

Have a concrete action plan and clear roadmap to reach your longterm goals and objectives

Confidently know how to surround yourself with the best and most talented experts to explode sales and stop wasting valuable time and money

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Still have questions? We’ve got answers…

When does the course start and finish?

All of my courses are self paced. The course starts now and never ends! You decide when you start and when you finish.

How long is the course?

While it’s best to go through all modules in order, you can complete it in one day. To get the most from the course, it’s advisable that your team also go through the course to achieve maximum benefit. Each module has one easy to digest strategy that you can instantly adopt and make your own – one that you can use to grow sustainable sales and compete more effectively. Remember that the goal is to get your product onto more retailer’s shelves and into the hands of more shoppers.

What if I am unhappy with the course?

We would never want you to be unhappy! If you are unsatisfied with your purchase, contact us in the first 30 days and we will give you a full refund.

Where can I receive help and support?

Leave comments and questions under each lesson. I will get notified. Here is where you can ask questions, engage with our community, and share resources.

Also, leverage my website. Is dedicated to be a resource to help you profitably grow and scale your brand. It contains all of podcast episodes where I interview the top CEO’s and industry experts that candidly share their insights and expertise, a Free Trade Promotion ROI Calculator, YouTube videos including the replays of the free webinar series I launched to help brands impacted by covid, tips of the week, and much more.

Where can I find other courses like this?

Building a brand in retail is challenging. Wouldn’t it be great if you just had an easy to follow roadmap?

In response to your feedback and requests for training on specific pain points, I am releasing a series of courses addressing one key topic at a time to guide you, and help you avoid the pitfalls. Go to RetailSolved.com/BrandSchool to learn more about and enroll in these online courses specifically designed to solve your most pressing challenges and questions, help grow sales and save you valuable time and money, It’s your roadmap to success. I will be adding additional content based on your feedback – to help give your brand the edge it deserves. So, keep checking back!

Where can I find other free resources?

My website is dedicated to helping you grow and scale your brand. It’s chocked full of brand-building guides, tips and advice from myself and the leading thought leaders in our industry on the Brand Secrets and Strategies Retail Solved podcast and YouTube channel. Start with the 30 Days To Prosperity Challenge. No matter where you are in your business, it will help you shore up your foundation and give you the edge you deserve. Go to RetailSolved.com/30DayChallenge to get started. Trade marketing is an area that every brand struggles with. Learn ways to cut excessive costs and gain a significant competitive edge by maximizing your trade marketing ROI. There’s even a free Trade Marketing ROI Calculator on my website: RetailSolved.com/PromotionROI.

How can I get the best results?

Like everything in life, your commitment and dedication to mastering these strategies can set you apart from other brands and give you a sustainable competitive edge. Don’t just watch the videos and expect to become an expert. Applying what you learn in real life situations is where you begin to master these concepts. Bake them into your brands DNA and make them your own. Superstars will take these courses in lockstep with your entire team. Discuss and share what you have learned. Then, brainstorm creative ways to adopt and implement your new strategies to give your brand the edge it deserves.

Is this for beginners or experienced brands?

Every business needs a solid foundation to succeed. Sadly, most brands overlook key aspects of building and maintaining that solid foundation – even big brands. This is where cracks can settle in that can derail your business and even cause your foundation to crumble.

Conversely, maintaining a strong healthy foundation will free you up to focus on what matters most – converting occasional customers into loyal shoppers!

This, along with my other courses, start with the basics and then build to give you solid foundation you need to reach the skyline.

These courses are for both new brands and well established brands. They contain the best strategies I’ve used to push around some of the biggest, most iconic, brands on the planet. They’ve worked for my clients and they can work for you.

TESTIMONIALS

Student And Industry Expert Feedback

This course, and all of my content, teach the very best and most impactful strategies used by successful brands today. Here what students and industry experts are saying.

Laura Katleman

Founder BHU Foods

“Dan, Thank you for giving me hope again. I believe that our brand and the mission behind it is important. I know that we provide a unique solution to consumers who really need us because they write to us and tell us so. Listening to your courses over the past two days gives me hope that we can stay on shelf and compete with the big boys even though we are bootstrapped. Before I met you I was growing weary and questioning whether we could survive. Thank you for sharing your incredible guidance with brands like mine so we can help people lead healthier and happier lives. It is an incredible service to humanity.”

Debra St. Claire

CEO, Claire's Organics, Inc.

“Dan, I have to applaud you again, as you are consistently providing the most relevant content that I am seeing in the natural foods industry. Your topics are spot-on, and you feel like some sort of guardian angel that speaks up just at the right time, just as I am starting to formulate the question!”

Scott Jensen

CEO, Rhythm Superfood & Stubbs Legendary BBQ Sauce

“Listening to a half a dozen of your podcasts with the breadth of them being as many as they are, you can listen to half of those and get an MBA in entrepreneurship”

Seth Goldman

Honest Tea, and Beyond Meat

“Scaling mission-based brands takes a specific playbook. Brand Secrets And Strategies podcast shed light on getting to shelf … it’s working for HonestTea and BeyondMeat”

Phil Lempert

CEO Consumer Insight, The Lempert Report, SupermarketGuru

“Dan and I talk about what retailers and shoppers really want, how to get your brand on the shelf, market changes, insights, trends, small brands and the future of the CPG industry!” “Always a great time and discussion with Dan!!!! One of the smartest most intuitive natural food leaders in the industry – thanks for having me on!”

Michael J. O’Donnell

The Belmullet Food and Beverage Group, LLC

“Daniel is the foremost expert in brand building in today’s marketplace. Daniel’s common sense approach to helping all companies from small to large become successful in a sound process. Daniel provides passion and intelligence to ensure your success in every retail format. Daniel provides sound strategies to guide your brand for increasing, profitable sales. I’ve been a follower of Daniel’s for years, I feel his process makes sense in today’s competitive business environment.”

Gordon Wade

Industry Thought Leader And An Original Category Management Creator

“I was one of the three people who created the discipline of Category Management in the early 1990s and subsequently upgraded it to CatMan 2.0 in 2017. During my long association with the category management community, no one has been a more consistent, creative or committed contributor to the discipline than Dan Lohman. His work especially with the natural, organic and heathier foods community has been nothing short of inspirational because he has adapted the principles of category management and its collaborative ethic to a community which does not have all of the data advantages that large conventional manufacturers and retailers have. Dan's lifelong focus on helping companies in this increasingly important and growing segment benefit from the concept of category management has helped more companies succeed than even he realizes”

Doug Brown

CEO Sales Strategies, Former President, Tony Robbins & Chet Holmes Company

“Dan provides his community proven strategies to help them get their products onto more store shelves and into the hands of more shoppers. This is possible by developing a more intimate bond with your ideal customer, much the same as you you would a close friend. Personalization is at the heart of this strategy in a world where most brands talk AT their customers, never really getting to know them. The ability to leverage the unique shopper insights of your ideal customer with your retail partners is how you can gain a sustainable and substantial competitive advantage. It’s selling 101 at the macro level.”

Bill Bishop

Chief Architect, Brick Meets Click, & Williard Bishop Consulting

“Awesome to see BMC Black Belt Dan Lohman in such a great conversation about the importance of remaining relevant at retail and with shoppers. Dan is the go to resource for natural brands – a tremendous resource for entrepreneurial brands.”

Andrew Therrien

Vice President of Business Development at Samplers, Inc

“Dan has a wealth of knowledge and is so generous with his time and passion for the industry! I would not be where I am today without the help and guidance from people like Dan Lohman”

Category Review Strategies to Grow Sales & Profits

Why category reviews feel risky – even when your brand is “doing fine”

Click below and get started today

About Retail Solved

You don’t need more advice.

You need someone who actually gets it.

If you’re building an emerging CPG brand, you’re carrying a unique kind of pressure:

Pressure to grow faster
Pressure to “look big” before you feel ready
Pressure to fund trade, brokers, promos, and slotting—while protecting your margin
Pressure to meet retailer expectations you were never taught to navigate

And the worst part?

Most of the “help” in this industry is generic. Cookie-cutter tactics. Surface-level tips. Loud opinions from people who have never carried payroll, stared down a retailer reset, or felt that moment where your runway suddenly looks shorter than you planned.

That confusion is expensive.

Retail Solved exists so you don’t have to learn the hard way.

What Retail Solved stands for

Retail Solved is built for entrepreneurial CPG brands who want an equal seat at the retailer’s table—and the strategic leverage to compete head-to-head with the most sophisticated brands in the industry.

Not by spending more.
By thinking better.

We help you:

Turn retail relationships into revenue
Build a multi-channel strategy that future-proofs your brand
Maximize your trade marketing ROI
Improve broker performance and accountability
Convert occasional shoppers into loyal evangelists

In short: extend your runway while you grow sales.

That’s the unfair competitive advantage your brand deserves.

Why you can trust this approach

I’m Dan Lohman, founder of Retail Solved and host of the Bulletproof Your CPG Brand podcast.

Here’s the truth: I don’t fit nicely into any predefined box in this industry—and that’s intentional.

I’ve worked across channels, with all types of retailers, and I’ve seen what’s broken at every level—from early-stage brands to the largest players. I’ve also sat on the founder side of the table, where the consequences are real and the decisions are personal. I've even been a retailer including Grocery Manager and Store Manager.

That combination gives me a very specific lens:

I listen first.
I diagnose the real problem—not just the symptom.
Then we build a strategy that works in the real world.

Because your brand doesn’t need more noise.
It needs clarity and leverage.

How Retail Solved is different

Retail Solved exists because most emerging CPG brands are being taught to rely on cookie-cutter tactics—when what they actually need is creative strategy that creates a unique competitive edge.

I’ve built my reputation by coming up with solutions other people aren’t even looking for.

Think of it like this: most people skate to where the puck is.
I help you skate to where it’s going—long before the play starts.

That’s what creates separation in retail.

And I don’t show up like a “consultant.” I’ve never liked that term.

I partner with the brands I work with—more like a co-founder who has a stake in the outcome. I’m in your corner, telling you the truth (even when it’s uncomfortable), and staying close enough to help you execute.

Because strategy without execution is just a nice idea.

This is bigger than growth

Many of the brands I serve are doing real good on our behalf—cleaner ingredients, healthier communities, better business practices, and missions that actually matter.

If Retail Solved succeeds beyond my financial goals, it means we’re making a transformational impact—doing real good, and creating lasting change for the brands we help.

That mission is personal to me.

Earnings Disclaimer: similar to everything else in life, there are no guarantees that your results will achieve or equal those using the techniques or ideals in these materials. Every effort has been made to accurately represent our programs and the educational value they provide. Additional information is provided on the link.