Winning a retail meeting is only the start. What turns a conversation into a purchase order is the story you tell, the proof you bring, and the plan you make simple for the buyer to run. In cannabis beverages, the bar is higher. Buyers want clarity on margins and movement, guardrails on claims, and confidence that your team will help the product leave the shelf after week two. This guide lays out a practical way to build your sell-in narrative, package the right assets, and run a tight follow-up so meetings convert.
Start with a sell-in narrative buyers can repeat
Your deck should make it easy for a category manager or GM to pitch your brand up the chain without you in the room. Keep the story crisp. Open with what the product is, who it is for, and when someone should drink it. State dose and flavor in one line. Explain the consumer problem you solve and why beverages add incremental dollars to their set. Then anchor the narrative in how you support the store: training, staff tools, and a simple launch plan that does not drain their team.
The test is repeatability. If a buyer can summarize your pitch in three sentences after the meeting, you wrote it well. If they need to flip through ten slides to remember your message, rewrite until the core fits on one.
Put pricing and margins where finance can find them
Nothing slows down approval like a mystery margin. List wholesale, suggested retail, and expected margin ranges by pack size. If you offer tiered pricing or incentives for opening orders, spell them out with start and end dates. If there are freight considerations, put them on the same page. A small calculator table that shows margin at a few SRPs removes the back-and-forth that kills momentum.
Keep claims and copy consistent with your packaging and legal guidance. If an approval team needs to compare language across deck, one-pager, and menu copy, you want them to see a match. Consistency reduces risk and saves you a review cycle.
Prove velocity with numbers that matter locally
New brands often lean on generic category slides. They are fine for context, but buyers make decisions on whether your line will move in their store. Bring simple, local proof. Units per store per week across comparable doors. Flavor mix that mirrors their neighborhood. Reorder intervals from the last eight weeks. If you do not have broad data yet, show honest early results and a plan to support velocity after placement. Clarity beats inflated graphs every time.
Make the proof skimmable. One chart and one sentence per point. If you ran a compliant tasting and saw a lift, show the week-over-week comparison and list three operational details that made it work. That turns “we sample” into a play a buyer trusts.
Treat the one-pager like a portable shelf talker
Your one-pager is the document that staff will actually use. Write it for a budtender or floor lead who has thirty seconds between customers. Lead with product, dose, flavor, and occasion. Add a short dot-point on what it feels like and how to pace. Show a tiny spec table for pack sizes and storage. If the retailer uses QR codes internally, include one that links to menu assets and staff training. Keep the file size small and the text readable on a phone. If the store prints it, leave margins that do not chop your logo or dosage line.
Your menu assets should match the one-pager and the deck. Titles, flavor names, and dose must be identical. If your brand uses occasions like “social,” “calm,” or “unwind,” carry them through everywhere so nothing feels like a different product.
Run sampling like a standard operating procedure
Sampling wins when it is predictable and compliant. Start with rules for the state and the retailer. Confirm what you can say about effects, where you can set up, and what you need to verify at the table. Staff with someone who can explain dose in plain language and keep the tone educational. Prepare a simple script: what it is, how it tastes, how to pace the experience, where to find it in the store.
Make the next step obvious. Use a small card with a QR that goes to a locator prefiltered to the store or to a campaign page the retailer approves. If the market allows opt-in, add a checkbox for stock alerts or drops so you turn interest into first-party audience. Log pours, questions, and feedback after each session. Those notes become the copy you use in the next deck and the tweaks you make to merchandising.
Show the launch plan in one slide
Buyers do not need a novel. They need a plan they can say yes to. Put your launch plan on one slide with dates and owners. Day zero is staff training with the one-pager and menu copy. Week one is shelf talkers or cooler clings, a compliant post from the store’s handle if they agree, and a locator update. Week two is the first sampling window. Week three is an asset refresh if placement shifted. Keep each step small and owned. It shows you understand how a store actually runs.
Follow up with a cadence that respects the calendar
Great meetings die in messy follow-up. Send a recap the same day with a link to the deck, the one-pager, menu assets, and the proposed launch slide. Confirm pricing and next steps, including who signs and when. Two days later, send a short check-in with any answers promised. A week later, share one useful piece of proof from another door and ask a single question to move the process forward.
When the PO lands, switch to an activation cadence. Confirm receiving and placement. Share photos of the set. Schedule the first sampling and tag the person who owns it. In weeks three to six, send a one-line velocity update and a small action you are taking to support movement. Buyers remember the brands that act like partners when the shelf gets crowded.
Measure Meeting → PO rate and use it to improve
Your dashboard should mirror what wholesale cares about. Track meeting-to-PO conversion, time from meeting to PO, units per store per week in the first eight weeks, and reorder intervals. Layer in locator interactions and directions in the same geos so you can show pull-through. If you used unique QRs or codes for a retailer, share scans and redemptions. Review this monthly and tighten the deck and one-pager based on what actually helps deals close. If a slide never comes up in conversation, cut it. If one proof line keeps landing, move it to the front.
A plan you can ship this month
Pick your top metro and rebuild the sell-in set for those stores. Rewrite the deck so the opening, margins, and velocity proof fit in the first five slides. Refresh the one-pager to read on a phone. Bundle menu assets and training into a single link. Draft a two-week activation plan you can run with your current bandwidth. Then book two meetings and test the package. Adjust, repeat, and roll to the next metro.
Wholesale momentum is not magic. It is clarity, proof, and a plan that respects how retailers work. When buyers can repeat your story and count on your follow-through, purchase orders stop being a guess.If you want a second set of eyes or a starter kit you can brand, see how we build go-to-market plans and browse recent work.