We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Melly Sponselee. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Melly below.

Melly, appreciate you joining us today. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard

What we are doing differently….

~ We are a woman owned and operated company.

~ We are CO green certified. That means specifically that we are a paperless distribution and sales company

~ We deliver everything exclusively by 100% electric vehicle.

~ The brands we work with have to be local and health conscious.

~ We place emphasis on supporting brands that are woman owned and operated.

~ We are the only distribution company in the front range that is forwardly sales driven

~ We work exclusively with small & local brands

~ We work in tandem with brand owners on sales and combine efforts by utilizing our Client Relations Management platform together

~ Our initiative is to get brands the attention and sales that they deserve until they are BIG enough to get picked up by a major Distributor such as UNFI.

~ We have a special place in our heart for supporting brands during the early stages of their journey by connecting them with buyers, as well as providing marketing and branding consultation.

Melly, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Before I founded SMNR, I worked for many years as a brand ambassador. I gave out samples of products to shoppers at grocery stores and educated people on the brands I was representing. I loved this work. It made me feel connected to our community in a special way. I loved to turn folks on to local and healthy products that I truly believed in and could stand behind the integrity of the way the products were made and the people that were producing them. I deeply enjoyed being instrumental to the growth of small and local businesses.

Once Covid 19 hit, my beloved line of work slammed to a dead stop. No longer were we allowed to do sample handouts and all demo opportunities completely disappeared. I would have to get creative if I wanted to continue doing what felt natural to me. This is when I began to shift my efforts into helping my brands get into new accounts. I started my brand repping endeavors with one special little product called Velobar and to my surprise, had great success helping this brand get onto the shelves of many stores despite being in the middle of a pandemic.

I began to realize that there were many “sprouting” brands that needed this kind of help. Not only did they need help getting new accounts, but they needed help transporting their products to stores as well. At the same time, I realized that there really wasn’t anyone out there providing a service for small & local brands that had a balanced focus on both sales & distribution. Distribution could be done better, with more efficiency and with a smaller carbon footprint too. This is how my vision was born. SMNR… It stands for Sales, Marketing, Networking & Representation.

SMNR Sales represents Colorado local, organic, and specialty grocery items. Our curated selection is what we find to be the best in wellness and the cream of the crop when it comes to local. We are passionate about the planet, as well as the health of the people on it. That’s why we are a small business that helps support other small business owners to get their product out there, on the shelf and in people hands.

What really excites us the most, is getting the word about these amazing products out into the world! We help get healthy & local brands the attention and sales that they deserve until they are BIG enough to get picked up by a major Distributor such as UNFI, LoCO or Kehe. We currently represent 19 local brands and we have relationships with over 450 retail locations across the front range where we distribute the brands in our catalog.

It’s the creatives and dreamers who create these products that have the power to positively affect everyone around them with the integrity of their products and labors of love. If their passion project has the potential to touch even one single person, it can be the ripple effect that creates positive, eternal change in consumer habits and ultimately steering towards local sustainability… Now THAT’S EXCITING!

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

We have two types of clientele. First are the Brands that we represent in our catalog and second are the Retail Locations to whom we distribute the products that we purchase from the Brands that we represent. We have our amazing Brands to thank for speaking highly of us to other local product makers at farmers markets and industry events where they have shared the unique advantages our model offers to other growing brands. We have our Retail Locations to thank for letting other local business owners know how they feel about working with us as one of their distributors. Since we keep it local, word travels fast. It’s all about community and are so thankful for the referrals from our partners!

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

Our strategy for growing our clientele really centers on account management. If we get a new account and are then able to retain that account for future orders, our client base will continue to grow exponentially. We utilize Hubspot CRM platform which allows us to keep in good communication with our buyers by keeping track of our phone calls, visits and emails. We connect with our buyers on a personal level by visiting our accounts in person frequently to check on inventory, gauge the pace of sales, take orders, or even just to say hello!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.smnrsales.com

Image Credits
photographer: Brandon Hartley