What Food Brokers Say They Need But Manufacturers Rarely Provide

You trust your food brokers to be the face of your brand, the champions of your product, and the drivers of your sales. But are you giving them the tools they need to succeed? According to recent industry research, a shocking 76% of sales reps say they don’t have the tools they need to do their jobs effectively. For food manufacturers, this statistic should be a major wake-up call.

Your brokers are your partners, and their success is your success. But all too often, there is a major disconnect between what brokers need to thrive and what manufacturers are actually providing. Manufacturers often don’t realize that the traditional way of providing sales materials is creating more problems than it solves.

The result is a frustrated broker network that is spending more time hunting for information than they are selling your products.

To fix this, you need to understand the unique challenges your brokers face and provide them with the resources they need to win.

The Communication Gaps That Are Costing You Sales

Imagine this scenario: your broker is in a meeting with a major retail buyer. The buyer is interested in your new line of gluten-free cookies, but they have a critical question: “Are these certified nut-free? Our customers are very sensitive to cross-contamination.”

Your broker frantically searches their email, their shared drive, and the outdated brochure you sent them three months ago. They can’t find the answer. The buyer, under pressure to make a decision, moves on to the next product. You just lost a sale.

This is the reality for many food brokers. They are constantly being asked for specific, detailed information about the products they represent, and they need to be able to provide it in an instant. They need to know about allergens, certifications, nutritional information, regional availability, and more. When they can’t find this information, they lose credibility, and you lose sales.

The Risk of Outdated and Inaccessible Information

The root of this problem is the way that most manufacturers manage and distribute their sales and marketing materials. The process is often manual, disorganized, and completely disconnected from the needs of the broker.

Marketing creates a beautiful new brochure, saves it as a PDF, and emails it to the sales team. A few weeks later, a recipe changes, a certification is updated, or a new product is launched. The old brochure is now a liability, but it’s still floating around in inboxes and on hard drives.

This is not just an inconvenience; it’s a major source of frustration for your brokers. They are tired of hunting for the latest versions of your materials. They are tired of looking unprofessional in front of buyers. And they are tired of feeling like they don’t have the support they need to succeed.

A Modern Approach to Broker Enablement

The solution to this problem is not to create more content. It’s to create a better system. You need to move away from the old, manual way of doing things and embrace a modern, automated approach to sales enablement.

This is where a platform like Mobile Office can make all the difference. Our system allows you to create a centralized hub for all your product information and sales materials. When you update a product, that change is instantly reflected in all your brochures, spec sheets, and other collateral. Your brokers will always have access to the most current, accurate information, right at their fingertips.

And because our system is automated, you can still allow for customization when it’s needed. If a broker needs a special version of a brochure for a specific customer, they can create it themselves, without having to go back to marketing and start from scratch.

Your Path to a More Empowered (and Profitable) Broker Network

Your brokers are your most valuable asset. When you give them the tools they need to succeed, you are not just making their lives easier; you are investing in the growth of your business.
By closing the communication gaps, eliminating the frustration of outdated information, and embracing a modern, automated approach to sales enablement, you can empower your brokers to sell more, build stronger relationships with buyers, and drive the kind of growth you know is possible.