This week I thought I'd talk marketing now that market season is in full swing! As I mentioned in my last post, we sell all of our cheese at farmer's markets. It's so rewarding and a lot of fun to sell cheese face to face to our loyal cheese customers and to goat-cheese virgins alike. In the short 4 months that I've been here at Olde Oak Farm, Scott has taught me a lot about marketing. Before I moved here I knew that marketing myself and salesmanship were two of my weakest points. But now I really look forward to markets. Not only does it allow me a little social time away from the farm, but every market also gives me a chance to practice and improve my selling skills. (Right now I'm working on the closing of the deal.)
I think before I began working here I took a very laissez-faire point of view towards marketing and selling cheese. I figured it would sell itself. Who wouldn't buy fresh, local, delicious cheese?? I've learned that LOTS of people won't. There are many reasons. One of the biggest reasons Scott has talked about this week is trust. When you go to a veggie vendor, you usually aren't worried about getting sick from the tomatoes or broccoli. Dairy farming is a little different in that way. Not only does the cheese need to taste good, but it needs to be from high quality milk and you need to convince the customer that they can trust you and your product. At the same time, you're giving them a tour of the cheeses on the table, encouraging them to try it, making small talk, doing a little mental math and paying attention to other customers walking by the table and trying to get their attention.
Farmers markets are a 4 or 5 hour window for us to sell as much cheese and make as much money as possible so that we can continue to break even and afford to feed the goats and run the cheese plant...and even pay the apprentice. :) All the work we do every day, all day adds up to farmers markets. With that said, I'll give you a little inside view into the producer side of things at market that the consumers may or may not be aware of.
The Olde Oak farm market rules:
1. No sitting or leaning during market
2. Say hello to everyone that walks by the stand, whether they are customers or not.
3. Never say NO. If someone asks if we have something that we do not have. Instead of saying no, we say we'll have it next week or we try to redirect them to something similar.
Each farm has its own persona and each person at that farm has their own character that they play while at market. These "characters" are really just an exaggerated extension of their true personalities. I'm the excited, new apprentice at the farm. I'm learning how to make all these delicious cheeses and I know you want to taste them all! The persona of Olde Oak Farm looks like a group of happy hippies making cheese and loving their goats. We name all the goat cheeses after the goats. And we make the flavors to match their personalities. "This is Opal. She's the sweetest goat in the herd. Never kicks me when I'm milking her. We made her cheese sweet. It's orange-ginger marmalade with sliced almonds on top." And so on.
It's cool when you start watching other vendors at market. Where we have the no sitting, say hello to everyone rule, other vendors are much more laid back. The maple syrup guy just sits back on the tailgate of his truck and doesn't say anything to anyone who walks by until they come over and ask a question about maple syrup...then you can't get him to stop talking until suddenly you are taking home a jug of syrup and a little more appreciation for sugaring.
Scott says that everyone is a customer when they walk by our stand...they just might not know it yet. Scott has a very big persona at market. He talks louder and laughs and knows everyone. Super friendly, "Best day of my life, how about you?" And he is great at gaining people's trust. Jen is a little more soft spoken. She pays close attention to people's kids and dogs. She's great at keeping an eye on the table and moving things around strategically to sell more.
So next time you are out at a market(which should be this weekend!)consider a few things:
*What is the persona of your favorite farmer/vendor?
*Why are you drawn in to some vendors/farmers more than others?
Just had dinner at Alana's the other night, and Alana had taken her yearly vacation up in Maine. She came back raving about the lobsters... and the amazing goat cheese. Thought you'd like to know that you guys in Maine are getting top reviews from one of the city's very best chefs.
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