When you take feedback from your buyer meetings and incorporate it into your product development, good things happen -- as in major retail deals.

Nikki Parmar, Owner of Bodyform, knows this firsthand. When she goes into a buyer meeting, she is not only looking to secure distribution for her brand's line of feminine care products; she’s also seeking out valuable intel on how she can adapt her products to meet each buyer's specific needs.

In this clip from her interview with Joseph Tarnowski, recorded on location at ECRM's Personal Care Session in Dallas, Nikki shares how Bodyform solicits detailed buyer feedback during its ECRM meetings and then acts on that feedback, whether it's related to packaging design, size, or to the products themselves. And when she meets with the buyer again and shows how this input was incorporated into Bodyform’s offerings, they are always blown away.

Parmar also discusses how she leverages LinkedIn to share content related to Bodyform's mission of eliminating Period Poverty, as well as to help buyers get to know the brand and the people behind it, staying front-of-mind with buyers in between meetings.

While Nicobi Foods may seem like an overnight success with its recent deals that include Walmart, Wakefern, and Ahold USA, it's really just the culmination of a journey that began many years ago -- and A LOT of hard, grinding work.

In his recent interview with ECRM's Joseph Tarnowski, Co-Founder Obi Linton shared his journey from Baltimore detective to an owner and operator of a restaurant operation with his wife, Nicole, to his current role as a brand owner, and how their past experiences have given them the tools and knowledge that have helped them succeed today.

Obi also goes into detail about his approach to leveraging RangeMe and ECRM to engage with retailers and create long-lasting relationships that have significantly expanded their distribution to thousands of stores nationwide.

This approach includes a lot of preparation and research, a dogged pursuit of EVERY possible opportunity, and authentic relationship-building efforts that would make Dale Carnegie proud.

To truly understand a buyer's needs, you need to ask a lot of questions. Detailed questions. Strategic questions. And then, you need to listen. Listen MUCH MORE than you speak. The result: You'll be armed with the information you need to direct you on the path to closing a deal.

Argires Snacks' George Argires is a case in point. For years, he was having trouble landing deals at ECRM Sessions. After connecting with Emily Anne Page of Start to Sold for some coaching, he realized he was spending too much time pitching and not enough time getting to know what was really important for the buyer.

He didn't ask enough solid questions.

Together, George and Emily worked on developing a curated list of specific questions that he asked during an ECRM meeting. In fact, he spent 80 percent of his time asking questions and LISTENING. Armed with this information, he developed a plan to address the buyer's specific needs, which he shared in his follow-ups, and landed the deal.

His products will be on the shelves this fall.

In this interview, recorded on location at ECRM's Snack Session in Dallas, George and Emily share how the right questions in a buyer meeting can make the difference in whether or not you land a deal, and why this strategy matters to buyers.

2025 Core-Mark Curated Winner & RangeMe Premium subscriber Unite Food is looking to shake up the protein bar aisle with globally-inspired flavors and natural ingredients. In this podcast, Founder & CEO Clara Paye shares her journey from Managing Director of a major plumbing manufacturer to launching a food brand with distribution at leading retailers like Target, Sprouts, H-E-B, and Meijer. She also discusses her passion for helping the next generation of entrepreneurs as a SKU mentor, YPO member, and the Founder of (included), a membership collective for BIPOC top executives in CPG who are dedicated to one another’s success.

Moderation and convenience are shaping the way consumers buy adult beverages – both those they consume at home as well as those consumed at bars, restaurants, and hospitality venues. In this episode, NIQ’s Director of Beverage Alcohol Thought Leadership, Kaleigh Theriault, shares how these trends are impacting sales of wine, beer, spirits, and RTDs and where the opportunities lie within each of these segments. She also discusses the booming non-alcoholic adult beverage segment and how it has evolved over the past few years.

Beauty brand Mudita Earth landed deals with Natural Grocers, Meijer and KeHE Distributors from buyer introductions made at ECRM Sessions. However, each of these retailers initially said “no” to the brand’s Co-Founder Pooja Chopra. In this interview, Chopra shares how she turned each of these “NOs” into a resounding “YES” via listening to the buyers’ needs, then adjusting her products, packaging and approach to give them each exactly what they needed for their respective category objectives.

Sisters Jordan Catapano and Jocelyn Dunn are truly examples of how persistence and tenacity can pay off for brand owners. Over the past decade, they went from bartenders to authors to owners of a bartending business, then became CPG brand owners with the launch of a line of cocktail mixers called This Girl Walks Into a Bar.

Then earlier this year they lost the bartending business to the Los Angeles wildfires. During this same time, however, they landed KeHE Distributors from a meeting at ECRM’s On & Off Premise Adult Beverage Session, which led to a deal with Total Wine & More. Most recently, they earned a Fast Pass at Walmart’s Open Call from a RangeMe submission.

In this podcast, you’ll hear how the sisters stuck with their passion through this wild roller-coaster ride and evolved their business over the years into the fast-growing emerging brand it is today.

Managing the Growth of CPG Teams: Founders Share Their Stories

Cosset, Global Beauty Care and Okay Pure Naturals each started with only two or three people, and over the years have grown their companies to dozens of team members. This growth comes with several challenges, such as deciding which roles to fill first, finding the right hires, grooming future leadership, and handing off the reins of certain responsibilities.

In this podcast, ECRM's Joseph Tarnowski speaks with the founding members of each of these brands, who share how they handled their respective growth journeys and what it takes to scale up a brand.