The Fruitfull® Experience

Third Quarter 2008

The fun stuff that happened at H&H from April 1st - June 30th, 2008

KickStart Updates

• Energizing Illinois

• Round Two in South Florida

• Hitting the Bulls Eye in the Buckeye State

• Tabitha's Renewal of Faith

• A Whole New Experience in Washington, DC

• Lucky Pen(nies) in LA

• Keeping it Cool in Arizona

Welcome to our Newest Family Members!

Oh Minneapolis...

Julie, Gary and Tabitha

 

Here is Julie and Gary Vadnais' letter about locating week:

KickStart Updates

Energizing Illinois

4/11/2008
Henry Cua's KickStart Letter

Hi Linda,

I want you to know that the kick-start went though very well except for two days of rain and cold weather. As always, Susan expressed a great deal of confident and professionalism in dealing with new account. We visited 35 new locations; half of them are corporate account. 85% were very excited with our product but will need final approval from a Director or Regional Manager.

One High School under Quest Management carries a group of 10 high schools. If we have this one approved next week, we have a potential of 45 new accounts.

Northwestern University Hospital emailed me the day after we dropped off some samples & brochures, Christian Watson (Executive Chief) emailed me inquiring about our freezer program. Susan called him back and emailed him with all the information he asked for. He is so excited with our Fruit bars he wants to start with a freezer this coming week. NUH has several dinning rooms in downtown Chicago. Their dinning area is the best one we saw. We also visited a few Grocery stores in Wilmette, Niles, Chicago, Berwyn, Wheeling & several High Schools and Hospitals. Susan & I will finalize all the account within the next three weeks. We did sign up 5 Freezer accounts.  

Some people ask me why I want to do the kick-start? My respond is “the old sell trick needs to be sharpened from time to time” My weakest point is to call on the corporate accounts, I learned a great deal from Susan this week “The important approach on how to call on the corporate account?” It works all the time.

If anyone wants to expand their business, this is the time to do so. Sign up for the Kick-start. It is the best things you can do for yourself; it is not too late yet. The money you spend on Kick-start is 100% deductible. Go for it! 

It is also the best time to introduce the Fruit Goodness to Hispanic Market. 

Have a Fruitfull®day, Thank you again Susan. 

Henry Cua
HPC ENTERPRISES

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Round Two in South Florida

Although last years kick start with Dave Weiss was helpful, we nailed it this year ending with 18 accounts and tons of follow up.

We started out the week in Miami where we signed our first account, Miami Children’s Hospital. They used to be run by Sodexho Food Service and they are now independent or in-house as I like to say. Dave was shocked that we walked in, found the director standing against the wall watching things, and we introduced ourselves and he took us straight to his office. We started the presentation and offered him a Coconut Cream bar. He said he wasn’t a coconut fan but would try it. It took all of 5 minutes for him to finish that bar and he giggled and said “I guess I love coconut.” It was great!

Tuesday through Thursday we spent up north in Stuart, Jupiter and Port St. Lucy. The people in these smaller towns were much more receptive than our Monday crowd but I think it’s because not many novelty distributors go into smaller areas. One of the hospital directors said he felt left out the “healthy food loop” because no new vendors ever visit him. We managed to make Nature’s Way Café and both Stuart Hospitals very happy by the end of the day.

By Friday even Dave was giddy about all the success we were having during the week. We ended our week together by signing Florida Medical Center, West Boca Hospital where they are putting Fruitfull® and breads into 4 frozen vending machines and getting rid of there current snacks and replacing them with Be Happy & Healthy® Snacks, yeah!!

I am also very excited that we landed Florida Atlantic University after four years of trying. They have four different areas they are planning on placing our product. I also have to mention the grocery store at the Festival Flea Market and two new gourmet markets with a Mexican twist called Fresh-co up in Stuart.

It was a fantastic week and Dave was a trooper keeping up and/or putting up with me.  Good luck Dave!

Tabitha Locke

4/18/2008
Dave Weiss' KickStart Letter

Dear Linda,

Well despite the fact that it was cold and windy here during the kick start, Tabitha did an outstanding job! The temperature barely hit 70 degrees one day but we forced ourselves out of bed and into the sales world.

We did decide that the first four days we were better in the afternoon than in the morning, the earliest sale we got was at 11:30am. But on Friday we signed two big hospitals before 10am. Talk about waiting until the last day! We actually did very well, signed 18 accounts with another probable 10 and another possible 10. We really did well after lunch.

The sad part (in my point of view) was that Tabitha closed accounts that I have been pursuing for years. Different point of view? Different approach? I don’t know but whatever it is, it was great!

If you do a kick start with Tabitha be prepared to make a lot of pit stops and make some peanut
butter cookies.

Dave Weiss
DBK Delights

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Hitting the Bulls Eye in the Buckeye State

You know when someone tells you that they want you to go home by mid-day Tuesday of Kick Start week because they feel that you’ve already got them more business than they feel they can handle and that you have ‘exceeded their expectations for the week’, you are doing ok. That’s what happened last week with Vicki Kollar of Peninsula, Ohio (The “Buckeye State”). Don’t worry, I stayed the whole week!

Incredible things happen when you focus on growing your business by making sales calls. Not only will Vicki increase her business through her new locations, she has increased her circle of friends. Everyone was so welcoming and enthusiastic about Vicki and the products she has to offer. She genuinely cares about her accounts and providing the best customer service for the products she represents, and this was apparent to all the new accounts she obtained. So much so that one District Manager of Bon Appetit met us at a location, pre-sold the Food Service Director and referred us to all the locations, providing us with names and telephone numbers for each director of each location in his region! Schools, Hispanic markets, produce markets, Bon Appetit accounts at Case Western University, Whole Foods, THE CLEVELAND CLINIC with over 5,500 people going through ONE cafeteria a day, and a beautiful market, sure to give Whole Foods a run for its money, are some of the locations we secured this week. The icing on the cake was the response by buyers at two local grocery chains. We landed Acme Market with 16 stores, and they have approved not only Fruitfull®, but also HIDD AND BHAH Breads! Woo Hoo! A second chain, Heinen’s, loved the product in the initial presentation, and hopes to give Vicki a ‘yes!’ for Fruitfull® in ALL 16 stores. He also wants to have backup stock in their back freezers of each store location, so Vicki doesn’t have to make weekly deliveries in order to save gas! That initial order alone of Fruitfull® will be over $7,000! Way to go Vicki for a great strategy for our week!

Cleveland was good to us and I’m sure Vicki will continue to be good to Cleveland by making a number of customers happy to have Happy & Healthy Products!

What are you waiting for—grow your business today by scheduling your Kick Start. You never know what you’ll get until you ASK FOR IT!

Susan Scotts

5/09/2008
Vicki Kollar's KickStart Letter

Hi Susan,

That was quite a re-cap you wrote for our Kick Start week. It's still hard to believe.

While my Chevy truck was in the repair shop today getting a new fuel pump, I visited our Whole Foods to deliver their 5-box conventional order. Well, I saw Patrick and he said see Dave because the "bunker" had been approved!!!

Dave said look around the store for a location! I picked out the front end of the frozen aisle and he agreed! He must check on it, of course, and will confirm Tuesday.

My assignment is to do the "faux" wood covering on the freezer. I'm searching for good looking contact paper.

When I got home there was a message from Sue at Summa Hospitals. I was referred to the St. Thomas (the smaller site) cafe mgr. She wants a freezer and is cramped for size, so I'm visiting her to WORK IT INTO her space!

And, my Snack Order with chocolates arrived. I picked it up in the Caravan and JOE HELPED me carry it all down to the basement! He gets a star!

I'm waiting for the FruitGoodness decals and product to arrive so we can set up those accounts next week.

Have a great day!

Vicki & Joe

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Tabitha's Renewal of Faith

Have a Little Faith…

I never knew that Faith Sullivan of Cool Deliveries could be so much fun! This is my favorite part of kick starts, working with a franchisee that I didn’t initially set up and ending the week with a fabulous new relationship.

We definitely battled some weather. I had to wear Faith’s rain coat and I was still soaked to the tops of my legs. We had to walk in the rain to present, but I am happy to report that we signed a highly desired hospital on the spot.
Now we all know that Faith is leery about publishing the names of her current accounts so I can't spill all the beans about our successful week together. However we did grow her business and sign two hospitals, six grocery stores and a state building!
Fascinating story behind the state building. The food service director was blind and I noticed right away. However, Faith didn’t realize it until he mentioned it. When she handed him a coconut bar, he held it, never tasted it, and said “I can sell these no problem.” So, the question from Faith is, how does he know he can sell them by just holding the fruit bar. My guess: Like every other successful business person, he listens. We gave him all the information he needed to make his decision. Communicate the strengths of our products well and Fruitfull® becomes an obvious choice to almost anyone.

We had a great and successful week together. It was my pleasure spending time with Faith. ☺

Tabitha Locke
5/22/2008

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A Whole New Experience in Washington, DC

Jack and Tabitha

I must say that for the first time in my three years of working at H&H, I was a little intimidated. Why? Not sure actually. I was KickStarting with Jack Moore and when I met him at the symposium this year, I found him to be very intelligent and ahead of things in his business. Did I mention he’s a full trucker? So I was a little nervous that I might disappoint him. He knows so much about his business already--what could I possibly teach him?

Well, let me say that all my fears went away as soon as Jack met me at the airport. Laid back as usual, he welcomed me to DC with a tour of the Capitol, the White House and a number of memorials.
We began our week with a plan to re-sign all of his Whole Foods Markets. First stop, a brand-new, sixty five thousand square foot Whole Foods. Wow-was it huge! Jack was a little pessimistic at first but by the end of the presentation, we had them signed and we were headed to the next stop. By the end of Monday we were 4 for 4 and Jack was thrilled.

The rest of the week was just as positive. Jack took me to Galludett University for the Deaf and we presented to Marcy. Jack wondered how we were going to pull this one off; but lucky for Jack, I know a little sign language. (Actually, I can only Sign my name but Marcy read lips like a superstar! ☺) She is so excited to have Fruitfull® at the University.

However, our most exciting stop was yet to come. We went to the Washington Verizon Convention Center where all the major sporting events take place. We found out certain concessions were run by Levy Restaurants which is Compass Group and certain concessions were operated by Aramark.
Hmm, so who do you choose? My first thought was whoever answers their phone first, but then we chose to go with our newest national account, Levy. The gentleman wasn’t in his office yet, (11am) so I took his number and we went to an early lunch. Jack was adamant about this account because he had never presented nor seen anyone present to a convention center. "Not a problem." I said. "Feed me and I’ll go anywhere." ☺

So, after lunch I called Adam Spicer with Levy and he answered his phone. I told him I was a new preferred vendor with Compass Group and would like to meet with him. He said he had a meeting in twenty minutes and asked if we could come at 2pm. I quickly told him we were out front and said I can present fast. He agreed and said he’d come down to get us.

YES, we’re in! We were still walking back from lunch and I told Jack to start running. So, there we were running to get samples and cross the street to meet with Adam from Levy. Adam laughed at us as he saw us running for the door. Jack utterly enjoyed seeing that the presentation for this huge account was no different than a grocery market or a hospital. Signed, sealed and ready for business! They can’t wait to have Fruitfull® and snacks in their two concessions. They order per event in bulk.
What a great day, we were on high.

Jack and I made a great team. We learned things from each other that will benefit us both and I am happy that I could motivate Jack. (Sorry if I wore you out!) We accomplished his goals of signing back all the Whole Foods accounts while adding two Mexican markets, a University and the convention center.

Now the problem, Jack says, is getting his delivery guy to be happy about all the additional business. It’s a great problem to have…

Good luck Jack, it was a pleasure spending time with you!

Tabitha

 

6/3/2008
Here is Jack Moore's letter about his KickStart week:

Jack's Side

I am writing to let you know that I just completed an extremely successful KickStart week (four days actually) with Tabitha.

The whirlwind that is Tabitha hit town last Sunday. After finding out that she had never been to Washington DC, we did the tourist thing and went on a tour of our nation's capital.
Although the weather was overcast with occasional rain, we were able to complete a quick driving tour around the city to see all the significant sights. We stopped at the White House to visit George and Laura (and perhaps offer them a Fruitfull® bar) but they weren't at home.

We traveled up Capitol Hill to see the U.S. Capitol where Tabitha expressed an interest in addressing a joint session of Congress on the benefits of the Fruitfull® lifestyle. But alas it was Sunday and they weren't in session. So, we settled for seeing the Library of Congress, the Supreme Court and glimpses of the Smithsonian Museums. There was even a college graduation ceremony taking place on the Mall.
On Monday morning, we began to execute my Kick Week Strategy which could best be described as quality or quantity. I explained to Tabitha that given that I already had a full plate of customers and my driver was beginning to be stretched thin. In addition, I explained that the traffic in DC and the surrounding "burbs" is usually difficult to traverse regardless of the time of day and that driving time is a big hit on our productivity and profitability.

My goal was to look for a relatively few accounts (in the range of 8-12) that had the potential to move a significant volume of Fruitfull®. I was focusing on Fruitfull® and was not looking for stand alone snack accounts because of low profit margins provided by snack sales.

Given these criteria, my primary targets were Whole Foods accounts which we had previously serviced and had lost because of decisions made by the head regional buyer. Apparently Tabitha had succeeded where all others had failed – Tabitha got through to the regional buyer and found out that she was in fact, human. The regional buyer actually was encouraging to Tabitha and even made a significant break with past policy by telling Tabitha that store managers were empowered to place our freezers in their stores.

I believe we were quite successful in signing a number of high value accounts. We were able to get commitments from four Whole Foods stores and we have a good chance of signing three more. We were able to sign one large market that caters to Hispanics in the area where we formerly had no presence. I am especially pleased with two smaller Hispanic stores (one in Maryland and one in Virginia) that we signed. While small, they are in areas that have heavy concentrations of Hispanics and there is no real competition – just a limited selection of competitors' fruit bars and mostly cheap ice cream.

We also landed a Compass Group account at Gallaudet University. If you aren't aware of Gallaudet, it was founded by an act of the U.S. Congress as a college specifically for the deaf or hard of hearing. It was quite an experience to see Tabitha doing her sales presentation to Marcy who was totally deaf but able to understand everything Tabitha said because she could read lips. And Marcy's ability to lip read and comprehend what we were saying was truly amazing to behold.
Our final stop was one of those events of pure chance where the stars seem to be perfectly aligned. On the way to Gallaudet University, we drove past the Verizon Center, THE downtown sports arena in Washington, DC. It is home to the Washington Wizards NBA team, the Mystics WNBA team and the Washington Capital NHL team. I point out the arena to Tabitha and asked her if any other franchisees had similar accounts. Tabitha mentioned three other examples. But I temporarily filed the information in the back of my brain as we had a 10 o'clock appointment at the University.

After our appointment, we headed back toward downtown. On a whim, I told Tabitha that I was going to drive past the Verizon Center and we decided to drop in unannounced for a cold-call. We did not even know who the vendor was although I thought it was ARAMARK. Inexplicably, we found a parking space right across from the entrance and it even had one hour and nine minutes on the meter. Tabitha said it was a good sign – I think she knows such things.

Anyway, we walked into the receptionist who provided us a list of vendors that serviced the arena. ARAMARK was in fact a vendor but to our surprise, so was Levy. According to Tabitha, this was another good sign. We went outside and Tabitha called and was told that the person we needed to talk to, Adam, had not arrived at work yet. (Tabitha's comment was that he must keep banker's hours.)

We decided to wait as things seemed to be going our way. Tabitha suggested we take an early lunch and stressed her strong preference for a "Five Guys" burger and fries. After lunch, fueled with stomachs full of the world's best burgers and fries, we walked back to the Verizon Center to sell a healthy alternative ("Do as we say, not as we do" was our motto) and Tabitha called Adam.
This time he was at work and said he could see us at 2:00 PM. Tabitha responded that we were standing right outside the door if he could see us immediately. He said that he could give us twenty minutes. So off we ran to put more money in the meter and grab the samples. We hurried across the street where we met Adam at the front door with perfect timing. He escorted us into the inner reaches of the arena where we met Pat, Adam's boss. Tabitha gave them her expedited presentation on the fruit bars and even the snacks. Pat and Adam seemed impressed (Adam was particularly fond of the Sour Wiggle Giggle) and said they would give the products a try and would call next week. Tabitha had completed the deal in 23 minutes total and we left with time remaining on the meter.

As our final mission, we made a trip to a new Giant Food store to check it out. As Tabitha explained, Giant Food—along with Shop Rite—is part of the Ahold Group that expressed interest in our products at the convention in Las Vegas. She wanted to observe the store layout and evaluate the products they carried. It was exciting to hear that there might be interest from a big chain store in our region for two reasons: There was potential for sales of individual bars. Plus, if H & H can land a large buyer like Giant, this would raise factory volume, spread fixed costs over more units and thus reduce unit cost and ultimately, the prices franchisees pay for their fruit bar supplies. This is definitely a win-win prospect.

In sum, it was a whirlwind week which I enjoyed very much. It was fun to spend the time with Tabitha and I felt reinvigorated about my business. Thanks for making Tabitha available and giving me the opportunity to work with her. She is truly a delight and a selling superstar.

Best regards,

Jack Moore
 

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Lucky Pen(nies) in LA

Susan's Side:

I'm not even sure where to begin my story about working with Dick Dyer in LA. There is so much to tell...red carpet events with Warren Beatty, Hugh Heffner and Jane Fonda, a Cheryl Crow Concert, beautiful views from the Observatory, the Stars on Hollywood Boulevard, the Chinese buffets...oh, I guess you all want to hear about the great accounts not all the rest of the fun!

Fun was the name of the game for the week. Dick and I found lucky pens and pennies all week, which kept our luck coming. Or blessings. Either way you look at it, it was a fantastic week. Colleges, markets, Kosher markets, hospitals and the J. Paul Getty Museum, all new Happy & Healthy Product accounts! Accounts Dick had been trying to get into for years. Every day brought more excitement over the products. (I know Dick has already signed another account from the follow ups this week and it is only Monday!)
On Friday we made a presentation to the J. Paul Getty Museum, and once we were finished, we decided to take advantage of the free admission to tour the facilities during lunch. Our cell phones kept trying to ring, but because of the buildings were unable to work. As soon as we left, our phones were telling us of messages -- from the buyer at the Getty who said if we were still there to come right back as they wanted to get started! And I mean in a big way -- they want four freezers by 2pm that day!

But that was not even the best part of the week: the most exciting part was the Villartas Hispanic Markets -- beautiful stores that really rival Whole Foods but with a Hispanic twist. Dick and I were told we had 5 minutes (I had to beg, borrow and steal for the appointment). We waited 40 minutes to see the buyer, who had a big food show the next week and had no time for vendors. We were sweating waiting it out. Well, not only were we in his office for 40 minutes, but they LOVED the product and the buyer asked about freezers for all 30 locations!

This week, Dick has an appointment with a buyer who was out last week but I was able to obtain for him in a market with 40+ locations. Needless to say, "See Dick Grow" (Linda's reference at a previous convention to growing your H&H franchise) has taken on a whole new meaning!

Dick is a very funny guy, please let him share his jokes with you! He kept me in stitches the entire week! He is a very persistent person. Many of the locations he has currently are accounts in, he has been working on for years. I am sure he is going to continue to follow up and have more success stories to share from the fruits of our efforts last week. My sincere thanks to Dick, Kathy and Suzanne for their warm and sunny California hospitality and I'm ready and waiting for next year's adventures!

Susan Scotts

6/17/2008
Dick Dyer's KickStart Letter

"Dear Linda,

"A great week with Susan Scotts! She is smart, energetic, organized and efficient. Hearing her in action -- both on the phone securing appointments and dealing with franchise inquiries as well as face to face with my prospects -- was a masterful display of her talents.

"Fast and flexible with a great sense of humor -- the BEST I have ever worked with. I would like to book her for a week next year about this time.

"Best wishes,

"Dick Dyer"

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Keeping it Cool in Arizona

Doing a kick start for Fred Steyer (and Rhea and daughter Tiffany as well!) was pure pleasure. Even in 115 degree heat every day, Happy & Healthy products were very well received by all we approached.

Aramark in particular REALLY loved us! They ran the majority of the locations we targeted, including all the Arizona State University campuses and community colleges. One of the managers at the downtown location started smiling and clapping as soon as she saw the flyer. She was recently relocated from Chicago, where she had the product delivered by a local franchisee there. She loved the product and was so happy we had found her that she is going to put us in seven locations through the large campus serving 55,000 students each day!

We also had great results from a visit to a local YMCA. The manager there runs the juice bar for two locations, so it was nice to get two birds with one fruit bar, ha! We also ran into a food service director at another hospital in Tucson that was Aramark and that director had our products and loved them previously in his café in San Diego, serviced by none other than Kyle! You are doing a terrific job getting our name out there, so thank you for making it EASY for us to get into new accounts by your great service! They are even considering putting us on the patient trays!

My thanks to Fred, Rhea and Tiffany for the hospitality they extended to me throughout the entire week, in particular the lovely dinner and shopping on Friday night after our work day but prior to my midnight flight home.

I would be remiss if I did not mention the superb system Fred has set up in his business. Large trucks, employees, scanners and an efficient system make his business a perfect model for others who want to consider expanding beyond their family.

My sincere best wishes for continued success for Fred-- so the sky is the limit for Dylan & Company!

Susan Scotts

6/23/2008
Fred & Rhea Steyer's KickStart Letter

Susan has just left the "Valley of the Sun" after a wonderful KickStart week for Dylan & Company. We found her to be consistently pleasant, tackling all new potential accounts with dedication and a smile, even in 113ºF (and above!) heat.

Susan has great drive and passion for her work in placing new accounts for Fruitfull® Fruit Bars and we found her enthusiasm contagious. She was also extraordinarily helpful when explaining how to land a sale to all three of us who accompanied her.

She patiently trained Fred for two days, Tiffany (our 22 year old daughter) for two days, and Rhea for one day. Susan is a take-charge person who was easily able to present and effectively communicate the benefits of Fruitfull® in a very short time span.

We are thrilled with the new accounts that she landed for us and for the doors that she opened with other potential accounts. The signed contracts are for Chandler /Gilbert Community College, Grand Canyon University, two different YMCA'S and Granola's (a health food market with potential of more markets.) But, the exciting news is Arizona State University and its two satellite campuses (East and West) all want freezers in the next few weeks when school resumes. The food service manager on the main campus was familiar with the product from Chicago and was thrilled to see it here in Arizona.
Also, the Tucson University Medical Center was very excited about the product and asked if we would be able to stock the freezer twice a week. Our answer was, "No problem, of course we can!"

This "Kick Start" will truly benefit our business in sales and revenue. We loved having someone else helping with sales and wish that Susan could have stayed in Phoenix for a few more weeks to do the follow-up calls. Before her departure, she reminded us that we can call her for any assistance or advice in landing these accounts. Susan is such a Pro!

Sincerely,

Fred & Rhea Steyer

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Be Happy & Healthy® Products

Contest News!

Be Happy & Healthy® Products

 

Cooking Contest

Grand Prize $1000

Do you love our Fruitfull® frozen fruit bars or our Be Happy & Healthy® snacks?  Are you a creative cook?  Do you also enjoy (or want to enjoy) winning great prizes?  Then enter our cooking contest!

All you have to do is create and make a recipe that contains at least one of our Happy & Healthy Products in the ingredients, namely Fruitfull®, Happy Indulgence®, Happy Indulgence® Decadent Dips™, Be Happy & Healthy® Snacks and/or Be Happy & Healthy® Breads.

Click here for details!

Ask a Marketing Consultant

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H&H Happenings....

Out of the Office Dates: