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From Zero Cases to Multi State Growth

Building the Sales Infrastructure for a Premium Tequila Brand 

 

Engagement Period: 2023–Present (ongoing)

Scope: Strategic Sales Leadership | Team Hiring & Onboarding | Sales Training (BUILD Framework) | Individual Coaching | Distributor Strategy | Market Launches

Active Markets: Texas, Florida, and California 

The Situation 

YaVe Tequila had a product worth selling. What it needed was a team that knew how to sell it.

In 2023, YaVe set its sights on Texas, the number one growth state for tequila and a critical proving ground for any brand with national ambitions. The brand had not launched a single case in the market. There was no sales team, no distributor relationship, no training infrastructure, and no shared language for how the team would approach accounts, build relationships, or close business.

LTO Consulting was brought in not as a training vendor but as a strategic partner: to build the sales organization from the ground up, lead the Texas market launch, and create the systems and coaching cadence that would allow YaVe to scale across multiple states without losing the quality of execution that a premium brand demands.

What LTO Built 

 

The Results 

  • Successful Texas market launch with distribution, team, and velocity in place from zero
  • Total Wine secured as a critical retail anchor in Texas
  • Florida delivered 2,129 cases in 2025, up 26% year over year
  • California launched with 502 cases and 197 accounts in its first full month
  • Texas produced 744 cases year-to-date with a strategic account pipeline building
  • A fully repeatable market expansion playbook created and proven across three states

These numbers reflect what the team produced with the systems, training, and coaching in place. LTO does not claim sole credit for market performance. What LTO built was the infrastructure that made these results possible.

Executive Coaching 

Jeff Liebhardt, National Sales Manager

“Lucinda does not treat coaching as a soft skill. She treats it as a sales function. Every week our market managers have sharper plans, better distributor conversations, and more confidence in how they present to leadership. She built the training framework, runs the individual coaching cadence, and still finds time to build the decks and tools the team needs to execute. The combination is rare. I have seen what this team looked like before she was involved. The difference is not subtle.”

Alicia Reddick, Texas Market Manager

“Lucinda has transformed our culture with her coaching and training. When she came to Compass, we had talented people who were working hard and doing good things. What we did not have was a shared language for how we talk to one another, how we give feedback, or how we hold ourselves accountable as a team. Lucinda gave us that. The Empowerment Dynamic framework alone has changed how our leaders navigate conflict. People are asking different questions now. They are showing up differently. And that is not because Lucinda told them to. It is because she gave them the tools to choose to.”

 Sheena Ogden-Booze, Southeast Sales Director  

Building a school from the ground up is one of the most rewarding and most demanding things I have ever done. Having Lucinda in my corner for all three years has made me a better leader and has made Compass a stronger school. She is the kind of coach who remembers everything, holds nothing against you, and tells you the truth when you need to hear it.”

What Made this Framework Different 

Not a vendor, a partner: LTO is embedded in YaVe's weekly rhythm, coaching reps, advising leadership, building tools, and adjusting strategy in real time. This is not a quarterly check-in or a workshop. It is an ongoing relationship that shows up every week.

Built for a brand that is growing faster than its infrastructure: YaVe needed someone who could build the plane while flying it. LTO hired the team, built the training, launched the markets, and coached the people, simultaneously

Proprietary framework, custom execution: The BUILD framework provides the structure. Every deck, tool, training session, and coaching conversation is built specifically for YaVe's market, brand, and team

Scalable and repeatable: The Texas playbook became the California playbook. The coaching cadence that developed Alicia is the same cadence developing MJ. The system works because it was designed to travel

If your team knows how to work hard but needs the tools to work strategically, that is what LTO is built for.

Interested in Learning More? 

We'd love to hear from you! 

Schedule a 30 min call now!