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Tom Bilyeu – From the kitchen to a billion dollar food company
- peter_d_sherman 6y ago>"With manufacturing solved, they just had to figure out how to sell the bars (minor detail). Tom sent a thousand hand-written letters (including Quest bars) to fitness influencers. And, as these workout warriors started flexin’ their social muscles, the sales started rollin’ in. Tom estimates they did close to $10 million in e-commerce revenue by year two, before ever moving into retail. Quest grew a loyal following by giving out thousands of free protein bars. GNC and Vitamin Shop were the first retailers to sell Quest. To gain more exposure, Quest used thousands of brand ambassadors to push the product. From Crossfit events to local health fairs, Quest tried to get in front of as many community-minded people as possible. What makes Quest so much different than their competitors? From day one, Tom and his team were 100% keyed in on the “why,” which, in their case, was to end metabolic disease. That means when it comes to new product launches, the team sacrifices product margin to provide as much value as possible to the customer. They’re also leading the pack in customer service. No joke, Tom once received a complaint that a customer chipped a tooth on a Quest bar… so he covered their dental bill (PSA: Don’t try this at home). And what have they gotten for going the extra mile? Oh, just insane growth numbers — by year 4, they hit $105 million in sales, all without any outside funding."