Just what can you expect when you do business with Gollon Brothers Wholesale?
You can expect a superior customer experience, which takes on a unique meaning when the topic is live bait.
Although our minnows, worms, leeches, and larvae are used for many purposes, let’s take a minute and just talk about the live fishing bait industry. I’ll address the other markets in the future, such as forage, pet food, zoological, agricultural, and other alternative uses.
Fishing Bait is a weird thing, when you think about it. It’s a product used to acquire another, possibly better, product.
When you look at the cost of minnows, leeches, worms, etc. versus the cost of the fish caught with the bait, it doesn’t always make economic sense. Sometimes the fish being caught are worth less than what is used to catch them. But fishing is sport, and sport (the 2025 Milwaukee Brewers, for instance) doesn’t always have to make sense.
Beyond that, live bait is extremely perishable, and has few uses once it’s expired. Your cat might be interested, but that’s about it.
Now we’ve established that fishing bait is weird, how does that affect the customer experience? In the following ways:
- Quality of contact
- Frequency of contact
- Product being offered
- Business and product knowledge
- Special circumstances
Let’s look at these in more detail.
Quality of contact
Very often the first contact a potential distributor has with Gollon Brothers is a phone call.
That phone call is extremely important, because it sets the tone for all further dealings the new customer may have with Gollon Brothers.
Chances are good that the first conversation will be with a member of the Gollon family. And as you can see from our story, the Gollon family has been synonymous with Fishing for literally hundreds of years.
That first phone call will be with an expert and not just any sort of expert but someone who is exceptionally knowledgeable in all types and species of fishing bait – meaning:
- Transportation of live bait, Especially Baitfish.
- Storage of all types of live bait
- Marketing of fishing bait products
- Best bait for a particular region
- Regulatory requirements
On top of that, that expert will be a nice person who asks good questions and takes the time to listen to their customer. They’re a guide to help the customer make the best choices for their business – because they know anglers look to that customer for fresh, high-quality live bait.
Frequency of contact
In areas served by our route drivers, expect a Gollon Brothers driver to stop by a shop once or twice a week.
And you know something? Our route drivers are just as knowledgeable about bait as the people back at home base – and they have lots of local intelligence on what’s running and what’s catching fish from the other stops on their route.
Think about it: A bait expert stops by a bait shop twice a week to give the owner the scoop on what’s fresh and what’s catching fish in their area.
That’s what a good customer experience looks like when the product is live bait.
Product being offered
This ties into previous points, but Gollon Brothers offers the freshest, highest-quality live fishing bait, appropriately sized and compliant with all state and federal regulations.
Gollon Brothers also prides itself on having inventory on hand and ready to ship – and if we’re temporarily short, we’ll let you know, and we’ll also let you know when we expect to have appropriate quantities back in stock.
The point is, Gollon Brothers is a reliable supplier, and because a distributor’s customers are quick to blame the bait-shop owner if a certain type of bait is out of stock, that means more repeat business for bait shops that have a consistent supply of what anglers are looking for.
Business and product knowledge
Having been in business for as long as we have, Gollon Brothers has seen many bait retailers and wholesalers come and go. We’ve seen what makes a successful distributor – and we’re happy to share some of those learnings with our customers.
In addition, we’ve educated many multi-location businesses on fishing bait storage, display and marketing.
We call it “curation.” We want to give a business exactly the product line they need – for their geographic area, for their customers, for their expected demand. We want the last minnow to leave the tank a second before our delivery driver arrives with a fresh supply.
What are the benefits of that?
- No dead stock
- Predictable costs
- Lower storage costs
- More repeat business
The only way to achieve these goals is through knowledge and experience. And no one has more knowledge and experience than Gollon Brothers.
Special circumstances
Did you know that in most states a retailer has to have a license before they can put a single minnow in a tank? Or that some states regulate minnows for bait differently than minnows for other purposes?
We know all the licensing regulations, even the ones that changed just yesterday. And because of it we’re better able to work with you as a partner, breaking down what a retailer needs to do to legally offer live bait, right down to the licensing-application process they need to go through to be able to put a minnow in a tank.
It’s in a distributors interest to work with someone who knows the business as thoroughly as we do – especially if that retailer’s main source of income is not live bait.
Wrapping it up
When someone stocks up for a day of fishing at Fleet Farm or Kwik Trip or even Joe’s Bait Shop, they think the live bait comes from Fleet Farm or Kwik Trip or Joe’s Bait Shop. They rarely think of the National or even International supply chain of producers, distributors, and what it all took to put those minnows in your bucket.
Because a retailer’s reputation is on the line every time they send a customer off fishing, they need a partner they can rely on. And for over a century, that’s been Gollon Brothers Wholesale.
We must be good to have stayed in business that long. And you know what? It’s easy for you to judge that. Just give us a call and let’s talk LIVE BAIT.