Direct Marketing - How to Approach a Retailer to Carry Your Product
Saturday, November 23, 2013
Having the greatest product in the world does not do you any good if you have no means of getting it out to people so they can buy it. The Internet provides a number of low-cost opportunities for manufacturers and producers to directly market their products to the public, but such venues often still cannot compete with the conventional retails sales model. For this reason, your success as a manufacturer or producer may lie in your ability to approach retail businesses and convince them to carry your product.
1
Study the retailer. For small, independent retailers, look at census information to get an idea of the demographics surrounding their locations. Try to get an idea of the retailers' sales volume and expectations of wholesalers. This may be difficult, as detailed information may not be readily available for small operations. For large retailers, study the retailers' methodologies and requirements. Because large retailers tend to have wholesalers lined up to pitch products to them, they can afford to be more demanding. Get an idea of what the large retailers' demands will be. For example, a small retailer may be willing to pay you for the product upon delivery, while a large retailer may require you to wait 30 to 90 days for payment.
2
Compose a vendor agreement. Small retailers may not have specific vendor agreements that they require you to sign. While they may ask you to change various aspects of the vendor agreement before closing on the deal, composing the agreement yourself can give you the advantage of being the one to set the initial parameters of your relationship. Large retailers, however, tend to have their own vendor agreements.
3
Prepare and practice a product pitch. This pitch should come in two variations: the full pitch and the "elevator" pitch. The full pitch gives all of the essential details of the product, tailored to the specific operations, needs and goals of the retailer. The elevator pitch is a truncated version of the full pitch that provides the most interesting details of your product in less than a minute.
4
Contact the retailer. With smaller retailers, the most-effective method of initial contact may be to simply show up, as the person on location may be the person in charge or someone very close to the person in charge. In this case, be prepared to immediately go into either your full or elevator pitch. For medium-sized and large retailers, you may have to make initial contact by telephone or email, and this contact will probably be with someone who is a "gatekeeper," accustomed to dealing with wholesalers and manufacturers who are excited about their products. If the gatekeeper thinks your product could be good for the retailer's business, she will connect you with the person in charge of purchasing.
5
Make your pitch. While certain aspects of it may be the same from one retailer to another, various aspects of your pitch should change to make it more appealing to specific retailers. Do not give excessive technical information about your product initially, but prepare yourself to answer questions about such technical details if they arise. Remain confident, and use experiences gained from failed attempts to improve your pitch in future attempts.
Tags:
Direct Marketing, Marketing
1
Study the retailer. For small, independent retailers, look at census information to get an idea of the demographics surrounding their locations. Try to get an idea of the retailers' sales volume and expectations of wholesalers. This may be difficult, as detailed information may not be readily available for small operations. For large retailers, study the retailers' methodologies and requirements. Because large retailers tend to have wholesalers lined up to pitch products to them, they can afford to be more demanding. Get an idea of what the large retailers' demands will be. For example, a small retailer may be willing to pay you for the product upon delivery, while a large retailer may require you to wait 30 to 90 days for payment.
2
Compose a vendor agreement. Small retailers may not have specific vendor agreements that they require you to sign. While they may ask you to change various aspects of the vendor agreement before closing on the deal, composing the agreement yourself can give you the advantage of being the one to set the initial parameters of your relationship. Large retailers, however, tend to have their own vendor agreements.
3
Prepare and practice a product pitch. This pitch should come in two variations: the full pitch and the "elevator" pitch. The full pitch gives all of the essential details of the product, tailored to the specific operations, needs and goals of the retailer. The elevator pitch is a truncated version of the full pitch that provides the most interesting details of your product in less than a minute.
4
Contact the retailer. With smaller retailers, the most-effective method of initial contact may be to simply show up, as the person on location may be the person in charge or someone very close to the person in charge. In this case, be prepared to immediately go into either your full or elevator pitch. For medium-sized and large retailers, you may have to make initial contact by telephone or email, and this contact will probably be with someone who is a "gatekeeper," accustomed to dealing with wholesalers and manufacturers who are excited about their products. If the gatekeeper thinks your product could be good for the retailer's business, she will connect you with the person in charge of purchasing.
5
Make your pitch. While certain aspects of it may be the same from one retailer to another, various aspects of your pitch should change to make it more appealing to specific retailers. Do not give excessive technical information about your product initially, but prepare yourself to answer questions about such technical details if they arise. Remain confident, and use experiences gained from failed attempts to improve your pitch in future attempts.
