Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I am very interested in creating a wholesale relationship
between my online store and a brick and mortar in my area
(then branching out to other far away locations). I have the
product (pottery), and the direct importer of my product (from
Viet Nam). So now comes the work. How do I connect with
retailers? I have heard people say retailer operators are not
likely to speak to walk-ins about buying product at wholesale. I
can understand the reasons, but I can also think of better ones
to listen to me. Of course the big question is, how do I connect
with a retail storeowner on a level that is non-threatening? To
give a little more example of my fears…

My good friend owns three autobody shops. He and I were
conversing one day in his office. During our conversation, the
phone rang, as usual, and he answered it. The call was quite
short. He says, “Oh, you want to talk to Joey. He`ll be back in
about an hour.” The call ended normally, and he hung up the
phone. …There isn`t a Joey working there… Seeing the
puzzled look on my face, he went on to tell me that he has so
many sales calls, he refers all sales people to Joey. And Joey
is always out to lunch or helping a customer. How do I beat that
scenario, as I assume the role of yet another hat?

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Vincent Wilcox (a.k.a. KRAKR)
Drummer
My band: Letters Make Words

My business partner and I just launched a wholesale distribution company (for security related products) and I understand your dilemna.

Don`t give up.

It`s just like selling to end-users. You have to be persistant, have quality products, and a good price point.

What makes your pottery better than the stuff they have now? What makes it unique in the fact that they can`t get it anywhere else but from you? What kind of support do you provide the channel?

When you call a store most of the time you`ll be talking to a non-decision maker. You have to get past them to a purchasing agent/owner and offer them something worthwhile. Maybe a test order or something.

Watch out on getting into exclusive deals too that could hurt you if your largest customer goes out of business or something.

HTH some!

~Allen

Thank you. I will just keep chugging along then. I am actually
surprised there hasn`t been more comments on this subject.
Maybe it`s because there is no easy answer, and you just have
to keep knocking on doors. Thanks again.

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Vincent Wilcox (a.k.a. KRAKR)
Drummer
My band: Letters Make Words

Being a small gift shop owner and running the entire operation by myself, my time is very limited and I try to set aside part of one day per week to meet with sales reps, complete orders, etc.  If you have a particular store in mind, maybe it would help if you became its customer and get to know the owner, purchaser and sales staff.  When I receive in-person cold-calls, I`m not necessarily turned off ... I just don`t have time!  If it`s a product that I might be interested in, I appreciate the sales rep asking politely to make an appointment to demo - show - etc.  It also goes a long way if that sales rep is willing to leave a product for 2-3 days so I can show it to my customers and get feed-back.  I will not tolerate a pushy, fast-sale, my time is more valuable that yours type sales person.  In my area of the country, both locals and tourists go for more of the "locally made" pottery ... be prepared for all different kinds of responses to your product.  Don`t get defensive, don`t give 101 reasons why.  Just be calm, cool and collective - perhaps offer a "test week" -- no obligation.   Also, if you have any gift markets close to you, you may want to sign up for the summer cash `n carry shows.  Retailers are looking for new, different fillers and you might pick up some good customers.   Good luck - if you have any more questions, don`t hesitate to contact me.

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Donna - Dance to the Song of Life!
Owner - The Basquet Case Market & Gifts
www.thebasquetcase.com

Wow. Leave a sample behind! That`s a great idea. I don`t know
why I didn`t think of that. Cool. I think that will work well. Most of
my issue is getting people to view a sample. I have had nearly
zero complaints of voices of disatisfaction. I`ll do that.

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Vincent Wilcox (a.k.a. KRAKR)
Drummer
My band: Letters Make Words

I agree with the comments about making friends with the store owner, staff, etc...after all they will ultimately be selling your products so you will want them to remember you AND the products.

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Stacie Mullins
Creator
Debutante Vintage Boutique

Love the give-away idea!

Sometimes it`s hard for a retailer to move from seller to a buyer in a flash.  After you finish with the local area, your next logical choice is trade shows. At a trade shows all the retailers have to stop what they`re doing and think about buying!
Not sure what trade shows are applicable to you, but you might visit the New York gift fair just to see what it`s all about.
www.nyigf.com

I am currently involved in tradeshows in my area. The next one
is actually May 5th. So I am aware of that great resource, even
though it is $600-1500 just to get a space. Then there`s
additional guidelines that need to be followed. Regardless, of
this slight complaining. I know... it takes money to make money.
Also a bunch of hard work. But the tradeshows are great for
getting to know your own product as well as the target market
that seems to be interested in your product.

In my experience, I gained more love for my product in our
previous shows. Sales revenue was less of an impact to me.
Moreso was the smiles and great replies we were receiving.

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Vincent Wilcox (a.k.a. KRAKR)
Drummer
My band: Letters Make Words