Happy Thursday retail-minded friends. As a product manufacturer, small business owner, or entrepreneur, you may have asked yourself the question of how certain people encounter success when selling to retailers. You have tried repeated times to get your product in stores, yet each time you have tried, something doesn’t quite line up, and you leave the meeting with a retail buyer disappointed and unmotivated.
It begs the question, what do they have that I don’t have?
Today, Retailbound is here to help crack the code and spill the secrets on how these people succeed, and to hopefully help you realize that you are closer than you may have thought to success with a retail buyer. By just tweaking a few things, you may find yourself on track for success.
1. Know the Retailer You Want to Sell to
This is NOT the place to implement the mindset of “take what you can get”. If you have been trying to sell to as many stores as possible and none have wanted to stock your product, this may be a sign that you are not targeting the correct retailer. Take a step back, look at who your product is targeted towards, and do some research on what types of stores this market shops at. You may find this has been the mistake you have been making all along. Make sure you know your target market, and consequently, where they shop.
2. We can’t reiterate it enough, know your product and its selling points
Why should the retailer buy your product? You have to be convincing, and this means knowing your product’s strong points. This could be quality, price, or unique features. Just make sure that you know how to showcase this. You must truly believe in your product before approaching a retail buyer. If you don’t believe in it, how do you expect others to? They already have shelves filled with items and phones ringing off the hook for meetings with retail buyers.
3. Get a marketing plan down
We recently talked about some post-sales tasks that you may be responsible for in a blog post. Marketing and sales promotions are some of these things. You are responsible for figuring out ways to drive sales for your product once it hits the shelves. If you have a good marketing plan, you can expect the retailer to order larger quantities from you and start to build a strong sales relationship. Make sure you have a strategy on how to drive customers to the retailer, and more specifically, to your product.
4. Packaging Woes
Your product needs packaging. It is something that is completely non-negotiable. If you do not know how to go about this, you can outsource this task. Also, you may be asked to change your packaging depending on the type of retailer you are trying to sell to. The clientele of different retailers have different expectations of packaging. Even if you have spent countless days and nights making what you think the perfect packaging for your product is, the retailer may disagree. Be flexible and make sure to be proactive in changing the packaging if they require it.
5. Marketing: In-house or outsourced?
Small companies generally do not have fully fledged marketing departments. Oftentimes, trying to do this yourself without experience can be a major reason for failure when it comes to selling to retailers. This is where you can outsource your marketing to professionals such as Retailbound, who have years of experience in the field of marketing and sales. If you do not want to do this, then make sure you hire a professional in-house who has experience.
Thanks for checking out or blog today! By following these tips, you can get yourself or your company on the right track towards success in selling to a retailer. If you have any further questions, check us out at www.retailbound.com
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