How to sell products to retailers
How to Sell Products to Stores - Top Ten Tips on How to Sell Products to Stores!
this is Karen Waxman founder of retail
MBA and in this particular segment we're
going to be covering the top 10 tips for
getting your products into major
retailers now the reason I decided to
create this particular segment is
because I believe it's important that
you get a little insight into how major
retailers operate and what makes them
more inclined to buy and I'm hoping that
these tips help you get started there's
a lot of misconceptions out there and
I'm thinking these tips will kind of get
you feeling like you can get your
products in the stores which is
ultimately why I do what I do because I
do believe that anyone can get their
products and their major retailers if
they have a product they believe in
that's a product that they think should
be in stores I believe that I can help
you do that but with that said let's
talk about the top 10 tips first one is
that major retail buyers are looking for
you most people don't realize how
important it is for major retail buyer
to buy new and interested interesting
innovation it's a huge part of their
purchasing strategy at the end of the
day major retailers are dealing with a
tremendous amount of competition and
their customers are finicky and they
want the next best new cool thing in the
store so the retail buyers know this so
they're always looking for new products
this is the best time effort to get your
products into a chain store you just
need to understand how to prepare your
product in order to get the buyer to buy
the second tip is that you don't have to
be a big company selling major retailers
in fact most of the companies that I've
represented over the years have only
been stocked small startups it's really
true that the buyers I'll care more
about finding the right product and they
do about the size of your company if you
have a great product that they believe
will generate revenue for their company
trust me they will care about that more
than anything they don't care as to
whether or not you're big company or
small they just want to make sure that
you're set up properly to be able to you
know ship products to them at night and
I talked about that in my actual program
but just know that you don't have to be
a big company to sell the major
retailers I know this because I have
been representing companies who just
starting out and so forth so and
obviously I teach this to all sorts of
students who don't for small and just
getting started
tip number three packaging is essential
to your success if I can give you any
advice on selling to major retailers
it's that you should always spend more
I'm money and effort on packaging the
reason is is that when you walk into a
store you're not looking at your product
you're looking at the product and its
packaging people are not going to buy
your product just on the product Lo and
packaging really doesn't matter so a
person needs to make sure that whatever
product that they have that their
packaging is on point because ultimately
a buyer is going to pay attention to
that because they know the packaging
drive sales and that's what matters to
buyers so packaging is absolutely
essential to your success tip number
four you must do the necessary homework
and research to help you win most people
don't realize how much information is
available to them by simply walking into
a store and checking out product aisles
the truth is that you can find out
exactly but what a buyer wants to
purchase simply by looking at what you
put on there what they put on their
store shelves a store shelf will tell
you what the retail price should be what
your packaging should look like and
everything I mean if you think about it
from a buyer's perspective they said yes
to one of your competitors which means
that they purchased your competitors
products which are currently on the
store shelves which means that the buyer
likes that product the way that it is
they like the pricing they like the
packaging they like it's the way that
it's set up and just by simply going
into a store and doing the necessary
homework and research you can ultimately
learn how to get your products in the
stores so tip number five avoid vendor
departments really what that means is
that you should avoid contacting the
front desk of a chain store and asking
how you should get their products in the
stores basically you should avoid doing
what everybody else does which is
filling out the forms that they provide
you online so if you call a major
retailer and you try to get your
products in stores most people call the
front desk
front desk redirects them to a
department either a place on their
website or an 800 number or something
and they ask you to fill out a bunch of
forms and submit your products to them I
think that is the worst way to get your
products into stores because you cannot
differentiate yourself you're doing what
everybody else does and you basically
leave it up to fate and whoever is
processing stuff online to determine
whether or not your products should get
into stores
what retailer professionals do they
contact the buyers directly which is how
I teach people and I teach you what to
say to buy
ultimately get them to buy but at tip
number five is a five is avoid vendor
departments and go directly to the
buyers don't follow protocol don't go
after chain stores by calling the front
desk and filling out forms there are
other ways to get your products into
stores tip number six find the right
buyers name and contact information most
people don't realize that there are
places that you can go to to get a
buyers contact information and
ultimately figure out which buyer is
responsible for your product type so
there are companies like to give you an
example there's a company called the
chain store guide you can go to chain
store guide comm and they actually sell
list of buyers names that's one example
I actually have a full tutorial on this
in my program but that's one example
chain store guide actually sells buyers
buyer contact information and when you
look at their contact information you'll
see what the buyer is responsible for
buying seal if you have a consumer
electronics product you can find the
specific buyer that will buy your
product and there are companies out
there who actually sell that content
that you can use and it's very important
that you find the right buyer for your
product type again I cover all this in
detail in my program but it's important
to note tip number seven make nice with
the assistant buyers what does this mean
well most people don't realize that
buyers usually start their career as an
assistant buyer and basically what that
means is that buyers assistant buyers
become buyers very soon so all buyers
start as assistants and then they
eventually become buyers and most people
treat assistant buyers as basically
secretaries people who are assistants
and so forth but I think it's a very
very bad idea because assistant buyers
will be buyer soon and ultimately if
you're nicer those assistant buyers you
will ultimately be able to get your
products in the stores you have no idea
how many times I've gotten a product
into a store because I was nice to that
assistant buyer I was different to them
than everybody else because I knew how
valuable they could be in the long run
because I knew they would ultimately
become that buyer for that product type
and so I'm always nice to the assistant
buyer and that's something to consider
as well tip number eight explore vendor
day
so what's vendor day vendor day is a day
of the week the month or the year where
enables vendors potential vendors people
want products to come to their corporate
office and basically pitch them to one
day where the buyer actually goes and
enables you know maybe ten vendors in
one day to go and essentially pitch
their wares you usually have fifteen to
thirty minutes with that buyer and it's
your time to shine and wow them
and so that is vendor day so again
buyers do this all the time because they
are constantly looking for new product
so anyways I think it's very important
that you know that vendor Day is one
great way of getting in front of a chain
store buyer now personally I have a
whole other way slew of other ways I get
products in the stores and it's
definitely not related to vendor day
because I like to have one-on-one
meetings with buyers I don't like my
competitors there on the same day as me
so I'm always going to try and get that
buyer alone but if there's no other way
of getting a product into a store I will
ultimately go through vendor day and to
give you a quick tip on how you can do
that how you can get a meeting with that
buyer for that vendor day simply call
their assistance and say I would like to
be a part of their next of your next
vendor day so the assistant buyer can
help you get a meeting with that buyer
on vendor day so that's something to
consider but again there's so many other
ways to get products into stores and I
usually use vendor day as my last
approach but it's definitely a way of
getting in front of a meeting with a
buyer and again it's like 15 minutes you
have and then back to back that buyer is
meeting with vendors all day and then
ultimately if they like your product
they will potentially buy your product
but that's what vendor day is and it's
something to note tip number 9 it's a
numbers game I can't I can't even tell
you how many students of mine who have
called me after they started going after
chain stores and they just don't realize
how how many retailers they have to go
after in order to get that one hit and
the thing about selling to retailers is
that you just need one chain store to
say yes to your product put it into
their store for have the product to sell
during a test to ultimately get your
whole business to change one major
retail order a successful retail order
can change your business completely and
so it is a numbers game you have to
contact a lot of these chain source
because you're going to get a lot of
knows it's part of selling to chain
stores but ultimately the good news is
is that you will ultimately only need
one chain store buyer to buy your
product and it to be successful in order
for you to succeed so just know that
it's a numbers game and that you should
never give up and that you will
ultimately if you believe in your
product can get your product in stores
and I teach you exactly what to do to
get products in the stores but just know
that it's absolutely a numbers game and
all you need to meaning that you have to
contact a lot of different chain stores
and then ultimately all you really need
though is that one shot and people get
that one shot and that's where their
lives change and that's why I think it's
so cool to sell the chain stores and the
last tip I can give you is just don't
give up I know that it seems
overwhelming the concept of selling your
products to the major retailers but I'm
telling you it's not that complicated it
just takes time and effort and focus and
desire if you really believe that your
product should be in stores you don't
give up you continue and you ultimately
get your products into stores I've had
students who you know reached out onto
tons of buyers it's very discouraging
and frustrating and then one day they
get that yes and their whole lives are
changed and it was so worth the journey
so if I can give you an advice it's
don't give up this is karen Waxman
founder of retail MBA and I hope these
top 10 tips for getting your products
and chain stores helps you get at least
a feel for what it's like to get your
products in the stores
obviously I cover the entire run-through
of how to get a product into stores
including how to pitch buyers in my
retail MBA program but I felt like this
was a really good start to get you going
this is karen Waxman founder of retail
MBA please leave your comments below and
ultimately please be able to look out
for the additional content that I create
thanks
