The key principle in selling wholesale to retailers is to invest time upfront in planning your approach and sales materials. This will allow you to prioritize and focus so that you can go deep into a few areas that will deliver the highest return on your time investment, rather than spreading yourself too thin and getting frustrated.

While it’s tempting to pursue every retail category for which your products may be eligible when selling wholesale to retailers, it’s best to focus on one at a time in order to make your efforts more efficient and targeted. You can always change things up as you learn more. This means setting up a criteria for determining the best fit for your business.   

Depending on your product, you may be very clear that you’re simply going to target a specific category of store. However some products will appeal to several categories. For Instance, SoYoung’s bags have been sold through gift shops, baby stores, kids gear stores and natural grocers, among others. Simply make an exhaustive list of the possibilities based on your current knowledge and best guesses.

To find your category focus, I suggest using a multi-attribute model spreadsheet. This approach allows you to apply a disciplined approach to choosing your initial target category.

1. Plug in the categories you are considering down the left hand “LEAD” column (replace the title “Lead 1” etc.)

The retailers that carry your products reflect strongly on what kind of brand you are, so be intentional about who you target when selling wholesale to retailers. In this step you will determine the key criteria that you will use to target specific retailers. For instance, SoYoung, while not a luxury brand, does price its products at a premium, so discount stores are not a good fit for us.

Again, focus is the key to remaining productive. Once again use the multi attribute model to determine which retailers you will focus on.

1. Plug in the retailers you are considering down the left hand LEADS column.

This is by far the most time-consuming aspect of the process of selling wholesale to retailers. There are companies that offer lists of specific roles that you can purchase, but they’re expensive and I have found that often they are out of date or missing key data. To compound the issue, many buyers go out of their way to maintain a low profile online so that they are not inundated with inquiries.

Getting a name

Getting their email address

If it is a high-value target, such as a chainstore, I would suggest going a step further once you have determined who your exact buyer is. Check out their social media profiles – especially ones like Pinterest and Instagram where they may be sharing personal tastes. You don’t want to let on that you have been browsing their personal profiles, but you may get some additional insight into their likes and preferences that you can use to your advantage in your sales pitch.

If you are determined to get your products into a specific national chain you may even want to go a step further in building an organizational map. This means building a diagram of all the people who report to that buyer or may have some influence over the decision to carry your products. You can then target each of the influencers with emails tin a multi pronged attack.

Buyers are constantly reviewing products and don’t have a lot of time. When selling wholesale to retailers, you need to invest your time in creating a few succinct but powerful pieces that will quickly convey your product’s value and appeal. There are three main pieces you will need to prepare:

Your initial outreach email should be short and to the point. Provide an introductory paragraph that points to the sales sheet, which you will attach, and a brief list of bullet points about the product’s selling points. I’ve found that it’s best not to over sell the product at this stage. You are really just looking for their opinion as to whether they have any interest and see a fit for their retail environment.You can download the exact template we use at SoYoung at the link below.

>>Download a free email template example

The sales sheet is a one page PDF that provides everything a buyer might need to make an initial decision as to whether he or she might be interested in your product(s). Keeping it to one page will insure you focus your message so that the buyer can clearly understand your product and make a quick initial assessment. Any ambiguity about what your product is or why it’s relevant will make a poor first impression and likely just cause them to ignore your products.

What your sales sheet should include:

• Your logo, product name and tagline

>>Download a free sales sheet example

While you won’t always need it, you should have a more in-depth pitch presentation prepared. This can be formatted as a slideshow that can be presented either in person or remotely, once a buyer has expressed some interest. It should be short – less than 10 minutes – but fill in some of the details that you did not have space for in your sales sheets.

Your pitch presentation should include:

• 8-10 Slides

>>Download an example of a pitch presentation

At this point you should have a good idea of who you are targeting and have all of your sales materials prepared. In some cases, your initial interactions with your target will reveal that they are not actually the buyer for your category. Ideally they will point you in the right direction, but if not you may have to go back and do some more research.

Before you begin your outreach in earnest, you should have some system in place for tracking your sales efforts. A CRM (customer relations management) system is great because it allows you to set notifications and see all past correspondence with a lead in context, so you know exactly where your progress with that person is at. We use Base CRM – but there are plenty of others out there.

If you don’t have a CRM yet, you can just track your efforts in a spreadsheet. However I strongly suggest you at least add some software to your email client that allows you to track whether your email has been opened by a target, as this will allow you to better determine follow up efforts.

What to expect after sending an email.

If you see that an email hasn’t been opened a few days after sending it, I would suggest simply resending it again. If you see that an email has been opened, move on to the phone call follow-up with the buyer.

Once you see that an email has been opened, or if you’ve sent several emails that have not been opened, call the buyer. This can seem intimidating at first but, as long as you are prepared with a simple script, it is a simple and straightforward process. Your purpose here is simply to follow-up on your email until you get a response.  

You’ll want to keep trying until you get the buyer in person, however it doesn’t hurt to leave a short voicemail drawing attention to your email and politely requesting a response. Use the provided script to insure your message is succinct and to the point. If the buyer has not yet read your email, the voicemail may be what prompts them to look for it in their inbox. At the very least, a voicemail, if heard, puts you on their radar and lets them know that you are serious about getting a response.

Again, have your script in hand and point them to your email. This is not the time to be doing a hard sell. Your goal is simply to get a response and gage whether there is any interest on their part. Stick to the script and, if there is a moment of awkward silence while they search for your email or ponder a response, DON’T make the mistake of filling it with your nervous chatter. You’ll likely just be giving them a reason to say no.

Ask the buyer if you could schedule a short 10 minute meeting in which to give them a few more details about your product. If you are able meet in person that is ideal, however if the buyer is in another city or country, this may be unfeasible. I have done successful presentations over the phone with a simple screen share. Suggest a definite time and see if you can get it booked then and there.

Sometimes the buyer will request a sample at this stage, or even a small test order. This is great progress but even if they request a sample, I would still try to get a few minutes of their time to  give them your full pitch.

>>Download a free phone sales followup script

I have made sales without doing this step, particularly for smaller chains. However if the buyer is interested but not yet decided, this is your opportunity to make your product(s) seem like a no-brainer for him or her to at least try out.

Before your meeting, go through your presentation as many times as you need to to insure you have it down cold. I would suggest making your slides as visual as possible rather than just a number of bullet points that you’re reading off the page. You should memorize exactly what you are going to say, while using the images as supporting material.

Don’t make the mistake of ending the pitch by asking what they thought. You should end by asking if they would be willing to try a test order. If they have any hesitancy, the next best outcome is offer to see if they will review a sample. It may also be that they are interested but they don’t know how to work the products in yet or the timing is off. In that case, ask if you can follow up with them.

If you get anything short of an order or test order, you should continue to follow up with the buyer every week or two. I’ll usually do 2 or three emails to every phone call follow-up. Remember that buyers are busy, so they aren’t necessarily ignoring you because they don’t like your product. They may be undecided or have other priorities to deal with. I have had sales that took a year or longer to come to fruition. You simply have to keep politely persisting until someone gives you a firm no or you get a first order. Again, a CRM will help you keep track of all your leads and allow you to schedule reminder tasks around follow-up activities.

If you get a No

Those that are most successful at selling wholesale to retailers play the long game of consistent efforts. Very rarely are you going to pick up the phone or send an email and get an immediate response. You have to slowly and methodically persist over time with follow-up after follow-up until people realize that you are not going to go away. Selling wholesale to retailers is not glamorous, and it can be intimidating to reach out to total strangers, but if you do this on a regular basis you will be ahead of 90% of the pack.

Still have some questions about selling wholesale to retailers? Leave a comment below!