How to Sell Your Product to Stores

How to Sell Your Product to Stores

Store sales offer an opportunity to reduce logistics costs while making it easier for your customers to purchase your product. Retail buyers and decision makers typically have specific supplier requirements; therefore, your sales pitch must clearly demonstrate why your product would add value to their inventory.

Start with a Sell Sheet

Product sell sheets are an effective way to introduce buyers to your business and its offerings. They can be shared online, on social media platforms such as Facebook or via email; printed as flyers for direct mail campaigns or distributed at events; fully branded from top to bottom to ensure brand recognition while creating an aesthetically-pleasing reading experience for readers – complete with images, detailed product descriptions and customer testimonials as well as providing answers for common objections raised during conversion processes.

An attractive full-color image can often draw the eye of potential buyers to your product sell sheet. It is also essential that there be a call-to-action statement that states the purpose of your document and how you want your target audience to interact with it – this can include bolded text, other design elements or even a separate callout box to direct their focus towards this information.

Your product sell sheet should address the needs and interests of its target audience. For instance, selling an off-road vehicle requires providing more factual details about horsepower and torque than it might with selling dolls or games that focus more on positive emotions than their specs.

When creating a product sell sheet, it is crucial that all information provided by the business be accurate and truthful. For example, if your company provides installation or maintenance services, be sure to mention them in the “Description” section to prevent potential customers from being mislead by misleading ads and becoming disappointed by false promises.

If your product is an aftermarket upgrade or modification for existing equipment, it is advisable to include this detail in your sell sheet’s describing section in order to make it easy for customers to identify whether it is suitable for them, saving both you and them time when discussing this product in person or over the phone.

Establish Relationships with Distributors

Product distribution is one of the initial steps you take when bringing a product or service to market, but if you aren’t prepared it can quickly go awry. Building relationships with distributors requires time and effort but can be achieved efficiently by understanding their business challenges as well as learning about their operations and goals.

Distributors specialize in finding products for retailers, so if your product fits within their scope of distribution – including convenience stores, food markets, pharmacies or gas stations – then distributors could potentially become interested. Your distributor of choice should also be able to offer insight into the market – what marketing strategies have proven successful for similar brands within their territory.

Meeting in-person with your distributors can be an effective way of developing relationships and showing your dedication to the partnership. Distributors typically receive many phone calls, emails and texts; meeting them face to face provides them with the chance to put a name with a face!

At the same time, it is essential to be fair and reasonable with your distributors. Don’t treat them like ATM machines but don’t be intimidated into not speaking up when an issue arises – miscommunication and misunderstandings often arise when dealing with distributors; by being direct and calm in dealing with them they will likely reciprocate this approach with you.

Distributors must weigh many factors when selecting products to offer their customers, so they need to feel assured that your brand is an investment worthy of their consideration. One effective way of providing this reassurance is showing them your company history and outlining the products’ competitive advantages.

Bring in distributors to meetings such as sales team meetings to keep them abreast of what’s happening with your business and show that you value their partnership. This can give them confidence that recommending your product to retailers will be worthwhile investments that you are invested in as partners.

Prepare a Pitch

No matter if it’s via in-store visits or emails, when pitching products to buyers they should prepare a sales and marketing pitch to showcase what makes your product or service different and its growth potential.

Retailers often seek products to distinguish them from competitors. When pitching, make sure your pitch emphasizes that your product is new and exciting, is well-made, and that the company behind it has an efficient business plan.

Start off your pitch right by sharing anecdotes that resonate with buyers. Relatable stories help buyers become invested in what you offer. Additionally, compare how your product performs against those in its same market segment; this demonstrates your knowledge of their current sales figures and unit figures.

When crafting your pitch, it’s essential that it addresses the industry sector that you are targeting. No one likes hearing generic pitches that could apply to any business; so take advantage of any research you did into their vertical and demonstrate that your solution fits directly with their requirements.

As part of your pitch presentation, avoid being overloaded with PowerPoint slides and complimentary pastries. When emailing it instead, keep it short with only a few paragraphs to cover everything that needs to be covered; buyers typically only give you 30-60 seconds worth of their attention before moving on. Make sure you include their name in both the title of your email and in its greeting, to show that you know their business. Furthermore, highlight all of the advantages to them and their customers from using your product. Your target customers need a clear idea of the return on investment from investing in your business proposition, and stakes such as discounts for their first order or free shipping may help seal the deal.

Be Prepared to Follow Up

Selling products into new stores can be an excellent way to expand sales, yet can also be time consuming and require much energy. One key way of increasing success in this process is following up on inquiries from stores – either via email or calling them directly directly – promptly so as not to lose potential customers due to delays.

Follow-up is key for any business interacting with customers, from requests for product demonstrations or free download guides, to inquiries about services. In retail store inquires, it’s crucial that pricing and other necessary details are given promptly so as to meet client expectations.

Email can be an effective follow-up method when responding to retail store inquiries; however, texting may also prove more successful as SMS messages tend to avoid spam filters and can be sent during a time when someone may be more active on their phones.

Be sure to include a clear call to action (CTA), outlining exactly the steps they should take next, so they remember the conversation and respond quickly. Keep messages short; an average text contains 160 characters.

Another excellent reason to follow up with a retail store inquiry is to address any problems that have come up after customer purchase. Doing this can make customers feel valued, demonstrate that your company cares for their experience with you and increase customer retention rates by expanding customer referrals. Furthermore, quickly responding to an issue can prevent it from turning into bigger issues in the future.

How to Sell Your Product to Stores

How to Sell Your Product to Stores

Step-by-step training on how to sell to retail chains!

We explain exactly how to do that and how to get started today. I’ve taught over 100,000 of companies over the years across the globe on how to get your products to the stores. And so we’re here to support you. Or please subscribe to our Youtube channel and or be on the lookout for additional training that we create.

We are here to expedite the process of generating revenue with your physical products and that’s what we’re all about.  Take a look at our advanced training, live events, certification programs and so much more.

In this training, I will discuss some of the things to think about when approaching a retailer to sell your products and become a vendor. Hope it helps! 🙂

Karen Waksman,
Retail MBA

Questions? Contact Us!
1-855-Retail-2 (Call or Text)
Email: info@retailmba.com

Retail MBA provides a step-by-step formula on How to Sell to Major Retailers, Online Retailers, Smaller Retailers, Catalogs and More. No Experience Required! These solutions continue to convert for clients year-over-year! These are Time-Tested and Proven Strategies that we utilize ourselves when going after stores! Everything we teach, we test. Want access to these formulas? ANY one of our programs and coaching systems gives you access to them now. With that said… 

Here are 5 Easy Ways to Work with Us:

 1) Free Training If You Would Like to Join Our Next FREE Webinar Training Called “Retail Chain Store Secrets – How to Sell to Major Retail Chains. No Experience Required” Then Sign Up NOW To Learn All About Selling into Retail Chains By Clicking Here!

2) Retail MBA Year Long Coaching and Training System  Our Year Long Coaching and Training System with Karen Waksman is POWERFUL! This is our most popular training and coaching system! We walk you through how to approach, pitch and sell to retail chains and we coach you along the way! Join us by Clicking Here!

3) Masterclass Intensives  Want to Join our Next 4 Week Elite Retail MBA Masterclass Intensive? These Intensives Are EPIC for people who Love Fast Paced Learning – Homework, Retail Coaching, Developing Your Strategy, Buyers Contacts and More! These Events Are Held Every Quarter. Join us by Clicking Here!

4) Done-for-You Program If You Want Karen Waksman and Her Team to Reach Out to Your Top Dream Retail Chains On Your Behalf – And You Have a Retail-Ready Product, Check Out our Epic Done-For-You Service by Clicking Here!

5) In Person Events – If You Want to Learn LIVE and Meet Karen Waksman in Person at Our Next “America’s Next Retail Product: LIVE Event with Other Like-Minded Individuals in Beautiful San Diego, CA! We Would LOVE to Have You Join Us by Clicking Here!