Sales Question?

larry merlau

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Delton, Michigan
ok you have a product that you are wanting to sell, you take a sample of the product to a retail shop, ask them to sell them, allowing them a good margin for them selves, they say its very nice product but decline because in the past they have had trouble with getting inventory after they have got orders. therefore not interested.. now you are not the one that didnt deliver product on time, another person was the culprit.. do you continue to get your goods in that outlet or do you go on to another that may be willing to sell your product..
 
If you've had an on-going relationship with merchant 'A', which it sounds like you do, you keep doing business with them. Take the high road. If merchant 'B' likes your product and agrees to handle it, certainly it's good to do some business with them but keep merchant 'A' in the loop as well. 'A' might have a change of heart down the road, but they sure won't if you abandon them!
 
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I'm not sure that to 'return fire when fired upon' is the right decision here but, don't know the particulars. The folks have had a bad experience and made a decision about what they will and won't do at their shop. It doesn't work out for you in this instance but, I don't know if I would hold that against them by shopping elsewhere if all else has been satisfactory up to this point. We all make decisions that may be too far reaching but, are simpler than making many small decisions. I don't let people eat in my car. That may mean we have to stop to eat, and that may make us late or make someone go hungry for a little while but, I don't want the smell, spills or trash in the car so, that's my decision. I don't think anyone has stopped riding with me over it (but, maybe they have :huh:).
 
I would continue with them to show them you are a regular with them, that could help open the door with them in the future and show you were not there just to sell your product. UNLESS they treated you poorly about the deal, if so, move on. JMHO:)
 
this is not a old customer ,,its one i was trying to get as new outlet for product.. have got the same product in another store but they dont have near the business as this one does. same town.. as of right now i just picked up the product and let alone.. but if we always took no for an answer we would never sell anything.. looking for a plan that i could do or say to give me a shot and showing this retailer i am different than the last one. and not just in looks:)
 
Larry, Being in sales I can say that the only real solution with a potential client like this is persistance. Keep on going back and be prepared to have them say no a number of times but if you keep on plugging they will know that you mean busines and eventually give you a shot. Sales is a funny business you need to be prepared for rejection. This is close to 40 years of sales expierance talking.
 
I agree with Don. Since I'm guessing your choices of potential retail outlets for your product are somewhat limited, it's worth being persistent trying to get your product into their store.

If you were in a bigger market with more places to try to sell to, it might not be worth the extra effort to try to convince one particular store to carry your product. But in your neck of the woods, I think the extra effort would be worthwhile.
 
Not to get into too much detail, but is the product something you can produce where you have an inventory of that is readily available or they can have on hand in their inventory? It may take that objection out of the equation, but building a relationship with them may also help.
 
Sales is all about relationships. If this store has the potential to sell a lot of your work then keep on calling on the guy, eventually he will learn to trust you. Use your relationship with his competitor to show him that you regularly live up to your commitments.
Do you have pictures of your work that you can show him? Show pictures of your shop and your lumber so that they know that you have the resources to supply them.

Then again, this guy could have no interest at all and is just blowing you off. After a few more calls on the guy you will get a better feel where he is coming from.
 
Sales is all about relationships. If this store has the potential to sell a lot of your work then keep on calling on the guy, eventually he will learn to trust you. Use your relationship with his competitor to show him that you regularly live up to your commitments.
Do you have pictures of your work that you can show him? Show pictures of your shop and your lumber so that they know that you have the resources to supply them.

Then again, this guy could have no interest at all and is just blowing you off. After a few more calls on the guy you will get a better feel where he is coming from.

yeah i could do that bob, kinda like funneling them in to where the buy or they dont period..we will give them another chance
 
I wanna know what larry is trying to sell them. come on larry, spill the beans.

Glenn-youre a toughie.
no bottled water in the car, in Cali, in that smog and heat, wow.

larry, all kidding aside.

if I were you larry, Id get your daughter or some other youngster to go with you as your sales rep and youre tagging along because youre the guy producting the merchandise and would like to introduce yourself to the perspective buyers.
theres alot of one man operations that store owners hesitate to purchase from, for whatever reasons. Quality control, product availability, like if youre the guy, and you get ill, are they out of luck? These things are on store owners minds when it comes to one man operations where something is made by him/her.
Do you carry a catalog of things you make, have a business name, things like this, might make the deal look more comfortable for small store operators.
 
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I think Allen has the point here.

I believe many of those who sell their wares or have intent to need to take heed of a few points.

1) Recognise the difference between wholesale and retail.
2) Understand the needs and wants of the two business models.
Do this fundamental homework first.
If you wish to be treated like a pro you need to treat the customer like a pro.

So examine this situation you faced and listen to what has been told to you buy the store owner. They actually telling you their need.

A retailer has a key metric they need to monitor and meet for their business to be successful that is sales per square ft.
They also need to meet a sweet spot of average ticket price that fits within the range of the demographic of the clients that shop their store.
So whats this mean to you? It means before you go andmake something and then expect them to stock and sell it you need to do research within their store and engage in a discussion with them.
You are acting as the manufacturer and wholesaler.
The wholesaler part of you needs to ensure the quality you as the factory supply is consistent but most important the wholesaler needs to have stock on hand to meet the retailers orders.
Believe it or not price of the product while important is actually less important than fulfillment.
This is where the previous guy failed and they told you this.
This is what happens when we go and get a sale on the basis of a low price "just to make ends meet" and then it becomes unattractive to fullfill the orders for the small amount of net return. So then after the retailer has used precious space and just got the clients aware of the product they now cannot get it when they need it.
Try put yourself in this retailers shoes and what he feels he has done to his clients and his reputation in the process.
He has not only lost a sale for space he set aside which is costing him in his bottom line and lets remember he only has his store to make it and when he has lost time in retail you dont get it back. So say i miss Easter sales then thats it till next year.
This is a key part to understanding who you are selling to and what their issues are.
Having a "special buy" one off listing of a product is one thing. They can use a product like that as a door crasher promotional loss leader.
But a line item they gonna carry, they need to know they can get reliable consistent supply. They dont have space to stock all they need and they got enough cash tied up in all their existing stock so they will not want to carry more of a item than the sales history shows. For this reason retailers will buy from a wholesaler even if at times its not the cheapest supplier.
Then comes the issue of how they present it in the store. This they refer to as merchandising. So have you considered how what ever it is will be displayed? How is it protected from handling as in damage and how the in store stock will be stored within the space they can or may make available.?
Sorry i can go on and on. you gotta tell me if you want more.

I like to keep coming back to a key point in sales.

Put yourself in the shoes of the person you are selling to.

You need to understand them and their clients. When you do then you will find you can present your product to them in a manner where you push the right buttons and in the process of doing so also without needing to actually do it, subtly demonstrate that you understand and relate to their world.
They dont fall in love with your product and hard work like you do. They not caught up in the wood choice finish or joints.
To them its a product the question is what price can they sell it for and what are they paying for it. Does it seem like something that fits their clients and if so what sort of percentage of them. How many will they move per retail period and how does this stack up with the other items in the store. How much space will it take both for it and its display means. How does the whole equation stack up?

Retail is a tough business. They gotta be tough to survive they selling to nutjobs like me that go to crazy extents to avoid paying an extra sent even though i can afford it.
What happens to returns, what warranties are you offering, how long do they have to wait to get resupply when stock is out?

So you see the deal is not as simple as we would like. Mr. Retailer will you stock my product and pay me for it.

So now i tell clients this is where you put your cap on that says "marketing manager" in your business.
Your job now is to mitigate the problems you have encountered and advise the "general manager" and " sales manager" and "production manager" of how you plan to do this.

One idea that may work is to tackle the issues presented by this retailer as obstacles to buying from you.

First issue is the continuity of supply and availability of additional stock.

Well you have no history with him and no significant references right now that he could call. What you could do if you up to it is offer him a kind of bond. This would be similar to what is often required for a major tender, often one needs to post a bid bond.

Also tackle some of the other issues of merchandising and returns.

Advise him of the stock you have on hand and your undertaking in respect of your offer in a time sense for resupply.

Take him an idea for a promotion using your product if its possible.

What you basically want to do is go back and demonstrate you actually are ready equipped and able and have solutions on hand to meet his requirements.

Do that and if the product does fit, then lets hear his next objection to the sale.

Dont forget. This is not just about getting no's its also possible its a negotiation. You gotta put some more cards on the table with him to be able to make the pot more attractive:)

Dont ....dont do the consignment stock part. I dont believe in it.

Consignment stock is speculation. If you wish to speculate do it elsewhere where you got a better chance of making money. :)

Think about what a retailer that takes consignment goods is telling you.
.......i dont know my clients or my market or my price points.
........i dont have financial means to carry stock....
........i may not end up paying you given i might need to subvert your payment to pay the rent or staff or utilities.

Lets go back to retail / wholesale 101.

........whilst the cards are in their hands right now....you cant let the balance stay that way throughout your relationship.

So you must believe your product and brand has and will grow in value as more become aware of it.
You need the retailer but he needs you too. You are giving him the ability to make the margin between you and the retail consumer.
There are terms associated with that too.
When you go accepting consignment straight away you have said you agree with them you dont think there is value in your product either so lets roll the dice and see what the consumer does and live with the way the dice fall.

Is that what you want or believe? I dont think so .....

Apologies for the long post. I thought more than just you could benefit from the info and wanted to broaden it out. :(


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I started making notes for a reply. However, when I hit Rob's post, I stopped. He pretty much said it all.

Would it be practical to promise that you always had a back-up to deliver ASAP when he makes a sale of one of your items. That would relieve him of a large up-front expense and of having to store extras of the item. I'm just throwing out ideas. I don't know how expensive X is and I don't know how big it is and I don't know if each item is custom made to fit a specific customer.

You definitely need to remember that you can earn 500 "Attaboys" and then do one "Aw S" and lose everything that the 500 "Attaboys" built up. I had my fingers in quite a few things in the field of optics. I can remember one sales person being told something like this, "I am dealing with A. I know when I order two dozen items in Blue from A and I need them Tuesday, I will get two dozen Blue items and I will probably have them Monday or sooner. You have a better price, however I don't know if you will supply two dozen (each one Blue, not 23 Blue and one Green) when I want/need it."

It does not matter what keeps you from supplying the item on time, all they see is that you did not supply on time.

Sidebar: I had a partner. Larry was Italian. He had all of the fire, fast talking, arm-waving, etc. attributes of a movie screen Italian. A new device had come on the market, a thing called soft contact lenses. I had taken courses on the fitting of these lenses. However, the technical rep promised to come and spend a day at the office to show me, hands-on all of those little subtleties that do not come across in a classroom situation. I scheduled an entire day of patients who were willing to be guinea pigs for this modern development. (remember, at that time contact lenses were a rarity---mainly used by actors and actresses).

The guy did not show up. I fit patients and if I had a question I called the manuracturer's test clinic and asked. A few hours later the rep called. I said, "Larry, you take this call; I will be too nice." Larry chewed this guy up, down, sideways, talking a mile a minute. Finally Larry had to pause---The rep blurted out, "My mother died at 6:00 this morning." I told Larry that I was sure glad that he took that call.

Yes, having his mother suddenly die was trauma. However, the rep should have had someone call us or our answering machine. There are virtually no excuses for not supplying product as promised, when promised.

Do under-promise and over-deliver.

Enjoy,

JimB
 
Larry you might want to document how long it takes you to crank out another piece and show them pictures of your shop and lumber supplies. I know that when I do a cold call for a perspective pen customer it sure helps to have a portfolio with pictures and some sales records to show them. It may help them to see multiples of what you want to sell. If you could glean some references from satisfied customers that also helps. I talk quality and craftsmanship and quantities whenever I am trying to get in the door. I know also that belonging to a woodworkers guild and other associations and forums helps them to see your commitment to your craft.
 
Easy, tell them to order a qty and that way they don't have to take orders at all....

But, I do agree with others here, don't abandon at least some of your business with them.

Back in the day, when I worked harder at selling than today, I was selling computers and supplies (distributor) into retailers. It was a territory that no one had success in and it was HARD work. I assured them that they would see me frequently, I made the 300 mile journey every 3 weeks, all year, good weather or bad, and I guaranteed sale. This means that if they had not sold it in 3 weeks or 6 weeks, I would pull it and replace with some other product. I very seldom had to ever pull inventory! Knowing your product and knowing your market are extremely important.

Doug
 
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One of the first sales books I ever read was "Winning Through Intimidation" by Robert Ringer. It wasn't a get in their face method of sales it was all about making yourself and your tiny company appear to be very professional, experienced, and heads above the competition. Let him know upfront that if he is looking to buy inexpensive huge factory made furniture than you are not his guy. In a nutshell, Have all your ducks in a row. Nice business card, photos of your work, success stories, the whole woodworking package from bread boards to buffets. A choice of finishes and all the other bells and whistles that give him no reason not to do business with you.
I taught the "consultative" selling approach to all the sales people who worked for me. Basically, you are the expert in your field. You know his business as well as or better than he does. Pretty soon he will be placing an order.
 
Very very well said Bob.

I love your point about going in prepared in such a way that he has no alternative to buy from you.

Key here is to have prepared and equipped yourself to mitigate any and all objections and not to do it in a argumentative confrontational manner but simply with evidence of how you have addressed his potential concerns. Some of his issues will be answered even without him asking or raising them if one has out oneself in the customers shoes and considered what concerns exist. Concerns are areas of risk. A good business owner takes risks but calculated risks not gambles. The owners job as a business manager is to manage and mitigate risks that can threaten a business. Think like this in their shoes and you can come up with most of the issues and be prepared when they arise or if appropriate cover some of them without waiting for the question.


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