How to Find Wholesale Accounts
When an individual or group is in the wholesaling business, they are selling goods in quantity at a lower price for resale by retailers. You might have heard about others selling online and offline creating a substantial amount of income. One way they are increasing revenue is by establishing and securing wholesale accounts. You may want to open accounts with store owners so you, too, can sell merchandise quickly and in large amounts, rather than dealing with individual sales. So how do you find wholesale accounts?
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Things You'll Need
- Business cards
- Letterhead stationary
- Personalized envelopes
- Product catalog or brochure listing your services
- Price list that provides a discounted cost to the client
- Calculator
- Receipt book
- Appointment book
Instructions
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Update your company's literature so it targets small business owners and large store chains. You will want to design a packet that contains: a presentation letter, a catalog or brochure, business card, and wholesale price list.
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List businesses in your area that you might frequently shop. Those stores could include: gift shops, novelty stores, outlets and other similar stores.
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Check your local phone directory, Internet and Chamber of Commerce for potential clients.
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Prepare a marketing script for your business before you meet with individuals and groups about your products or services. Be sure to include what makes your business unique. Do you have a fast turn-around, great prices, or possess certain items that your competition doesn't? Select the appropriate attire and check that your personality reflects your business. If not, hire someone to represent your business for you. Your new hire should have an award-winning personality and professional demeanor. Keep all appointments in a single book for easy access and so that if you should hire an employee and he or she takes a day off or leaves the company, you will be able to pick up where they left off.
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Visit the stores and bring all your tools including: appointment book, receipt book, pens and pencils, catalog, wholesale price list, business cards, calculator, and notepad. Ask for the name of the store manager and if you could speak with him or her. Sometimes, there is a chain of command you must go through if the owner or branch manager is not present. Show the decision-maker your company literature.
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Add a list of potential clients not in your area and might not specialize in your products or typically use your service, but may be willing to give your business a chance. For instance, if you are selling glass novelty gifts, try a neighborhood drug or convenience store, even though they do not specialize in such items, but they do carry them.
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Create a survey for business owners and managers in and around your area that might be hard to reach in person. Ask specific questions about their needs. Conduct surveys by mail, fax, email or phone. Take the results of the survey to help tailor your efforts to gain wholesale accounts. If you prefer not to perform your own research, visit online forums related to your industry to see what others have to say about the needs of business owners.
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Talk with competitors about their needs. They might be seeking a new supplier, closing their business, or looking to sell, which means you will have access to their partners. Visit their stores often or have someone mystery shop their business to find out what products are moving the fastest in order to determine what products or services you should be promoting when talking with business owners and managers about their needs.
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Establish a referral program to get everyone you know to add to your potential client list.
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Send mailings out on company letterhead in personalized envelopes to existing clients telling them about your products and offering them an opportunity to receive a future discount, prize or other incentive for referring new business partners to you.
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Tell family and friends to talk with their contacts about your business and offer them an incentive for referring their business associations back to you.
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Contact people via your email list and tell them about your referral program.
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Create an advertising campaign that includes a newspaper or newsletter widely read by your potential clients and place ads in a highly visible section. Consider advertising your business online and posting relevant ads on sites frequently visited by business owners. For example, if a small business owner is seeking a unique product for Christmas, he or she is going to search for distributors of Christmas novelty items. You will want to have a banner ad, textual ad or image somewhere on the website's store front. Think about designing your own website, blog or using social media to gain traffic to your existing web creations. Be sure all your marketing efforts tailor to a specific need rather than a large variety.
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Find out what events are taking place in your area that may draw a large group of potential clients and attend them with your business literature in tow.
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When you land an account, take the order using a professional receipt book and ask for a deposit when dealing with small businesses. Large businesses will not make deposits that usually want to be invoiced with "net" payment terms. Provide details about cost and delivery. Answer any questions your client may have. Leave the client with the following before you end the meeting: a copy of the receipt or invoice, catalog and business card. Follow-up with the client by sending them a letter on company letterhead and additional information about your business.
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Tips & Warnings
Be positive, professional, patient and determined.
Learn about your potential client's business before you approach him or her.
Smaller stores tend to be less formal than larger stores. Know how to adjust your personality between the two.
Remember to provide key reasons as to why the potential client should buy from you, such as: fast service, local company, great prices, quality product, large selection, new product line, and professionalism.
Keep in mind that every store is unique and you will not always play by the book. You might negotiate a better price with one store and barely meet your price at another store.
When dealing with small businesses or individuals try to collect as much money upfront as you can.
Negotiate your prices. You might have one price in mind, your sales catalog says another, and the owner may want the same price their last supplier gave them. Have an idea what you are willing to sacrifice to get the potential client to buy from you. Discuss payment terms. Will you be expecting cash in full, a deposit, an invoice with a Net 10, Net 30 or some other way to pay? You may want to offer a small percentage off their order if the client pays within 7 to 14 business days.
Take orders and accept a deposit. Tell the client when he or she will receive the order.
Fill the order and deliver it within the specified time frame.
Follow-up with the client at least once a month asking if he or she needs more supplies or services.
Ask the client to refer you to his or her contacts. Provide an incentive to motivate him or her to pass on your business card or flier.
Be prepared for rejections, such as "No, we are not interested...we have a supplier already."
You will want to have rebuttals prepared in advance for rejections. Call again or stop by in a couple of weeks.
Always be on-time for appointments. Tardiness is a bad first impression no matter the reason. An owner will associate your being late with a future order being late as well.
Small and large chain stores may place a large order while putting pressure on you to turnover quickly.
You may never meet the owner of a large store, so try to maintain a good business relationship with the manager and his or her secretary or assistant.
Some companies may operate in "net" payment terms, which means you won't be getting your money anytime soon. Deposit usually are not taken for these orders. You may receive a payment within 30 days from the day of delivery or as late as 60 days.
Be clear about every detail when doing business. What is the price you quoted to the client? Will he or she be paying a delivery charge? How long will the order take? What will they have to do if they should run out of stock? Did you go over defects and exchanges with the client?
If you have promised a delivery date and can't deliver for any reason, notify the client immediately so he or she can make necessary adjustments. If the shipment will be late, offer to discount the price of the order.
