Top 5 tips for selling to retail buyers

Having worked as a retail buyer for around 15 years I observed quite a few different sales pitches! Here are my top 5 tips for sales teams and account managers wanting to impress and sell to retail buyers:

1. Show your buyer new product

• Above all else buyers love new product. Why? Because new product drives sales and our retail market in the UK is driven by innovation. Customers expect newness. If you have a business that drives newness and innovation then you will get more meetings with a buyer by default because they will want to see your product.
• When presenting to buyers have a sample of your product and let the buyer see and touch it.
• Believe in your product and be enthusiastic – if the account manager isn’t enthusiastic about a product, then how can you expect a buyer to get enthusiastic and stock it? If you really don’t believe in your product have you fed this back to your NPD team so that the product is improved?

2. Have a memorable sales pitch

• Remember whatever you sell to a buyer they usually have to then sell in internally. So make sure your sales pitch is clear, memorable, interesting and slick, with some key points the buyer can take away.
• Nearly every supplier who used to come in to see me at Sainsburys brought in a PowerPoint presentation. Often by the third slide in my eyes had glazed over because they were corporate, dull and all the same!!! There’s nothing wrong with presenting GFK data or market research the buyer will want to see new market data but be aware that your competitor will have been in the day before presenting exactly the same data in the same way but from a different angle.
• Think about how you can make your presentations different and interactive. The content has to be right but use visuals, info graphics and video, where relevant, to make your sales pitch come to life and explain your USP.
• Analyse the information before presenting it. So you are telling me that GFK data says that you have outperformed your competitor what are the consequences of that on the market, how are you going to continue to stay ahead so that sales increase next year?
• There are three things that really matter to a buyer – sales, profit and meeting the needs and wants of the customer. Make sure your sales pitch reflects this.

3. Be able to deliver on your promises

• Over promising and under delivering is possibly the worst thing you can do to a buyer. Make sure everything is in order behind the scenes before you do your sales pitch. This includes costs, availability dates, and exclusivity options.
• As an account manager you are not only seen as the sales person you are the face of the company. If something goes wrong internally you have to clean up the mess with the buyer. Data integrity, forecasting and issues with barcodes not scanning were some of the most common problems I observed in retail. These are all things that are usually down to human error. The worst case scenario for everyone is if a delivery gets rejected, this can incur fines from the warehouse and from the buyer for loss of sales.
• Take responsiblility. Yes, it may not be your job as the sales person to check the new line form or make sure the product has got the correct barcode on it but it is your job to make sure the buyer is happy and satisfied with the level of service received by your company. Is it worth the risk of not checking the detail? When we filled out supplier scorecards there were lots of different factors to consider and only part of it related to product and NPD. Other factors related to things that were behind the scenes supply chain, technical and product safety, audits, customer service, availability and stock control for example.

4. Do your research and know your market

• Buyers often rely on their supply base to give them market insight and information. Make sure you have done a recent competitor shop before you go in to see your buyer. This means knowing what they and their competitors are doing and also what your competitors are doing! It was amazing the amount of suppliers who would come in to see me at Sainsburys without actually being aware of what it was we sold in the stationery department.
• Always make sure your product will be commercial in the environment it will be sold in and don’t presume that the same product will work in every retailer. Before you go to see the buyer make sure you have reviewed how they merchandise product and where your product could potentially fit.
• Research their corporate objectives and strategy online.
• Buy in market information where relevant. Part of the reason I started my company Bright Disposition was that I recognised that neither buyers nor account managers have enough time to actually get out into the market and comp shop in enough detail. Know your customer and know their market.

5. Persevere

• Buyers are busy people and they often don’t spend a lot of times at their desks. Apologies to anyone who now tells me ‘you were very hard to get hold of!’ The reality is as a buyer I used to get over 100 emails a day, which I often looked at outside of normal office hours. If you are struggling to get hold of a buyer on the phone, do they have a blackberry number you can try or can you leave a message with their assistant? Always back a phone message up with an email.
• Bear in mind that buyers might not be getting back to you because they have different priorities to you. Monday for example is usually a busy trade day.
• Find out at least a year in advance when range reviews are going live and when the time windows are for you to pitch your products. Respect the fact that if their focus is elsewhere buyers might be slow to return your calls.
• Finally if you believe in your product persevere, you would be amazed how much it actually can pay off.

https://www.bright.studio-key.co.uk/report/