Start Up Kids Line

Getting your product onto retail shelves

June 21st, 2010

Getting into stores. This whole game comes down to whether or not you can earn retail shelf space and then whether or not you can keep it.

So how do you get into stores? I think this is the question I get the most often. The answer is simple – hard work. Once you have developed a high-quality product, sales materials, and a stable production cycle, you’re ready to approach the retailers and sell your product.

You have to go through a pretty standard process: phone calls and emails to peak interest and introduce your product, appointments and phone conversations to show,  describe, and sell  your product. Then there is the paperwork (they sign!) and finally, the delivery and follow-up.

The first and most important thing is your product and your readiness to produce your product in mass quantities. If you are the starting sales rep, then you can control the rate at which you sell. If you are ready to really jump into it and ready to produce and deliver, then hiring a sales rep might be the way you want to go. If you have the same experience as me, your first sales rep might not sell anything at all. But you could land a real go-getter with established accounts and so you should be ready to fill as many orders as your rep can produce.

I recommend that you undertake the process of getting your product into the first stores. There is nothing more valuable than the first-hand experience of selling your product. Especially when you are first launching. Making the first sales enables you to understand your sales process, establish a presentation order for your products, understand which selling points hit home with the retailers and which ones don’t work at all.  This is also important so that you can train future reps on your sales process.

So assuming you are going to be the one to get your product into a retail location, you have to start with emails and phone calls. Start by calling and asking for the buyer and owner. Here’s where your personal product spiel comes into play. Or if you don’t get the owner or buyer on the phone, then you ask for their email and name and a good time to talk to them. Don’t be afraid to tell them who you are when they ask.

Then you have to keep following up, via phone and email, until you get an appointment with the buyer. Sometimes this happens right away, other times it can take months. But you keep at it, and keep it at consistently, and it will happen.
Others who have tips on getting into the first boutiques, share, share, share!!

I got into my first boutique by walking in the door and asking for the buyer. As they were telling me they were busy, I was pulling out a sample product – this is where you really need a product that speaks for itself.  If it does, it will peak their interest enough to give you an appointment.  This is true whether you have just walked in the door, sent your first email, or are making the first phone call.

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