How To Sell Your Work To Boutiques, Part 1: Getting Your Foot In the Door

You’re an enterprising designer, crafter, or maker who dreams of selling her work to indie boutiques.
I’m an ex-indie retailer with an award-winning shop, known for having a fiercely well-edited retail concept.
In other words, I bought well and treated my vendors even better. My clients are indie retailers who are hoping that designers like you will light up their selling season with your amazing designs. But to get your foot in the door, they need you to be savvy and understand how they like to be sold to. And I know you, dear designer, want to sell more effectively: with finesse, confidence, and conversion – otherwise known as, money in the bank account, product on the shop shelf.

Today in Part 1, it’s all about getting your foot in the door. Then, in Part 2 (next Monday!), we’ll talk about how to nurture great relationships with your retailers.

First, Know Your Best Bet Retailers

If you want to sell locally, pick one retail shop that is your best bet and approach that retailer first and only.In local markets, it means a lot to retailers to be the only one {in a neighborhood, a zip code, a county} carrying a line. This is called having a local exclusive. Because you don’t know whether she will say yes or no to carrying you, it helps to only approach one shop owner at a time, get a clear response, and then try your second and third options if needed.

P.S. Never tell someone she’s your second or third option and that the others said no. Ouch! Also, never diss one shop owner to another. Some of them actually talk to each other and keep tabs on vendors!

How to hone in on that best bet retailer?

• Look for a shop whose brand story works well with your brand story. For example, the brand story at my now-closed shop was this: youthful, modern, relaxing, quirky Parisian-esque adventure. Funky French. Not a rooster or a sunflower or a curly poodle wearing a beret in sight. Some elements that worked with our story: painted furniture, oversized latte cups, a perfume called Dead Sexy that featured a skull and crossbones on the label, trip hop in the soundtrack, polka dots on kraft tissue in our recycled shopping bags. Some elements that would not have worked for us: Marie Antoinette on anything, jacquard tablecloths, too much accordion music, glossy Coco Chanel-style gift boxes. When it comes to a brand story, the line between what works and what doesn’t, what fits and what doesn’t, is fine. Be a good seer of brand story – theirs and yours.
   
• Look to see if the retailer currently offers other items in the same product category as your goods. If you sell essential oils and the shop you want to sell to doesn’t carry any essential oils, it might be because they don’t want to. Or, it might be because the shop owner simply hasn’t seen any essential oils he likes for his shop, or hasn’t even considered them at all. The lesson here? When you’re presenting a shop owner with a product you don’t see him already selling, be prepared to find him either hungry or guarded, and be prepared to respond in kind either way.
   
• Assess the shop’s success signals from the outside and use your best judgment. You want to affiliate yourself and your brand with success. Therefore, you want to sell to shops who are on the upswing, not those who are tanking. From your outsider’s point of view, is the shop busy (enough)? Do they get good word of mouth around town? Do they appear to have that certain something that indicates longevity? Are they advertising and marketing? Is the shop owner present, with it, plugged in? (Often employees’ responses when you ask about their boss will speak volumes.) Why does this matter if you’ve never sold to a shop before? Because you want your product to move, not sit, and it has a much better chance of doing that if you sell to a thriving store.

One more note about approaching local brick and mortar stores:

• Never, ever cold call a local brick and mortar shop with the intention of having a sales conversation. The day of the door-to-door salesmen is over and our defenses as a society are up. Please arrange a meeting before you stop in with your wares in hand. It’ll always go better that way. And if you can’t get a meeting after two polite requests, then consider that retailer not open to buy right now. Or ever. Move on.

If you want to sell to non-local brick and mortar shops with an online presence or to online-only shops, analyze their brand presence for fittedness. Look for all the same signs you would use to evaluate local shops, except obviously it’s a different data system than when evaluating an offline presence. Online, you’re only getting to see what the retailer wants you to see. (So smart of her.)

• Online, exclusivity isn’t quite as important, though it’s entirely possible that some retailers may ask about it. Savvy online shop owners know who their digital competition is and aim to keep their product mix differentiated from the other guys.
   
• Search their site for guidelines on how they like to be contacted by potential vendors. Sometimes savvy retailers will include this type of information on an FAQ page. Make sure you play by their rules.
   
• Check out their vendor list (if they publish that) and scope out store photos to get a feel for the vibe and style. Can you imagine your work slipping right in to their existing mix?

Second, Finesse Your Approach

How do retailers like to be approached by a potential vendor? With evidence, sensitivity to their needs, and a winning spirit.

• Evidence. There are two kinds of evidence shop owners are looking for: evidence that you believe in your product, and evidence that others do. Retailers like to discover new lines that haven’t already saturated the market, but they also like it when it appears to be a sure bet, as in: oh, this’ll sell. You may have heard of social proof if you hang in social media marketing circles. Make sure to include clips from your most brilliant testimonials (even anonymous ones, or ones from well-spoken friends who use and dig your stuff) in your marketing materials. Include a list of shops you already sell to – only if you do, of course. Know how to talk about your goods in a way that adds value and highlights features and benefits. Practice touting highly and without ego what’s great about your line. Hearing you sell the line to them gives them ideas of how they can sell it to their customers.
   
• Sensitivity To Their Needs. Think like a retailer. What would you want the experience of evaluating a line for your store to be like? First, you’d want to give permission for a vendor to approach you with details. You’d want an email that you can open when it’s convenient for you, not a phone call that could easily catch you off guard (unless that’s an expressed preference), or when there’s a customer standing in front of you tapping her toe. You’d want the email to be a quick introduction to the vibe, style, and product category of the designer’s brand. You’d want one or two (at the most) amazing photos attached, sized small enough (but not too small) that they land in the Inbox quickly. You’d want multiple ways you can reach the designer to learn more: email, phone, social media platforms. You’d want to know the names of the person or people behind the line.
   
• Winning Spirit. Retailers are looking to fall in love with a new line and, when it’s an indie line, its designer, too. They want to be able to tell good stories and cool anecdotes about their contact with the designer. They want to like the person with whom they’re doing business. Putting on airs is not required (or recommended), but you should develop an understanding of how you and your work are cool, sought after, and valuable. You are part of your brand and every way you represent it gets noticed and remembered.
   
• Other Things To Mention. Depending on what you sell and how your production cycles go, you may or may not want to include in your first contact email details like: minimum opening order, per item minimum, typical turnaround time, payment terms, etc. You may or may not want to include a digital catalog or a link to an online one.

Third, Give Clear Encouragement For How You’d Like the Retailer To Follow Up

Following up is typically not a clear cut process. It’s not uncommon for a designer to send off marketing materials or a beautifully crafted email to a retailer, only to hear nothing back for months, years, or ever. Retailers are busy managing many moving parts and often get distracted. Although they may have the best intentions, they may not always have the best follow-through. However, that said, there are some guidelines you can practice that’ll help encourage a best case scenario: a love match between a retailer and your line.

• End your communication with a friendly, strong-but-not-pushy call to action. Something like, “I would love the opportunity to work with you and to have my designs carried in your gorgeous store if you think they’re a fit. Please call or email me if you have any questions, as I’d love to give you more information and answer any questions you may have. Thanks!”
   
• Unlike when interviewing for a job, giving a follow-up call or email is not always counted in your favor when ‘auditioning’ your line to become a vendor. This is because most retailers expect you to understand that if you haven’t heard from them, they’re not interested. They might someday be interested – when it’s the right season, when they’ve got more money, or when they’re otherwise open to buy – but right now, they’re not. Some retailers even get annoyed about follow-up calls. If you’re a highly sensitive person, I don’t recommend you follow up when all you’re hearing is crickets.
   
• The reason a follow-up call is so optional? Because if a retailer wants to carry your line, she will chase you down to the ends of the earth to get a hold of you and procure it for her store. Good lines are the bread and butter of every retail store. Retailers need designers. And if they want you – if they believe that what you make is a fit for their customers – they will buy in without you having to convince them.

Fourth, Rock Your Sales Appointment

If you’re selling to a local brick and mortar, chances are you will present samples of your work in-store during a face-to-face appointment with the owner, manager, or buyer. This is exciting stuff! Here are some tips to make the most of that appointment. These suggestions can be adapted for speaking with a retailer over the phone or by email, as well.

• The focus of the appointment should be to answer the retailer’s questions, not for you to tell her your life story or the story of your work in great detail. Savvy retailers are experienced buyers, know just what they’re looking for, and know exactly which questions they need answered to know if they want to sell the line. Be friendly, open, and forthcoming, but don’t be overly gabby. Let her steer the conversation.
   
• Be honest. Don’t exaggerate or oversell, but also position your products in their best light. Shop owners want to know that they can trust their vendors. Drop the pretense and be the real person that you are.
   
• Bring samples so she can see and feel the quality of your work.It’s not necessary to leave behind samples of anything but consumables {i.e. skin care products, food, candle fragrances}. It’s also not necessary to bring a gift. It sounds harsh, but most of the retailers I know end up pitching or donating un-requested samples. You should, on the other hand, ask her if she’d like you to leave behind catalogs and ordering sheets.
   
• Bring ordering materials with you so that she can order on the spot if she’s ready. Have carbon copies available or take the order digitally and immediately email her a copy. Indie designers, tell me how you’ve customized the selling process for your business. What techniques work best for getting your foot in the door?

Indie retailers, what’s your best advice for helping designers get their foot in the door with shop owners?

In Part 2, we’ll talk about how to keep the love alive with your retailers once you’ve made that first sale.

 Image: All rights reserved by Not Quite Me

This is a guest post by the brilliant Abby Kerr. Abby is an ex-indie retailer of a nationally award winning lifestyle boutique. She’s a brand editor who helps entrepreneurs rule their realm and up their addictability factor. Find her at Abby Kerr Ink and on Twitter @AbbyKerr and @IndieRetailWhip.