Sales Strategy
Megan Crabtree: 3 Ways To ‘WOW’ Retailers at A Trade Show | April 21, 2022 (0 comments)
Key Largo, FL--Coming from a seasoned buyer the trade shows can get quite exhausting after a few days and the product eventually starts looking the same. I would say while I loved meeting with suppliers my biggest frustration was showing up for a meeting and them not being prepared. For the ones who were prepared I probably spent two to three times more money in about half the time. Let me walk you through how to get your buyers to spend more and “WOW” them at the same time.
1. Build A template
Build a one-page summary template that you can use as a guideline for all retailers who set up an appointment with you. This template at a quick glance should give both parties a bird’s eye view of how successful and healthy the partnership is and/or not successful and areas of opportunities to discuss. Things to include on this template as talking points could be the on-hand dollar amounts in-store, a sales history over the past two years, the amount of aged merchandise, and a list of items out of stock that you recommend reordering. This shows the retailer you prepared for the appointment and essentially gives both of you an organized outline of what to discuss during the meeting.
2. Analyze the data
If you’re not working with a data-sharing platform between the suppliers and retailers such as BIG you should be. It saves you a significant amount of time when analyzing the retail account and gives you an extreme amount of data to dive into. If you are not working with a data-sharing platform, be sure to request from the retailer both an on hand and sold report to understand what product is aged, what product is out of stock that needs to be reordered and based on past sell through you can now recommend them to expand in a certain collection that you see is already selling well. If you give a buyer a list with images, descriptions, and pricing of items out of stock and that all sold within 90 days this should be the easiest part of writing an order. Make it easy for them to say yes then move to new products.
3. Do your homework
If you plan to see new clients at the trade show, research them in advance so you have a game plan of what to sell them. If your plan was to pitch them on live complete engagement rings look at their website to see if they already carry them, look at the quality and pricing, and show this comparison to them. Buyers appreciate it when you’ve done your homework.
If you will be attending the upcoming Conclave trade show In Oklahoma, be sure to visit us on April 27th at 11:45 where we do a more intense dive into trade show fundamentals and how to impress your buyers.
Megan Crabtree is the founder and CEO of Crabtree Consulting. Before founding Crabtree Consulting, Megan had a successful professional career in the jewelry industry, which culminated with high-level positions at several of the top firms in the retail and manufacturing sectors. Reach her at mcrabtree@crabtreeadvisory.com or visit www.crabtreeadvisory.com where you can set up a live chat or a 30-minute free consultation.