What's a good way to approach businesses with my products? How do I convence them to
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Discuss the process of getting your t-shirt line into brick and mortar stores and selling offline. Topics include industry tradeshows, events, line sheets, sales reps and other retailing tips and advice.
What's a good way to approach businesses with my products? How do I convence them to
Hi! I' trying to find out how to approach company's so that they will know I print t-shirts and other items? Do I personally go to them?, Do I search businesses online? What can I do to get the word out?
I'm new to the screen printing business, I started this year in Febuary, so it's a lot that I don't no about. I also do Embroidery, & Heat Pressing which are almost simple to me since I've been doing those longer.
What's a good way to approach businesses with my products? How do I convence them to
I'm thinking of going places that have store fronts, and trying to get them to sell my shirts, But I don't know how to approach them. I'm not even sure if this is a good idea. Also, What kind of samples should I take with me that will seal the deal? Meaning what type of designs will be good to show as samples. Hopefully, you can understand what I am trying to ask, and be able to help me with this situation.
Re: How do I proposition company's to buy from me?
cold calling is something you should look into.
Depends on the area , but walking around to some businesses with some samples and rate sheets would be a good way to do it. That way they can ask you questions and see actual product.
Re: How do I proposition company's to buy from me?
Yes, totally agree. Get out, pull some doorknobs, drop off some well designed business cards, and perhaps a well-printed t/shirt w/ a "knockout" design on it for your company. If the t/shirts are too expensive for now, then perhaps an imprinted ink pen & note pad w/ your company info.
Also, get signed up with a promotional products association, like ASI, or PPAI. Attend one of their shows. You'll be surprised how much stuff you can sell and not do any work other than creating the art, and sending it off to another company to do the work. Years ago we lost one of our salesman to a company that did NOT do any in house work (embroidery, screen-printing, promo products). They outsourced everything. That salesman is doing really well just going around and writing orders, and letting other companies do the production. We're still "stuck" with equipment, employees, overhead.
It's called "planting the seeds". Most don't sprout, but then a few do, and that's how your grow your customer base. It's worked for us for the past 23 years.
Re: What's a good way to approach businesses with my products? How do I convence them to
Do you means you want to sell the T shirt you designed to apparel retailers?
I have the same idea. And i also have one questiaon about this.
Hope to learn more from you(msn:deco_chen@hotmail.com)
Re: What's a good way to approach businesses with my products? How do I convence them to
Quote:
Originally Posted by decochen
Do you means you want to sell the T shirt you designed to apparel retailers?
I have the same idea. And i also have one questiaon about this.
Hope to learn more from you(msn:deco_chen@hotmail.com)
What is your question?
I'm not only trying to sell to clothing stores, i'm also thinking of going to corner stores, orindependent stores that already sell some of everything. Do you think it will be a good idea to do so?
Re: How do I proposition company's to buy from me?
Quote:
Originally Posted by fdsales
Yes, totally agree. Get out, pull some doorknobs, drop off some well designed business cards, and perhaps a well-printed t/shirt w/ a "knockout" design on it for your company. If the t/shirts are too expensive for now, then perhaps an imprinted ink pen & note pad w/ your company info.
Also, get signed up with a promotional products association, like ASI, or PPAI. Attend one of their shows. You'll be surprised how much stuff you can sell and not do any work other than creating the art, and sending it off to another company to do the work. Years ago we lost one of our salesman to a company that did NOT do any in house work (embroidery, screen-printing, promo products). They outsourced everything. That salesman is doing really well just going around and writing orders, and letting other companies do the production. We're still "stuck" with equipment, employees, overhead.
It's called "planting the seeds". Most don't sprout, but then a few do, and that's how your grow your customer base. It's worked for us for the past 23 years.
Thanks, for that information Brian. Can you give me some more info on PPAI and ASI ? Also, I tryed looking for someone to subcontract a couple of my projects before, and had no luck. Do you have any good contacts of somebody I can use?
Re: What's a good way to approach businesses with my products? How do I convence them to
Never hurts to try. I think first try and contact them by e-mail, see if you get a response, then send them a sample package with a t-shirt and informtion about the t-shirt, all the styles and color syou offer and your company. Then you can follow up and see if they received the sample ..... You could also offer to come into the store and show them your line in person. You will kind of get the feel once you start.
Re: How do I proposition company's to buy from me?
Quote:
Originally Posted by ReThink Clothing
cold calling is something you should look into.
Depends on the area , but walking around to some businesses with some samples and rate sheets would be a good way to do it. That way they can ask you questions and see actual product.
Cold calling is a good idea! But, I'm stuck because I don't know what to tell them, How should I approach them? What's something good I can Say. I've tryed it a few times. But, It seems they are'nt interested and I'm guessing the way I approached them turned them off.
Re: What's a good way to approach businesses with my products? How do I convence them to
Quote:
Originally Posted by onesielady
Never hurts to try. I think first try and contact them by e-mail, see if you get a response, then send them a sample package with a t-shirt and informtion about the t-shirt, all the styles and color syou offer and your company. Then you can follow up and see if they received the sample ..... You could also offer to come into the store and show them your line in person. You will kind of get the feel once you start.
Thanks, That info is very helpful. I like the point you say to follow up with them.
Re: What's a good way to approach businesses with my products? How do I convence them to
I am a business manager and even though I don't work in a retail setting, I can tell you that I get tons of emails and calls every day from people trying to sell me their products. I ignore them all.
About once per month someone will stop by and politely offer me a sample product. If I'm not too busy and the person is animated, I will sometimes talk to him or her on the spot. I always examine the sample products, even if they don't apply to my business. The smart ones stop back the next day and ask if I have any questions.
On pre-printed items, the reps either offer it as a gift or say they will pick it up the next day. Either way works for me. I appreciate clear pricing included with the samples.
Re: What's a good way to approach businesses with my products? How do I convence them to
Face to face is always better than email or phone. You might spend more time doing that, but I think your success rate is going to be a lot higher.
Are you selling printed shirts or printing services? That will determine what kind of samples you need to bring.
You need to have a company name, business card, and if possible a website with some details about your company and pictures of your products. If you are totally new to this business, I suggest purchasing some shirts from other successful businesses in your area (or at least getting quotes) to see exactly how they do it. This will also give you an idea of what kind of pricing and policies to use.
When you make visits to stores, try a time that is not busy. Wednesday and Thursday in the morning are usually good days for almost any retail business.
When you get there, introduce yourself quickly, with a smile, make a brief introduction of your product, like "My company does custom t-shirt printing", and ask if they have a minute for you to show them some examples of your work. If they have time, make a short presentation about your product (no more than 5 minutes) and make sure to ask them about their company so that you can understand their needs.
Some people are naturally good at sales, some people aren't. But everyone can learn. Practice, practice, practice your greeting and presentation. Practice in a mirror, practice on a friend, even videotape yourself. You might find that you are saying "um" too many times when you talk, or something else that can be changed to make you seem more convincing.
If they don't have time or the person who makes these kind of decisions isn't there, leave a card and ask for the owner's card so you can call them later and follow up.
With these kind of sales calls, I've found that confidence is extremely important. If you don't seem confident about your products, they aren't going to be interested no matter how great it might be or how much money they might save. Make sure you have answers to a lot of common questions. If they ask about pricing, be able to give them an answer (this means carefully calculating your pricing ahead of time so you don't undercharge). If they ask about delivery times, be able to give a solid estimate. If they ask about available colours, be ready with a sheet of colour samples.
Dressing well and having a good haircut and nice shoes can go a long way to making a good impression. If you're visiting corporations, wear a suit and tie. If you're visiting blue-collar companies, maybe a pressed blue dress shirt and khakis. Basically I'd dress for a sales call the same way I'd dress for a job interview, perhaps a little more casually but certainly not in jeans or anything like that.
Always be polite, smile, shake hands, ask for first names, and speak slowly and clearly. If they seem very busy or they are waiting on customers, just say "It seems like you're busy right now, when would be a good time to come back?"
Don't let yourself become intimidated by the fact that you are trying to sell something. Business owners are used to being constantly solicited. Many of them will actually prefer to buy from someone who took the time to visit them rather than just send flyers in the mail, because the success of a small business is greatly dependent on good relationships with other businesses. A face to face meeting builds a relationship a lot faster than a phone call or flyer.
You're not going to get a sale from every visit. In fact I would guess your success rate would be less than 1 in 10. But if you're just starting out, that's something to build on, and you can always solicit repeat orders.
Be careful not to undercut yourself on pricing or promise turn-around times that are unrealistic. It's better to make a realistic estimate and then deliver a great product with great service then to make unrealistic promises and have to disappoint them later.
Also be careful of the old "Well, I just want to buy 5 shirts now, but can you give me a volume discount because I might order 100 in the future" line. You can't run your business on the promise of future orders.
Re: What's a good way to approach businesses with my products? How do I convence them to
I ignore emails and phone calls because I'm not interested in doing business with people who won't get off their butts and hustle! (I also won't hire people who whine about having to some to my office to pick up an application) It's all too easy to send out hundreds of emails and claim the sun, moon and stars and have no way to deliver them. At least if you come to my office with samples I know that you a) are a real person in America b) have real products and sources and c) have at least some level of motivation.
Jasonda's description above is EXCELLENT, and I would only add that being charming and a bit entertaining helps as well. I also appreciate the salesperson who takes 2 minutes to ask a few questions about my business and then gives me relevant information. After "What exactly do you do here?" it would be like, "How many employees in your office drink coffee?" Or, "Do you ever hold special events where printed T-shirts would be fun to have?" or whatever.
This is a discussion about What's a good way to approach businesses with my products? How do I convence them to that was posted in the Offline Retail and Tradeshows section of the forums.
How do I proposition company's to buy from me? 
Do I personally go to them?,
What's a good way to approach businesses with my products? How do I convence them to 
Also, What kind of samples should I take with me that will seal the deal? Meaning what type of designs will be good to show as samples. Hopefully, you can understand what I am trying to ask, and be able to help me with this situation.
Re: How do I proposition company's to buy from me? 
Re: What's a good way to approach businesses with my products? How do I convence them to 
