How to Sell Your IoT Product to Retailers Part 1- Yohan Jacob

How To Sell Your IoT
Product to Retailers –
Part I
Keys To Selling Effectively to
Retailers
Presented By:
Yohan Jacob
Retailbound, Inc.

Today’s Agenda
 Introduction
 Lesson # 1 – Are You Ready For Retail?
 Lesson # 2 – Getting the Retail Buyer’s Attention
 Questions

Yohan Jacob
 President and Founder – Retailbound
 Retail Coaching
 Retail Consulting
 Retail Marketing
 20+ year multi-channel retail veteran
 B2C and B2B experience
 Worked with sales teams ranging from
400 associates to 30,000 associates
 Product assortments $45M - $850M

What You’ll Learn Today
The Two Things You Will Learn:
 To understand how retail buyers think
 How to present your products to retailers

The Secret In Selling To
Retail Buyers
 Question:
“When dealing with retail buyers,
what is your # 1 goal?”

# 1 Secret In Selling To Retail
Buyers
Answer:
Make the Retail Buyer’s job easier
 Vendors who make it easier for retailers get more
opportunities (and become vendor partners)
 If you don’t, your competition will!
 How do we make a retail buyer’s job easier?

Selling To Retail Buyers
 Communication (both written and verbal)
 Completed New Item Set-Up Sheets
 Camera Ready Product Images or Samples
 Pricing
 Product Availability/Lead-times
 Inventory Forecasting/Stock Balancing
 Product Marketing Sell Sheets
 Web/Catalog Copy
 Marketing Calendar/Marketing Strategy
 Exit Strategy

L1 – Are You Ready For
Retail?
 Questions We Ask Potential Clients
“Do you have products that customers want?”
“Does your products generate sufficient margin
for retailers?”
“Do you follow-through on the promises you make
to people?”

Retail?
 Retail Go-To Market Strategy
 Target retail accounts have been identified
 Knowledge of identified retailers’ buying patterns
 Background information on retailer’s sales and operations
(i.e. how are they doing MTD or YTD)
 Retailer’s ability to pay invoices and the time taken to pay
 Distribution vs. Retail
 .com vs Brick & Mortar

Retail?
 Common Mistakes That Most Manufacturers Make
 Lack of preparation
 Over promising, under delivering
 Lying
 Poor Follow-Through

Retail?
Before Meeting With A Retail Buyer
 Product sample or image is available
 Product packaging has been finalized
 Pricing & back-end program has been developed
 Unique benefits and selling points has been
determined
 Advantages of the product over the competition has
been identified
 Advertising and Promotional Plans have been
developed

Retail?
Before Meeting With A Retail Buyer
 Knowing when the product will be available to ship
 Knowledge of current sales history (important!)
 Knowledge of customer returns/defective %
 Knowledge of retail pricing with .com retailers
 Knowledge of customer testimonials

L2 – Getting The Retail
Buyer’s Attention
 Question:
“How do you find retail buyers to
contact?”

Buyer’s Attention
Answer(s)
 Networking – online and offline
 Inbound
 Direct Response Advertising
 Email Campaigns
 Inquiries from website
 Inquires from printed ads
 Trade Shows
 Directories (printed or online)
 Chain Store Guide (www.chainstoreguide.com)

Buyer’s Attention
 Profile of today’s retail buyer
 Considerate amount of responsibility
 Busy / Wearing Multiple Hats
 Spreadsheet literate
 Reviewing key performance indicators
 Running reports for senior management
 Managing junior buyers
 Reviewing inventory levels
 Creating marketing events (online, in-store, preprint)

Buyer’s Attention
 Retail Buyers must consider the following factors
when making buying decisions
 Customer demand, including price, quality, and availability
 Market trends
 Store policies
 Financial budgets
 End of the day, the Retail Buyer wants to drive traffic
to their stores/web/catalog and beat their
competition

Buyer’s Attention
 Calling vs emailing prospective accounts
 What are the advantages of each?
 What are the disadvantages of each?
 Which of the 2 methods has a higher success of
contact rate with a retail buyer?
 Sending unsolicited samples

Buyer’s Attention
 Possible roadblocks
 Purpose of the initial phone call
 “60-second” pitch
 Introduce yourself and the company you work for
 Give a brief overview on your company
 Ask if this is a good time to talk
 Discuss the reason for the call
 Possible appointment-making phrases

Buyer’s Attention
 Most buyers don’t like experimenting with an
untested or unproven vendor
 Typical Objections (and best strategies to answer
them)
 Doesn’t want to be the first account to carry it
 Over inventory and has no “open to buy”
 Your prices are too high
 I have similar products in my assortment
 Sending approved samples
 Verify name and shipping address
 Determine time for follow-up call

Buyer’s Attention
Tradeshows
 Key tips for making your tradeshow a success
 Research the trade show before you commit to exhibiting
 Have a strategy for the tradeshow – why are we there
 Send enough people to ensure adequate booth coverage
 Stress the value of friendly greetings, polite manners, and appropriate
body language
 Have someone on your team who can answer technical questions
 Product demonstrations are a great way to draw a crowd
 Establish a follow-up protocol for hot leads, promising prospects, and
likely customers
 Always remember to thank you to attendees for stopping by your
booth. And don’t forget the free cookies!

Buyer’s Attention
 Putting together a Great Sales Presentation Folder
 Components
 Overview of your company
 Market research/customer testimonials
 Product brochures
 Price list
 Hard copy of your PowerPoint presentation (if you used a
laptop to make the presentation)
 Business Card

Buyer’s Attention
 Crafting your PowerPoint presentation
 Don’t overload the slides with information
 Make sure the sequence of the slides makes sense
 List key benefits for each major feature (don’t assume
your retail buyer understands the benefits of a particular
feature)

Buyer’s Attention
 Your first meeting with a retail buyer
 Use “common” sense
 Product samples are working
 Copies of the presentation deck/folder made
 “Small talk” should be brief
 Listen carefully
 Take good notes and follow up on action items
 Close the sale

Buyer’s Attention
 Vendor Agreements and Contracts
 Common Terms and Conditions
 Payment Terms and Discounts
 Marketing and Advertising Allowances
 Volume Incentive and Defective Allowances
 Vendor Compliance (Order taking, shipping, invoicing, etc..)
 Returns
 Other things that will be need to addressed: Product Warranty,
Stock vs. Drop-Shipping, Pre-Paid Freight, Minimum Order

Summary
 Selling to Retailers is not difficult if you follow these
three simple principles
 Be prepared
 Make the buyer’s job easier
 Always follow-through on your promises

Questions
 Thank you for your time
Retailbound
Office Phone 630-246-4068
Cell Phone 630-248-2261
40W343 Edgar Lee Masters Ln
St. Charles, IL 60175
yjacob@retailbound.com
www.retailbound.com

How to Sell Your IoT Product to Retailers Part 1- Yohan Jacob

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How to Sell Your IoT Product to Retailers Part 1- Yohan Jacob