Do you wonder how some brands are all of a sudden “all over the place” and just a few months before you’d never even heard of them? I used to wonder that too until I figured out their secret to quickly getting into tons of stores. I’m going to show you how to contact 25 stores in a week.
They all have a Black Book.
I’m talking about a Buyer Black Book – your own personal rolodex of the store buyers you want to sell to.
This is your golden ticket to what your company needs most: getting your products into stores everywhere – and then you’ll be the one people are seeing all over the place – and wondering where the heck you came from!
So let me show you how you build yourself a Buyer Black Book……
In business, in order to build a BBB you need to figure out the following and I’ll show you how….
In other words, the BBB is your everything.
It is the “oh-crap-sales-are-down” list of companies that you need to start calling first to try to get more inventory orders.
Step 1: Know Your Target Market
Before I get too deep, I want you to think about who your target market is. You might have heard this referred to as building an Avatar. Let’s answer a few quick questions about your products because these responses will help you determine which cities and states your customer lives in.
Selling to Your Target Market
Now the really tough question; where do these people go shopping? When you sell a product, you have to work to get your products into the stores that already sell to your target market.
You will never see a $250 handbag for sale at a Target or Kohls. Likewise, $50,000 wedding dresses are not the norm at David’s Bridal Boutique. And do your organic, cruelty-free vegan shoes belong on the shelves at a Cowboy Boot Outlet? (Hilariously, no.)
If you are working your butt off to put your product on the wrong shelves in the wrong store, you’ll quickly exhaust your most valuable resources: time & money. Having the right BBB helps you avoid the inevitable burn-out associated with a leak in your sales funnel.
Let’s think bigger than your backyard. Where do the people who buy your product live? The geographic location of the stores you want to see your product placed in is equally relevant to your success as an entrepreneur.
You can sell the right product to the wrong people in the wrong place, etc. but you won’t get very far. Your BBB must target stores that sell to the right people, in the right place, and the right time.
Step 2: Sarah Shaw’s BBB Super-Secrets
Creating an BBB can be a lot of work. And I should know. Sarah Shaw Handbags had to learn the hard way before I discovered this technique.
I don’t want you to suffer. Here are my four best secrets to successfully creating an BBB:
Bonus BBB Builder
Another thing you can do that might have not even occurred to you is to ask your target market where they go shopping. This is perfect for very unique products that you don’t have the luxury of using the above tactics for.
I’m a huge fan of Facebook groups, but maybe you prefer a forum or Twitter party setting. Find these on social media and just start asking the people that you meet:
The anonymity of the online environment will let you harvest the field for the best possible targeted responses from the people around you. The key is to be friendly and polite. Act like a friend.
However, let’s say that you sell dog sweaters. That’s a pretty cool, targeted niche. Buyers have to own a dog plus have the expendable income to buy clothes for their pooch.
Why not reach out to someone and ask, “I see your dog has a sweater on. Where did you buy it?” If you tweet @ someone, 9 times out of 10 they will answer you.
And the answer will lead you to do additional research of a store that should definitely be part of your BBB. Just think how easy it was to find that tool – a person you could sell your product to – right there in front of you on social media.
Bigger is Better
Your curated BBB will be the perfect list of stores that you have the potential to work with. Therefore, don’t limit yourself.
Conduct the above searches once a quarter (Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4). Put it on your calendar and make sure it gets done. Consistency is key to getting the best results in marketing.
Once you have a large list of stores buying from you on a consistent basis, when there are ups and downs you won’t feel the pinch as much. The bigger your list, the more stability you’ll have. Likewise, the more connections you create, the more opportunities you’ll have to develop a thriving, healthy, no-excuses business for yourself.
And that, my friends, is what will keep you moving forward no matter what.
Learn more of my secrets here……its free!
Like what you read? Ready to step up your own game?
Book a strategy session with me and let’s see how I can help.
https://sarahshawconsulting.com/sarahshaw/apply-case-study/schedule-strategy-session/
Well, you obviously know how to do this. I opened your email immediately.
Thanks for the tips and for continuing to be honest, inspiring, authentic you.
Sarah,
We are learning so much from you! Looking forward to applying your tips and tricks. We’ll keep you posted how it’s going.
Thank you!
Rebecca
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