January 6, 2013

Before you are ready to pitch to a buyer, there are “must-haves” you should first have in place. These “must-haves” are all components of a larger business case you are building to convince buyers they need your product in their assortment. And these components take time to build, which is why it is important to address them now!

In short, the big question to answer before pitching to a buyer is – how does your product benefit retailers?

Demonstrate your product or brand will drive the retailers’ financial performance. Buyers representing large retailers are goaled on the financial performance of their assortment. This means they make buying decisions based on how it will earn them more revenues and profits. For you, this means knowing the margin requirements of each specific retailer you want to work with, as well as an understanding of their pricing strategy and how your product fits in to this strategy. Also, having proven sales history in other reputable retailers demonstrates your potential selling power and will enable you to build volume projections that demonstrate the market opportunity of your product. Your pitch presentation should include a slide that shows your sales history at other retailers and the sales forecast you have projected for this retailer.