If you’re lucky enough to get a face-to-face meeting with a retail buyer, chances are you have a product they’re interested in adding to their store shelves. However, despite the interest in your product, you’ll have to convince them of your product’s shelf worthiness and value to their store. Whether you have an emerging OTC brand or a thriving CPG product, in most cases you will only have 10 minutes to present your product in consideration for the store’s next shelf reset date. Here are my 10 tips to make your 10 minutes as effective as possible.

Tip 1: Don’t be late. Seems obvious, but retail buyers are extremely busy and have several meetings per day during key review seasons. Being late can start you off on the wrong foot or they may cancel your appointment altogether. You’ve put a lot of time, preparation and money into this meeting, so don’t be late.

Tip 2: Know the company. Buyers will take you more seriously if you show that you understand their company – layout, merchandise categories, loyalty programs, number of locations, store brand name, price structure, and their competitors. Take the time to research annual reports, press releases, and other relevant trade information so you can customize your pitch to support their growth strategies.

Tip 3: Give them your best elevator pitch right away. In 30 seconds you need to give a grand introduction of your product, the top three benefits to their consumer, and give two key facts about the category that will persuade your buyer to ask follow-up questions. During your meeting, you must make the product relevant to the particular retailer, be persuasive, organized and clear. Don’t ramble or give them information they don’t want to hear. No more. No less.

Tip 4: Know your numbers. Your buyer’s #1 goal is to determine profitability for their store and to make sure they hit their margin requirements. Your goal as a manufacturer is to make sure you can meet your own margin requirements. In order to be successful when talking and negotiating pricing with a retail buyer, you must clearly understand profit margins, know the retailers profit margin requirements, know your own margin requirements, and know your proposed retail price point.

Tip 5: Know their competitors. Consumers have many choices when it comes to buying products and the buyer wants consumers to come to their stores to shop. Make the buyer understand that you know how important it is to keep the consumer in their stores. Offering one-of-a kind packaging, special pricing, bonus items, or differentiated forms/flavors will get you some brownie points.

Tip 6: Find your balance between pushy and pushover. You may hear an immediate “no thanks” but you need to convince the buyer that your product is a fit for their store. Find the right communication strategy because being too pushy can come across as annoying, arrogant or desperate; being a pushover and accepting an easy “no” can come across as a lack of confidence or that you weren’t serious anyway.

Tip 7: The new 4Ps – presentation, products and pretty pictures. Never walk into a buyer meeting empty handed. You need product to display and leave behind and you should always have a presentation with organized supporting data, pictures, and research to leave behind. Don’t expect your buyer to have the time to walk through your deck, so make sure you create your leave behind materials so they can be easily understood and viewed in your absence.

Tip 8: Show support for your brand/product. Any smart buyer, seasoned or just starting, will ask you for one key piece of information…the marketing plan. You must be able to show the buyer that you can and will be able to provide marketing support and help drive consumers to their stores to make a purchase. Brands should expect to spend at least 15-50% of expected sales profit, especially in year one, on marketing programs, such as advertising, PR, social media, digital media, etc. Companies like Robin Leedy & Associates have been working with small to medium sized companies and start-ups for more than 25 years and can help you put together a strategic plan to help support sales on store shelves or provide you with brand management services for strategic brand planning.

Tip 9: Practice, rehearse, and review. There is no such thing as over-preparing for a retail buyer meeting. Practice your pitch, rehearse your product FAQS and get a brand consultant with retail buyer presentation experience to review your sales materials.

Tip 10: Determine follow-up procedures and preferences. Whether your buyer gives you a no, yes, or maybe, you will need to follow up. Don’t assume you already know the best way to follow-up. Ask the buyer when is the best times to reach him/her, the best way to reach him/her (email vs. phone), and what other materials would be helpful during their decision-making process. It’s important to find your balance between pushy and pushover during the follow-up period as well.

by Kamilah Lewis
Kamilah Lewis is a Brand Consultant/Account Supervisor at Robin Leedy & Associates. With an MBA in Marketing, she has worked for several brands as a brand manager and now offers brand consulting for new/emerging brands, brand acquisition, product launches and more. For inquiries, contact Klewis@rlapr.com