How to contact buyers

One of the most nerve racking parts of the selling process is cold calling and making calls directly to buyers. Your head will be whirling, your throat dry as a bone and your hands clammy, but, if you have not got the luxury of having an agent, the work has to be done! To aid you with the process of securing that all important meeting with a buyer we have provided the following handy hints:

Making appointments

Before we review the detail of this vital section there are a few ground rules that you must take into consideration



Be: PREPARED, ORGANISED and YOURSELF!



Be Prepared

Before you make that all important call to the perspective client, ask yourself a basic yet fundamental question “Are you sure this is the ”˜right’ client for you”? You can only be sure of this if you go and review the retailer’s main flagship stores in particular and a few of the sub branches too.



To secure a retailer to stock your collection market research is imperative. Go and visit the retail unit to ensure that your product can easily fit the current product profile that is already in there.



Your garments have to “fit” but offer something different. You need to look at the current price structures of the garments currently on display and ensure that your product pricing strategy is in accordance with the rest of the unit.



Boutiques tend to go for a x3 margin compared to larger departmental stores that operate around 2.6 i.e. say your cost price for a top is £30 (plus VAT), the boutique would look at selling this garment for around £90. Do your garments comfortably fit the pricing structure?



If yes then ask yourself WHY? Why would this boutique include your collection into their portfolio? Be as honest as you can when answering this question as this is exactly what the buyer of the retail unit will be considering when they review your collection.



I had a retail unit for nine years and these are the types of questions I would ask myself when reviewing stock to sell.



1) Can I sell the garments?

2) Have the new garments got the right WOW factor?

3) What price can I sell the garments for and how much margin do I make?

4) Are they the right quality for my customers?

5) Are they providing real customer choice?

6) Can I provide a display with the garments or are they a single selling item? Remember single items can easily get lost in a boutique a co-ordinated display of six plus garments is always more effective and eye-catching for a customer.

7) What marketing is available to support the garments; swing tickets, point-of-sale display?

8) What is the returns policy?

9) Are these garments being supplied to my customers or are they exclusive to me? If not where else are they being stocked?

10) What are the payment terms with the new account?

11) What after sales service is provided by the new account? Re-ordering stock?

12) Do I feel confident with the prospective new account? Will they let me down? 

 

These basic questions can only be truly assessed if the designer goes and visits the unit beforehand and then you can see how your collection fits a current gap in the market that the retailer may have.



Ideally you could ask for a business card, it is always better to know a name when making that first important call and you also want to make sure that you are speaking to the right person i.e. the person who makes the buying decisions and can offer you an appointment. 

 

Most types of small boutiques are owner managers; some may have assistants so remember that when making your calls be to the point, friendly and yourself! Don’t waffle on the retailers are busy people.



Once you have visited the shop and have identified a clear gap for your garments to fit, you have ensured your costing and pricing structure is correct you are almost ready to make that all important call. First however”¦



Try to pop into the shops local competition”¦ what garments do they have on display that your target boutique doesn’t have? Are they are similar type of market? By looking at the boutiques competition shows that you have prepared your homework and you could divulge some valuable information to your target retailer too; information that they would be most grateful for!



Look at trade press before you make your call – are there any snippets of information that you can add into the phone conversation that again shows you are organised and prepared? E.g. are prints on trend, swinging 60’s, Jackie O styling”¦.anything that gives your collection a unique selling proposition!



Remember the importance of flexibility and FAST TRAK. Fashionable garments now hit stores at an amazing pace. Zara proclaims that new lines can be in the UK sent direct from Spain within 2-3 weeks. Catwalk trends appear faster on the high street season after season. How can you maximise your sales for the unit? In my shop I had a very clear policy of when the stock was gone it was gone. I did not go for repeats but looked for the next “similar but different” trend to keep maximising sales.



The last thing retailers want is dead stock. Garments, especially prints, can get tired very quickly. What can you offer to make this job easier for the retailer?



Also when you make that all important call be prepared to say that you have visited the unit and noticed this collection and that garment – it reflects that you really have undertaken a detailed comparative shop and understand that your garment is 100% right for this boutique. Obviously do not be over forceful and always be polite and listen!



NOW”¦”¦.you have to be organised before you make the call. What are the types of questions that the retailer may ask and you have to answer? Get yourself organised!





Be Organised – Know your OWN Collection!



What is your collection all about ”“ who is your own target customer remember that you will have to explain this on the phone e.g.” My collection is for the fashion conscious women who has an appreciation of quality both in terms of fabric and make up. It is for day to evening and is made in the UK which gives a three week lead-time from fabric delivery”. Personally, I have always been against setting age limits e.g. the 20-35 year market because today there is more talk about lifestyles than ever before.



Before you can make such statements you need to know your delivery dates (including your lead-times on fabric and ensuring that there is sufficient stock or griege at the fabric manufacturer), production lead times with the garment manufacturer, your colour offer – again this goes back to the fabric offer.

What is your pricing structure and are you offering the collection in ratio packs? To clarify this means when you sell your blouse to a customer you sell the garment in a pack of six”¦ and the price reflects this accordingly .e.g.



Blouse (size) 10 12 14 16

Pack of 1 2 2 1

Total of garments in a pack = 6



Normally a garment manufacturer prefers to cut in a ratio pack as it is more time effective than making an order size by size. However if your client only wants to buy one size of 10, 12 and 14 then the price should reflect this accordingly as it will cost you more at your manufacturers.



Some designers put a surcharge on their prices when retailers want to just “test” their products and buy one of each e.g. between 10-33.3% of the original cost price.

When you are a collection you have to co-ordinate all the different garments together to ensure that the lead times for all your garments are right. Also this will mean liaising with different garment CMT units and manufacturers to have all the garments ready.



Don’t be over optimistic on timing with your garment units and try to add in some “slack” i.e. lead time for when the fabric runs late, or when the unit needs an extra week in production. It would be a bad reflection if you secured an order then had to ask for an extension of lead time. This would also give the retail unit an excuse to cancel too!



Finally Be Yourself

Before you make your first call make sure you have your information in front of you. If you need notes as an aide memoir so be it! Have a notepad and pen (that works!) in front of you ready to scribble down notes from the buyer. Have your diary ready too to confirm an appointment. Don’t call at the end of the day when the buyer may be rushing to close the shop or around lunch time. If you can try first thing in the morning when hopefully there will not be too many shoppers around and the retailer has finished preparing the float for the till for the day.



Now you are ready to make that call. . .

Your heart will be racing, the palms hot and sweating and there’s that lump in your throat! You will rehearse and rehearse what to say but when you finally do say your carefully rehearsed words no doubt they welcome out differently or a question will be asked that throws you off your patter!



My advice is simple”¦ be yourself and go with the flow. No one knows your collection like you”¦ you have lovingly (!) worked on that range for weeks and months and there is not one question that could be asked that you will not be able to know the answer to.



Be honest”¦ do not make false claims. Be polite”¦ don’t go in for the heavy sell”¦ most importantly be you! If a question is asked and you don’t know the answer straight away say so”¦ say that you will make 100% sure first and you will go straight back to them”¦ then make sure you do go straight back to your perspective retailer with the answer. Even if it is an answer you think they don’t want to hear e.g. if the retailer asks if you can improve delivery and bring forward the date. 

If you can’t, you can’t – it’s as simple as that. There is no point in promising the sun when you can only deliver the moon!



Once you feel as though you have hooked the perspective retailer with interest then ask for an appointment. Explain that you are in that area on such and such a day and would it be possible to have just a 20 minute appointment to review the range. By keeping the time short it does not represent an intrusion on the day for the retailer. The chances are when you are there you will extend your appointment. If the retailer can not make it that particular day ask when she would be available. Either an appointment will be made or it won’t but you have to try and keep on trying. It is a wonderful feeling when you click that phone down knowing that you have secured your first appointment and when you open that first account you have a start of a base for your collection.



Remember”¦..

O cold calling does get easier the more you do it.

O the retailer may be busy when you call so always offer to call back.

O go with the flow – Let the conversation develop and spot opportunities.

O try to secure an appointment but prepared to provide information by post first.

O be perceptive and don’t waffle on! Keep learning and improving your sales technique

O be yourself

O listen!

O we only live once and life is too short for regrets!