Think Big--Your Product Can Have Several Means of Distribution
By James F. Riordan
PART THREE
An excellent way to get right to the store buyers, whether you want to sell through reps or sell direct, is to obtain a copy of THE SALESMAN'S GUIDE for the category of products you'll be selling. The Salesman's Guide has over 20 different categories of store buyers books, such as "gift, housewares and stationery buyers guide;" "women's and childrens' clothing buyers guide," etc. Each book is a goldmine of store buyers who handle the products you are interested in. They are broken down by state, and list the store's name, the buyer's name, the address, the phone numbers, and in some cases, the sales volume in dollars.
Another method of obtaining a list of retail outlets AND distributors who may be interested in purchasing your product for resale is to attend the trade shoes where products similar to yours will be sold. You can register as a "buyer," and then visit the booths of companies that are selling products similar to yours. Ask them if they have a list of their distribution locations throughout the U.S. and internationally, to enable you to call them for references on the company's products. Many large companies have complete lists of distribution and sales locations that are available to buyers simply for the asking. Once you have the list, it's then easy for you to call them and see if they're interested in carrying your products.
When you begin distributing your product, you will want to hit the areas that contain the highest concentrations of your target audience first.
Get a copy of 14 MILLION BUSINESSES compiled from the Yellow Pages. Look up the type of businesses that will most likely distribute your products. Look at
WHERE they are located. Cities and states with the highest concentrations of locations will indicate areas where you're likely to have to ship the most product. These will be the areas where you'll need the very best reps. Once you determine those areas, look up the store buyers in those areas, using your Salesman's Guide, and contact the store buyers to find out who the best reps are in that area.
NOTE: Trying to set up distribution for a brand new product, through large wholesale distribution houses can be a "Catch-22." Many times, companies are forced to avoid initially selling their products through major wholesale distributors until their sales volume ins great enough to warrant large production runs. This is necessary to bring the cost-of-goods-sold down low enough to allow the profit margins to be big enough so that the large distributors will become involved. Sometimes it takes years of sales before a company is able to reach this point.
Be sure you do not get caught in this common "Catch-22." Before you plan on distributing your product through wholesale distributors, you had better be damn sure your pricing structure will allow you to sell through them and still be profitable.
NEXT ISSUE: More on Distribution
The above article was taken from James F. Riordan's classic book, HOW TO EVALUATE THE POTENTIAL FOR SUCCESS OF A NEW PRODUCT OR TECHNOLOGY. Riordan's highly-acclaimed, 36-point system is a valuable tool for inventors, product evaluators or anyone interested in the invention process. Each section is followed by a comprehensive questionnaire that can be used to evaluate your product.
The highly-recommended book can be ordered through the Dream Merchant, 2309 Torrance Blvd., Suite 104, Torrance, CA 90501. The phone number is (310) 328-1925.
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