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| Credit: lunchshow.co.uk |
Preparation
Whether preparing for a trade show or direct approach to
a wholesaler, you need to get things to a good standard before making contact.
This can be a lot of work, but it will benefit your sales
across all the venues you have work placed.
Wholesale gets your work out to multiple locations, develops your
relations with shops and, by extension, to communities and to customers that
you would not be able to reach by yourself.
Presentation materials
You need to have a clear identity to your work –
something which binds the separate pieces together, making it clear that it is
your sensibility that runs through the works.
You need to have a pricing strategy that runs through
your range of products. This will be
connected to the target market that you have identified. This is important to getting your work taken
up by wholesalers and stores.
Excellent photographs of your work are needed in all the
literature you produce for the buyers. Photography can make all the difference. Include
photos that highlight your story and integrate with your products. These should be consistent across all your
materials. They should have a unity of
style whether shot on models, on background (normally plain white or black),
and with props that support the story of your work.
Line sheets
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| credit: sewport.com |
Line sheets are simple listings of each of your products
with a code, title, sizes, and prices with each product line and variation on
its own line on the paper. Create simple, readable line sheets with clear
instructions on how to order, minimum order levels for discounts, and all your
contact and banking details. If you have a required means to get in touch, make
sure that is included on the line sheet.
The line sheet is essentially an order form which each of you will have
a copy, and from which you will create the invoice. The agreed payment terms, including supply
dates should be written on the line sheet when agreed.
Information on product and maker
Write the material for promotion of your work and
yourself clearly and concisely. Start with
the most important information about the business and products. Details and
methods should come much later.
Be consistent in the way you describe your products. Always consider the target market. The wholesaler will be much more
dispassionate about the products than the ultimate buyer will be. The
descriptions show the trade what your target customer is like and so they can
see what the fit between your work and the shop’s offering is. Use the concepts and words that are familiar
to the ultimate customer.
Review your literature many times, proofread, and finally
get a friend to look over the materials for style, spelling, consistency and
accuracy.
Your complete contact information is required on every
piece of printed material. It also is needed
on all online and email communications.
The meeting
Do the work to know who you are contacting by name and
job title. Use the person(s)’ names,
refer to the business, store or shop, indicate you have followed any blog or social
media postings, and if relevant, be knowledgeable about the local area.
Be selective in what of your work you present to the
buyer. You don’t have to have all your lines of work in shops. You probably could not cope if you did. Consider what you can supply in quantity that
will fit with the shop’s offering. This
will relate to the materials you can source in bulk (for discounts), and what
you can produce quickly and easily. To
offer the best prices at a profit, you will need to determine processes that
can be streamlined; designs that can be simplified; processes that can be done
by less skilled people.
Remember the buyer’s interests during the meeting
They are looking for a range of work that has wide appeal
– to both/all genders. A price range for
different works to appeal to a range of customers is needed.
You need to demonstrate you know what is going on in the
design and crafts field and can respond, keeping your offerings fresh and
contemporary. Colours, themes, shapes, interests change, and you need to show
you are aware of current trends.
Owners are looking for exclusivity. Store owners want to sell items that no other
venue in their area has available. It is
arguable that the more of your work a shop sells, the more exclusive the two of
you should become.
Part of the appeal for the shop is signed and dated
pieces. It adds to the caché of the
work. This should be done discretely to
avoid distracting from the whole of the work.
Often owners expect not only well-made items, but
displays too. At the least, you should
have presentation boxes that show off your work well.
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| credit: theproductmart.com |
Trade Shows
The alternative to trekking around shops is to attend
trade shows.
Trade shows are a place to make contacts – shop owners,
fellow crafts people, and representatives.
Yes, you are there to get orders, but the people you meet may be your
future customers. Your contacts might help you understand the market better, or
move your work in different directions.
It is a place to gauge how your work is perceived, and what you might
change or re-enforce.
Networking can help you in gaining new contacts, and even
friends in the crafting community. Visit
other stands and arrange to have a coffee break during the show with those you
find compatible. You can compare notes on the show or general business stories
with those who are not in direct competition.
Have your product display in evidence at the show. If that is not possible for some reason, have
photographs of it in your literature that you can hand over. This enables
potential buyers to see how your work might be displayed in their shop.
Take material to the show that you can hand out to
prospective purchasers or representatives.
This could be inexpensive samples, the essential business cards,
literature, and of course, the line sheet that you complete with the orders at
the show, or be taken away if you cannot get them to commit immediately. Be sure you get material from them too and that
you record what they were interested in, so you can contact them after the
show. A contacts book for you to keep information
in is essential.
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Selection of a gallery or shop in which to place your work is
a complex interaction of commission levels; the value you place on your time in
preparing for and attending craft fairs or putting your work online; the
perceived prestige of the shop/gallery; the potential relationship between you
and the outlet; and the relationship of the consignment, wholesale and retail
prices.
