Start conversations with distributors like a pro

Start Conversations with Distributors like a Pro

Have you ever watched the TV show, Dragon’s Den? The one where prospective entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to multi-millionaire investors.

If yes, you may have noticed that what distinguishes successful entrepreneurs from the competition in addition to having a high-quality product is having a prepared, clear, concise, confident pitch.

In many cases, the key to success is knowing how to communicate effectively your business with potential business partners. The same approach applies when you have an innovative product and you want to start a conversation with distributors to expand into new markets. 

Building relationships with distributors is essential for any business that wants to grow and scale up fast into new markets. If you want to build a long-term relationship with a distributor, it is important to make a good first impression in your first conversation. Nevertheless, it’s easier said than done. Starting conversations with distributors can be a daunting task, especially if you haven’t done it before. That’s why, we gathered some useful tips that will help you to start conversations with distributors like a pro.

1. Research potential distributors

Before you even think about starting to reach out to distributors, it’s important to find the right distributors for your products. This is a main challenge for many small and medium-sized enterprises as there are thousands of distributors out there and you need to choose wisely who is the best fit for your product. If you want to learn how to find distributors for your product you can read this article, which will guide you through the process of identifying the right distributor for your business. 

2. Show your product’s traction

Once you have identified the right distributor in the market of your interest, you can start preparing your pitch. One of the most important elements you need to consider is to showcase actual numbers of sales that prove your track record and show strong potential for growth. Keep in mind that distributors usually look for innovations with a strong track record to add to their portfolios.

When a product or a product category is in high demand, it is obviously more attractive to distributors and subsequently to retailers. So, if your product is already successful in one market, it is more likely that it will be attractive in other markets as well. 

In addition, distributors may ask you questions related to your production capacity, quality of the materials, consumer feedback and consumer reviews. Their ultimate goal is that each new brand must be able to increase sales and profitability without competing with their existing brands’ portfolios.

3. Be clear about your goals

When you do reach out to a distributor, be clear about your goals. What do you want to accomplish? Do you want to enter a certain retailer? Are you looking for an added-value distributor who does all the marketing and translation or are you just looking for a distributor that sells your products online? Do you want to expand your reach in one specific market or multiple territories? Knowing what you want will help you focus your conversation and make it more productive. As we mentioned in the beginning, a successful pitch has to be clear and concise. Thus, try to include both your short-term and long-term goals in your pitch. 

4. Be Prepared

You never know where a conversation with a distributor might lead, so it’s important to be prepared. First of all, you must have a clear understanding of your products and their unique selling points. Also, try to answer the following questions in advance to be sure that you have a holistic perspective of the market and where you position your brand. Specifically try to address the following questions: Who are your competitors? What does your product provide that is different from your competitors? What is your pricing? Do you work with other distributors? and if yes in which markets? What kind of marketing activities do you use? 

These are some of the most common questions distributors may ask you when they are interested in your company. Last but not least, don’t forget to have the plan to follow up with them after the initial conversation.

5. Ask Open-Ended Questions

One of the best ways to start a conversation with a distributor is to ask open-ended questions. These are questions that require more than a simple “yes” or “no” answer. For example, you might ask, “What types of products are you currently looking to add to your portfolio?” This can lead to a more in-depth discussion about your products and how they might fit with the distributor’s business. 

6. Listen

Finally, it’s important to listen to what the distributor has to say. They may have insights into the market that you haven’t considered, or they may be able to provide valuable feedback on your products. Listening to their perspective, it can help you build a stronger relationship and improve your chances of success. Also, it is a great exercise to learn what are their needs and improve your pitch for your future conversations with other distributors. 

In summary, starting conversations with distributors can be challenging, but it’s an essential part of building a successful business if you want to expand into new markets fast. By following the above steps, you can start conversations like a pro and build strong relationships with distributors. Working with distribution partners is an excellent choice for companies that have market-ready products and want to expand fast.

Now that you have an idea of what a good conversation with distributors should look like, you can start the preparation. To make it easier for you, our team has worked with hundreds of distributors in the past and we have set up a platform to help you find the best pre-vetted distributors globally. You don’t need to search the internet, attend expensive trade shows, do extensive research, or hire expensive sales teams; we do all the work for you. On Tradesnest, you can connect directly with the best distributors in consumer electronics, start conversations like a pro and expand fast in over 80 markets around the world. 

So, if you are an innovative brand in consumer electronics and looking to expand your sales into new markets, we would like to invite you to register for free here and help you find the best distributors around the world for your product.

How to Follow Up After a Trade Show

How to Follow-up After a Trade Show

If you’ve ever exhibited at a trade show, you probably know that is one of the most costly and time-consuming ways to connect with new buyers. Despite the disadvantages and attendance decline in recent years, trade shows continue to be considered by many an event still worth going to network with professionals and increase your sales. But why it is so important to follow up after a trade show?

The main problem is that many small and medium enterprises don’t know how to maximize their return on investment from trade shows. Considering the time, hard work and money a trade show requires, a well-thought plan is critical if you want to get the full advantage of it. Thus, once you’ve gathered the full list of leads during the event, you need to follow up correctly.

This is where it goes wrong for most companies. The leads get to be split up among the different account managers and sales reps or are sent to other regional offices. This is practical if every sales rep has a certain territory. If they didn’t speak to the leads themselves can be a costly mistake, having the effect of losing the conversation momentum.  Here is a short guide with the 5 most important steps on how to successfully follow up after a trade show on your leads.

First Week After the Show

In general, by the end of such big networking events, exhibitors should have gathered a considerable amount of newly formed connections. Some of the leads have little potential while other may have a larger potential to have an impact. That’s why, It is essential to keep organized notes on what was discussed during the show together with the contact information or business cards. 

The next crucial step is to enter all this information into your CRM system as soon as possible. Whoever attended the trade show from your team must be accountable to write a short summary about what was discussed with the lead. For example, if interested in this product or another or the lead is working on project X and we can help them with Y, etc. 

If anything, prioritizing trade show follow-ups is a must if you want to increase your return on investment. If you implement a well-structured strategy, you are significantly increasing the chances that the deals pursued will be closed. Without further due, let’s go through our top tips on how to follow up after a trade show in the consumer electronics industry.

1. Categorize your Leads

A necessary step, which can be basically considered a preparation step, is the prioritization of leads. Even though this step does not entail any interaction with a potential client, it is highly recommended that it takes place directly following the event. It will help you recall and review all the people you came in contact with. Consequently, you will be able to choose wisely how to categorize them.

After events of such magnitude, having a clear picture of which leads are more and less important (“hot” or “cold”) is very useful. You can start contacting the leads that you most care about, without letting too many days pass after the show.  If you want to go a step further, you can also create segments by industry, location, or even sale probability. Additionally, during this procedure, you may sort out certain leads that you might have thought were a good fit, but in the end, didn’t align with your current goals.

2. Send personal emails

Once you’ve prioritized your leads, you can reach out to them by email. An important aspect of emails is personalization. The prospects usually receive many emails when they return from the event. On top of that, they will need to catch up on all the emails they haven’t responded to while they were out of the office. Therefore, getting through the noise is essential. The only way of doing so is to stand out and remind them about the conversation you had.  If you decide to reach out to your leads through an email campaign, you need to personalize it. Take our word on this, when it comes to following up with prospective customers there is nothing worse than sending an impersonal email campaign, addressing all your contacts at once. 

In general, we encourage you to tailor your message as much as possible, so that in the end, it conveys a more personal tone. This significantly increases your chances of getting a positive reply. The good news is that a follow-up email isn’t a cold email. You have already met the lead in-person. So take advantage and make it as much personal as you can by including related details.

How to structure your email

When writing your follow-up email try to refrain from immediately expressing your main objective (i.e. buy the product). In the beginning, it’s better to express your interest in the possibility of becoming partners. For example, the first email can just be a short introduction of yourself. It could also be a reminder of your interaction with the person. In some cases, it is better to wait for the other person’s response. Then you can find the right moment to bring forward your point. Take into consideration that the deal should happen naturally and for that, patience is key!

Whilst longer and more descriptive emails appear enticing when it comes to following up the first time, shorter emails are preferred. Why? At this stage, all you need to achieve is getting the attention of your preferred leads. By sending a simple and personalized email, you can make it easier for the other person to respond back. Think about the type of emails you would like to receive after a big event such as a trade show. You usually receive tens or hundreds of emails in your inbox.

As mentioned above, the first email should be sent within a week after the show. If there is no response, you can follow up with a second email two or three weeks later. 

3. Call 

A more traditional, but effective method of reaching back is the phone call. If you are a person of action and you really had a great click with your lead during the event, then calling your leads directly might be the go-to option for you. You will not only have the opportunity to communicate directly with the other person, but through phone calls, you will be able to develop a more one-to-one relationship and create a smooth transition after your in-person meeting. Of course, you need to keep certain parameters in mind. For instance, proximity and time zone and consider first if it makes sense to call the other person. 

4. Connect on LinkedIn

Connecting on LinkedIn applies to all kinds of leads (high/low priority, fit/not fit). Nowadays, connecting with other people on LinkedIn has become an unconscious act. So why not turn it to your advantage? Even if you don’t expect to close a deal with a potential customer, it is always encouraged to follow, like and comment on the posts of the people you met in events like trade shows. It is a great way to grow your professional network and simultaneously increase the credibility and reputation of your company as a whole.

5. Schedule a video call

What’s even better than calling? Connecting again through a video call or in-person! Of course, in-person, it is easier if you are in the same region. This is rarely the case given that remote work has become more common. Usually, you meet people from all over the globe at trade shows and video calls are a great alternative to meeting in person. Having said that, if you have the opportunity and the time to schedule an in-person meeting, you can increase your chances to close a good deal.

Using any or all of the above-mentioned tips will help you increase your returns on your trade show investment. Believe it or not, studies show that most companies lose most of the leads after the show. They usually send one email and archive the leads or pass it on to another colleague who forgets about them. The key to success is to follow up after a trade show, correctly with your prospects. Don’t forget to prioritize your leads and make sure that your emails stand out.

If you are a consumer electronics brand and you are searching for a more affordable and cost-effective way to get your product in front of the right distributors and retailers and increase your revenue, regardless if you are attending trade shows or not, we welcome you to Tradesnest. 

If you want to learn more about the differences between Tradesnest and trade shows and how Tradesnest can give you access to distributors and retailers from anywhere in the world, we invite you to read this article. 

Unlocking the Smart Locks Industry

6 Ways to Maximize Your Chances of International Success

Smart home industry