Are you wanting to start approaching retailers to see if they’ll carry your product line? There are several considerations to ensure you are retail ready. One key element is to make sure you have a well-designed sales sheet that features all the important elements.
Whether approaching smaller, specialty stores or larger retailers, a sales sheet will make a difference in the chances your product makes it on the shelf.
We reached out to our industry expert on retailers, Food Broker Rob McCowen of Focus West Management to ask him, do sales sheets matter when approaching retailers?
Rob McCowen: “If you don’t have a sales sheet when you introduce your brand or product to a buyer, you are telling that buyer you aren’t prepared and you aren’t ready yet. You have wasted their time.”
Rob McCowen: “Buyers in the retail grocery space are very busy managing many accounts and if you don’t make it very easy and very fast for that buyer to get all of their relevant questions answered on a spec sheet or sales sheet, you have wasted their time, and probably your opportunity.”
Rob McCowen: “You need to present a sales sheet (and/or spec sheet) with ‘your’ product code numbers, a two -three-word product description, the unit size, the case size, their cost, as well as the ingredients list, a nutritional panel, and the UPC, if your product has or needs a UPC.”
“The buyer is looking for the answers to every question they could have, provided on one or two sheets of paper, as well as the ability to forward these sheets in digital, printable format. In addition, they want to see if you know what the retail price range is/should be for your product, what the expected margin is for the retailer, and if you have a process for shipping and delivering.”
Rob McCowen: “As a food broker with 25 years of experience, I would never, ever, meet with a buyer without a clear simple sheet that states the company name, the product attributes (i.e., local, organic, on trend, high quality, or value product), as well as your contact information, product information and pricing information.”
“Let the completeness and the professionalism of your sales sheets do the work of selling your product for you.”
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