Know-How Exchange : Other

You have some pavement pounding and door knocking
to do.

As per Phil's comments: set up face to face appointments because with your margins and price points, hiring a sales rep will cost you money.

You need to show store managers and owners what the goods look like and you need to reassure them on the points of quality, reliability, supply, and delivery.

Every possible fear any store owner might have about doing business with you needs to be reversed and removed and the best way to do this is through a series of face to face, nose to toes meetings.

If you think this kind of pitching is simply not you (a common trait with artists and makers), you'll do well to get over the fear quickly, or, think about finding another way to pay the bills.

If you're selling online, improving your SEO will also help, which means figuring out what terms people are searching for and then weaving them into your narrative.

However, if most of your sales come from brick and mortar stores, unless you can sell direct to consumer through some kind of social network or business group (or, unless you become a supplier to a celebrity who is prepared to endorse your wares), you'll be looking at face to face sales, which means managing your time to include making, marketing, and moving your product to drive sales.

Another point to consider is getting your wares on HSN or in front of a buyer for a major catalog (such as Sundance), but hiring a sales rep and paying them a half decent commission will potentially leave your with little in the way of profit.

I hope this helps.

To start with - if selling isn't something you want to do, then by all means you should look at outsourcing this. There are benefits to you doing the sales (you know the product), but if you can't motivate yourself to do it, then product won't get sold. I've been there myself. I was doing everything fro a small company, and found I rather work on the product than get on the phone and call potential customers. Should have hired someone to sell, but didn't. Company is no longer now.

On how to do it, that I am not as clear as. I think you may want to ask around to other craftsmen you know and see how they did it. Not just who they used and how that worked, but also check into pricing and margins expected and quantities. I don't know the jewelry business, but in many other businesses the retailer expects to buy a product for half of what they sell it. So does your price get doubles from what you have been selling at, or do you accept half the price you were selling at? Does either of these prices work? And the larger the store, the more quantity they will want. Can you make enough to keep them happy? Important questions to answer.

Thanks so much for your responses. Very helpful!