How to attract a new supplier

hairyslug

I have been trading for a little over a year now. Initially, I was lucky and I was able to get a brand name supplier on board along with a number of smaller suppliers.
I have however struggled to get 1 particular supplier. They are a UK company and they are supplying to other retailers here, granted they have been in business for quite some time compared to me.
The 1st few requests were met with "I'll get back to you" and emails have not been replied to now(I sound like a desperate ex boyfriend)

Can anyone advise on how to proceed. I'm at an early stage in my business but the range that this supplier offers would help massively.

jacksn

Could you fly over and meet them in person? are they worth the trip?

tell them you just happen to be in the area meeting another client and would love to call in to see them.. or meet them at a hotel you are staying in, take them out to dinner..

Bring the missus to break up the formality of the meeting and both of you get a break out of it too!

hairyslug

jacksn wrote: »

Could you fly over and meet them in person? are they worth the trip?

tell them you just happen to be in the area meeting another client and would love to call in to see them.. or meet them at a hotel you are staying in, take them out to dinner..

Bring the missus to break up the formality of the meeting and both of you get a break out of it too!

It's an option I'm considering, I'll be over for a tradeshow early next year but I would prefer to have it sorted by then.

It's slightly annoying as I don't know whether it's bad management/communication on their side with the lack of contact, as they know very little about me or is it they way I have presented myself in the few contacts we have had.

jacksn

I wouldn't worry, they are probably up to their eyes and you are way down on the list or they are swamped with countless emails every day. Ryanair it over and it will put your mind at ease.

If you cant make it over, a good old cold call might help - "Hi just checking if you recieved my email ok.."

IMO face to face is the only way in the long run, I've flown to dubai, thailand, vietnam & hong kong over the years to meet new clients that i could have easily worked with by email and skype totally worth it and they appreciated the effort i made, made holidays out of some of the trips too!

Gloomtastic!

If you are dealing with the sales department/manager perhaps cc the MD/CEO in the email. It could be just a lazy sales guy who needs a kick up the ass.......

hairyslug

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

If you are dealing with the sales department/manager perhaps cc the MD/CEO in the email. It could be just a lazy sales guy who needs a kick up the ass.......

Its the MD/Sales manager.
I called this afternoon so hopefully I will have some luck this time.
I worked in a office prior to this where the finance manager was "always out" until he knew who it was who was calling, I feel like I'm on the wrong end of it this time.

antoinolachtnai

They didn't just forget to call you back. There is some reason.

If their other reseller is performing well and delivering growth they may just not see the merit in having another retailer. They may think that for the size of Ireland, they don't really need another retailer. They may also be very close to some of these existing retailers, or even one of them.

You have to keep at it, but you also need to look at alternatives.

hairyslug

Made a final call and email a few days ago, nothing back so have had to move on, it's a bit disappointing, 2 alternatives is buy from another supplier where margin will be 0 or buy slightly cheaper from US, am re-evaluating the importance of stocking this item.

CeilingFly

hairyslug wrote: »

Made a final call and email a few days ago, nothing back so have had to move on, it's a bit disappointing, 2 alternatives is buy from another supplier where margin will be 0 or buy slightly cheaper from US, am re-evaluating the importance of stocking this item.

It will not be cheaper buying from the US after shipping, customs and duty are all taken into account.

Many companies will not supply additioonal accounts within a certain area if they already have an account.

Also if you are new, it can go against you.

hairyslug

CeilingFly wrote: »

Also if you are new, it can go against you.

This, I feel is my biggest problem, I also feel that my website could be worked over (that's pencilled in for before Christmas) compared to my main competitors, i feel like my site is slightly more user friendly than most but compared to UK and US suppliers, we are all far behind.
Just not enough hours in the day.

jimmii

Keep trying. There was one supplier we really wanted but they only supplied two B&M stores in Dublin and one was clerys as soon as they had that roof issue we were in like a shot and got them. It must be annoying they don't just give you a straight answer may as well just look at a competitor at this stage and then see what happens.

hairyslug

Yeah, if i got an answer instead of being ignored, it would be easier to accept. Am off to London in January for the Xmas trade show so I'll grab them there and see if I can get an answer.

antoinolachtnai

You should say hello to them. Try to understand it from their point of view. Ask them where they see the market going and what their priorities are for the future. Recognise that they are trying to do a professional job.

Cianos

hairyslug wrote: »

This, I feel is my biggest problem, I also feel that my website could be worked over (that's pencilled in for before Christmas) compared to my main competitors, i feel like my site is slightly more user friendly than most but compared to UK and US suppliers, we are all far behind.
Just not enough hours in the day.

feel free to PM me your website (or post here) maybe I can give you some tips on how to make easy changes that could make a big difference in the interim.

hairyslug

Cianos wrote: »

feel free to PM me your website (or post here) maybe I can give you some tips on how to make easy changes that could make a big difference in the interim.

I'll take you up on that, I appreciate it, I'm just not fully happy with it yet, we are preparing for Christmas so I'm pushing for new products while changing the theme of the site so I'm not fully happy with it myself yet.

What has made the problem with the above supplier easier to accept is that I was able to pull in 3 new manufacturers, a forth gave me a reason which I could understand, the lack of contact from the first supplier is just a little annoying.

For anyone in the same position as me, struggling while fairly new to whatever you are doing, cold calling is a lot more successful than emailing.

CIARAN_BOYLE

hairyslug wrote: »

Its the MD/Sales manager.
I called this afternoon so hopefully I will have some luck this time.
I worked in a office prior to this where the finance manager was "always out" until he knew who it was who was calling, I feel like I'm on the wrong end of it this time.

Have you talked to someone less senior? Maybe your volume of transactions isn't important enough to deal with the md/sales manager.

pedroeibar1

What sort of credit limit/terms are you looking for?

steve_

I definitely feel your pain when it comes to a potential client not getting back to you. But i would stick with it till you get a hard no from them. I reached out to a few new potential clients recently and it took a while to hear back from them and to secure a meeting. Sometimes they might be too busy, missed your mail, or simply not arsed getting back to you.

I would suggest automating things a bit to ease the pressure on yourself. I used Yesware for gmail to send intermittent emails to these clients chasing up if they hadn't replied for a week or more. I let the emails send automatically while i kept looking for other leads. And it worked for me, i got meetings with them in the end so i wouldn't give up hope just yet.