Manufactures Generating Profits.

Manufacturers produce products and retailers sell them to end users. In between, however, there are a few key operators-also known as distributors-that serve to move the product from manufacturer to market. Most experts feel a sales background is necessary to succeed in the wholesale distribution business. The ‘people’s skills’ that an outside salesperson who hits the streets or picks up the phone and goes on a cold-calling spree to search for new customers has are considered important for this. However, some experts argue that an individual should possess a varied job background in order to be able to handle a wholesale business efficiently.

Know Your Customer

• Every company relies on a pool of customers to sell its products and/or services to.
• As a small-scale distributor, it is very imperative that you understand who your customers are going to be.
• Defining exactly who will be included in the pool is an important logical step in the startup process.
• If you don’t know this, even one customer missed could be a big loss to your rather small business.
• Defining this group early on will allow you to define your mission, develop business strategies and tailor your operations to meet the needs of your customer base.

Choices

As a wholesale distributor, you may cater to one or all of the following customers:

• Exporters: These are companies that collect United States-manufactured goods and ship them overseas.
• Retail distributors:This includes the distributors who sell to those retailers that you may find impenetrable on your own. If you find a power retailer like Wal-Mart unreachable, you may be able to sell to one of its distributors.
• Retail businesses:This includes establishments like grocery stores, large department stores and power retailers like Wal-Mart and Target and independent retail stores.
• The federal government: For wholesale distributors selling to the government, the US government presents a great opportunity and is always looking for items that they sell. The process is mainly about filling out the appropriate forms and getting on a bid list. Various buying agencies will either fax or e-mail you requests for bids for materials needed by shipyards, schools, various agencies and other facilities, after you become an official government supplier.
• Other wholesale distributors:It’s always best to buy from the source, but that isn’t always possible, due to exclusive contracts and issues like one-time needs (e.g., a distributor who needs 10 hard hats for a customer who is particular about buying one brand). For this reason, wholesale distributors often find themselves selling to other distributors.

Advantages

There are some great advantages for a small wholesale distributor in selling to the government. However, the process is rather tedious in that such orders mostly have a lengthy bidding procedure before any contracts are awarded.

• There are several small-scale distributors making successful sales to the government.
• Government sales is a good avenue for wholesale distributors
• It’s also one that’s often overlooked, especially by small businesses.

Computers and Technology

This is why you will need technology for your business:

• While it is possible to market and sell to the government without technology, it is increasingly difficult to do so.
• Computers, Internet capability, voice mail, and Web pages are now a basic requirement for most businesses.
• You can email to get the solicitations on which you want to bid.
• Bidding opportunities can be on your computer when you walk into the office in the morning.
• Being able to correspond with clients, customers and suppliers with exact specifications is extremely important with short lead-time requirements.
• Spreadsheets allow you to calculate all materials and labor necessary to make a profit.

Tip: When using voice mail, leave fully descriptive messages with a call-back name and number.

Website

It is important to have a website for your business if they want to pursue government contracts. Make your site user-friendly and list everything the buyer would want to know about your firm, including references! Buyers can search by county, city, keywords, etc. It is noteworthy that at HyperEffects, marketing is an art and a science in itself. We use state of the art graphics and videos as an “Art” and tested techniques and strategies as “The Science” of marketing, to target potential clients. You may contact us for a free consultation with one of our business experts on effective and economical ways to advertise your product.