 | |
| |
Sales Management Information
| |
|
|
|
The Benefits of Catalog Sales For Your Business
Things to watch out for when selling your product in catalogs. Giving away the farm. Many catalogs will ask for a multitude of discounts and concessions before they even place one order. You give them a set price for your product. But they insist on a lower price. They expect you to pay freight. They want an "advertising allowance." They ask for a volume discount, a catalog allowance, and a photography fee. The requests for concessions go on and on. But beware of this game. If a catalog truly likes your product, they will usually pick it up without requiring a ton of concessions. Being stung by mistakes. Review a catalog's rules and shipping requirements closely. Mislabeling your master cartons, shipping late, or failure to follow any of their vendor requirements could cost you. Penalties are typically enforced through deductions off invoices. A few deductions here, a few there, and you can kiss your profit goodbye. Falling behind with orders. The only thing worst than having a product no one wants to buy, is having one that so many people want you can't keep up with the deluge of orders. If you've never had insomnia, this scenario is guaranteed to cause it. When thinking about your production needs, think as optimistically as possible. Make sure you're capable of handling production if the catalogs are successful with your item. And always have backup suppliers lined up -- just in case. Products that boomerang. Returns from catalogs are an inevitable part of the equation when figuring out your profit. If you have a good, well-built product that delivers on its promises, you have little to worry about. However, high returns are often the first warning sign that there are problems with your product. It breaks easily when shipped, customers think it's overpriced, or assembly instructions are confusing. Any number of issues can be red-flagged by high returns. Placing your eggs in one basket. Many catalogs ask for an "exclusive." This agreement guarantees that the catalog will be the only one carrying your product for the length of the exclusive. Generally this is not a good deal for your company. Naturally an exclusive with one company locks you out of the rest of the market. If you do grant an exclusive, keep it as short as possible. Six months is plenty of time for an exclusive. Doing business with deadbeats. Let's face it, the main reason you do business with a catalog is so they will pay you for your product. How frustrating it is then when they don't live up to their end of the deal. And it happens. Like all businesses that are strapped for cash, when a catalog is experiencing lean times, they will delay payment to their vendors. So keep a close eye on when an invoice is due, and don't let them slide too far past. Any invoice more than a month past due could indicate trouble. Your best recourse is to hold up shipments to that catalog until you get paid. You can even ask for payment up front on new orders. About The Author Jim Tilberry is President of Tilberry Direct Marketing. His business specializes in helping inventors and small companies sell their consumer products through mail order catalogs. www.catalogrep.com / tilberrydm@aol.com / 800-413-0679
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Sex, Drugs, & Rock-n-Roll at Trade Shows Here's the Scenario.. SEZ WHO? Tips About Recommendations, Sales Cycles, and Trade Shows Here's the scene. You're at the trade show, having a discrete "Sales Call" conversation with a visitor. Speed-up Your Sales Cycle This week's article is my response to a question by David Cohen of Bridge-Soft. "Quite a few prospects have told me that business is stagnant at the moment, but they are hopeful towards the 4th quarter. How to Beat the 80/20 Rule in Sales Performance -- Part 2 Another key reason why companies suffer from 80/20 performance is their processes for hiring, training and managing salespeople rely almost entirely upon subjective information. Think about it:What are resumes? They are an individual's subjective portrayal of their capabilities and experiences. Do You Know How to Fire Up Your Sales Staff (When Money Isnt Everything)? Money is the only thing that motivates a salesperson, right? Well, maybe it is time to give your sales staff a little more credit.If you are like most sales managers, you were probably promoted to your current position because you were a great salesperson. How To Use A Powerful Leadership Tool To Step Up Sales Results Good sales people can close, but few "step up" for even more sales from that close. Yet stepping up should be one of the easiest accomplishments in sales - that is if you know how to build the staircase. Project/Program Management Best Practices for Success in ANY Industry! Where is our success? Although there have been improvements, over 60% of projects/programs failed and many were canceled in 2003 (ref:The Standish Report CHAOS)! Our goal for 2004 and beyond is to contribute to a 60% and better, project/program success rate! STOP THE MADNESS-MANAGE AND CONTROL PROJECTSWITH THE FOLLOWING:Best Practice Processes for Project/Program Success(Outline):Program/Project Management (and Business Management) (Integration)Use of Experience and Knowledge (Integration)Planning and Scheduling/WBS (Scope/Time/Cost)Communication Planning (Communication)Status & Earned Value Reporting (Communication)Performance (metrics) Reporting (Communication)Risks Identification and Management (Risks)Project Repository/DB (Communication/Lessons Learned/Knowledge Transfer)Change Management (Integration)Subcontractor/Vendor Control (Procurement)Team Building (Human Resource)Development Process (Integration/Solution/Scope)Selection of the appropriate model/technique (e.g. 6 Steps to Avoid Losing Summer Sales It's a fact - the online world dies down in the summer time. Kids are out of school, families are on vacation, there's fairs to attend to, and many are just spending too much time outside to be online. The Four "D"s of Sales Management Recently I stumbled across some notes that I had kept from a project I had been involved in which involved looking at manager behaviours. The aim of this project was to identify "preferred behaviours" in sales managers when they were working closely with their sales representatives. 14 Top Lead Generation Tactics According to former Harvard Business School professor David Maister, typical marketing practices are not only inapplicable for professional service firms, but they may be dangerously wrong.Often professional service firm principals tell me they are frustrated with the quality of their marketing materials, they are concerned with their firm's low profile or they feel pressure because their efforts are not generating enough new client leads. Moving a Business Relationship from Free to Fee: Turning Strangers to Friends with Power of Freebies In the last issue I shared with you a technique for getting permission to follow up with people who have seen you speak on stage. This was just one example of a tactic for filling your pipeline. The Get Dangerous Quickly Approach to Product/Service Training In 2000 a computer distributor hired me to help them build a software specialist sales team. The distributor had more than 100 "generalist" salespeople, but these salespeople were doing a poor job of selling software. Sales Coaching... Fact or Fiction? The old adage in selling has always been, "Find out what they want, then, give it to them." The fundamentals of selling are clearly that elemental. When Its DUH? Time at Trade Show - 3 Little Words Save the Day TIME, MONEY, HASSLE - You can make a sale on one of the Three Little Words, but when you sell on two of the three, you'll have a very loyal client.You've have product training and sales training, you reviewed your company's web site and literature, you understand the demonstrations, and the marketing ideas behind the exhibit design. How To Build A Worldwide Distributor Network When your product is market ready and has a good bargain, it will be no value to you if you don't know who's going to buy it, or how you are going to tell the world about it. Your product will only sell if it has a good wide distribution network. How to Increase The Sales Of Promotional Products I have searched for a new way to increase the sales of my promotional products. A good way is to start an affiliate-program with a commision for every customer who buy an product and who came to your page from a webpage of one of your affiliate-partners. 4 Tips for the Summer Slowdown - How To Pick Up Sales You may have heard about the "summer slowdown". You may be experiencing it right now, or you may not be affected. Snowflakes Improve Holiday Sales Snowflakes are beautiful!For the Winter Holiday sales season handcrafted snowflakes are the perfect touch. They lend an aura of a mystical winter wonderland to any room, house or office decor. Promoting Your Private Label at Industry Trade Shows So everyone thought you were crazy when you announced 6 months ago that you were quitting your "real job" in hopes of chasing starting your own Private Label Clothing Line. Your house is a disaster, blank shirts and line sheets everywhere, your living room has been transformed into a makeshift production lab. Ten Awesome Ways To Incease Your Sales In Holidays Everybody thinks that the businesses will slow down a bit in holiday seasons. Ofcourse everybody thinks that people don't want to start new ventures in holidays too.
|
| home | site map | Group Privacy Policy | Definition of Leadership | Contact Us |
| © Sales Management 2011 |