Episode Transcript
Nina Huchthausen (00:04.398)
All right. Welcome everybody to the Makers Business Tribe podcast. My name is Nina and today I have the wonderful Hayley, one of our MBT strategists on this call on this conversation on this really cold Thursday afternoon. And today I would like to sort of break apart and shed some light on one of her like
gems, sweets, spots, favorite things to talk about. Yeah. Apart from that pink scone. And that topic is how to nurture and grow your existing stockist, whether that's retailers, practitioners, health food stores, gyms, spas, hotels, you name it. Anyone.
that you might have gotten your product into and they are either using the product on a really large scale. So you've given them a wholesale discount or it is anyone who is reselling your products for you to a B2C customer. And because Haley has not just been in the space of wholesale for over a decade and also runs a done for you wholesale.
agency called Hey Hayley, but she is also heavily involved in the makers business tribe as a strategist in that space. So I thought, hey, Hayley, ha ha. Get a branding name. Yeah, exactly. Why not have the conversation on the topic of how do you nurture and grow someone? How do you create consistent, recurring
revenue from someone that you have brought on and also increase the order size because hand to heart, this is not a topic that you hear many people talk about. And most people who either join the tribe or private business owners I speak with their strategy is literally waiting for stock is to call and place another order. And I think we can do better. We can do more. And
Nina Huchthausen (02:27.342)
I would like you, Hayley, to shed some light on this today. Welcome. Thank you for having me on. Very excited to be back and very excited for you talking about Nurture because I definitely think it is the forgotten strategy, the forgotten little friend here over in wholesale. Everyone's after the first order and after their first stockist.
After the first big order and the excitement dies down, we all tend to forget and then go, they haven't contacted me for another order. It mustn't have sold well. No, it's because you haven't nurtured them as a stockist, ask them how they've gone about their selling and ask them how that's gone. You've forgotten them and we don't want them to forget you. So I'm very excited because it's very important when building your
wholesale branch to your business. And I think everyone just forgets about it or doesn't even think that it's a thing. Exactly, exactly. Because I mean, any bigger brands that you see in Myers and David Jones and whatever those bigger department stores, for sure, they got a big department.
that make sure that their product gets reordered and restocked. There's not just a one man band sitting there and kind of being like, I wonder who's going to call me today and ask for my product. Absolutely. And I think people go, I don't want to just keep calling people and keep selling and tell them and wait for the, no, we don't need more product. There's so many other different ways to nurture your stockists and your list that's not straight up.
Hey, do you want some more product? There's so many other avenues that then lead to reordering and then also reordering in a bigger quantity. It doesn't have to be a phone call of, Hey, buy my product again. How about your product? Yeah. What about me? There's so many different ways that are less that. Yeah.
Nina Huchthausen (04:46.158)
So before we delve into like what we can do, can you just break down like, what does it really mean when we say nurture a retailer, right? Because it's not about like giving them food or a blanket. It's, it's about building a stockist from being just a one order that they have your product to having that stockist.
have repeat orders and build that relationship with you. It's about having trust, consistency in that stockist and helping them sell your product. It's about supporting as a team and I guess building that trust with that stockist that they, your front of mind all the time.
all the time and they view you as a brand, as someone who's supporting them in business. I guess it's moving from that feeling of always being cold sold to, and I'm going to try the brand to having a friend and knowing, I know, I know Nina, she has this great, this great brand. she's super helpful.
They can come to you with an issue and you'll help them solve it. They know that you're there to support them as an on -sour rather than I've gotten the first order and you said, see you later, thanks. Basically, you're having me on speed down. Absolutely. They want to feel part of your brand rather than thank you, next, I'm on to the next.
They don't want to feel part of a list. Even though they are, you don't want to make them feel that way. You want to make them the priority and you want to make them feel like you're going to go as much as you can support them to sell your product. You care about their sales as much as you care about your own sales. Yeah. Because I guess ultimately
Nina Huchthausen (07:08.173)
how I see a stock is right, like they, they bring all of the people that we want to sell to, but can't reach as an individual maker. They bring them together, bring them together in this beautiful shop, beautiful store, wellness, spa, retreat, hotel, whatever you name it. But they, they act as a bit of a magnet as a bit of like a center spot in town.
for whatever, for natural, of course, not just our product, but a bunch of other products. But that kind of makes sense together. People seek out together. Yeah, they're giving what I call a contextual home for your brand. The other brands that they stock give more context to your brand because they align. The collection that they have in their shop needs to be a curated collection that all goes together and aligns together.
So having your brand sit in with brands that align with your brand and really compliment your brand really enhances your brand. It's not just sitting there by itself. It creates a story that it belongs to. Yeah. And often I guess that feeling of like, I haven't even considered this, but absolutely.
I'm here buying pyjamas, yeah, why wouldn't I get a candle for my bedside table? Yeah, absolutely. Or some slippers. Yeah, absolutely. It becomes part of a collection and a community and they've created that. So why not, you would then want to support them further in that. Yeah, in that journey of collection of story creation.
home creation, right? Of home and group, of collection of products. And we are part of that. We are doing our bit to create this innate beauty or magnetism for people on a Sunday afternoon. We're like, what am I going to do? I'm going to go to Mary's shop. Absolutely. As much as they're bringing context and a community to your brand, you're including that, you want to make them
Nina Huchthausen (09:31.309)
still included in your brand. So the way to nurture them and support them is to stay in contact and make sure that they think or they think or they are the front of your mind. You're always thinking about how they're going and caring. I guess it's all about care as well. You should be caring how your stock list is going as a business, as not just selling your product.
Yeah. And then because ultimately they're an extension of your sales team. Right? Absolutely. And unless you want to have like a bunch of people knocking on you on my door and trying to sell product. They're an extension. And I guess it's one of those things too, that yes, it's all about sales and getting a lot more sales from them and higher volume sales.
But unless you know what them as a business are going through at that moment, that predictability of when they're going to order next really becomes hard because you don't know what's going on with them. They may, they may just be going through a slow time and, or I see it could be a seasonal thing for them. You don't know that unless you're communicating with them and building that trust and knowledge behind them.
You almost want to get to the stage where they trust you enough to go, you know me, Nina. You know what I order. You know what works for us. Create me an order every quarter. Then they don't have to think about it. Then they don't have to, they don't have to really think about the range. If there's that trust, you're making them orders continuously without them having to do an ordering process.
And that's because you've built trust through that relationship. They're not going to do that with someone they've only had one order with and they go, I don't trust you to know what's going on in my business to know what the budget is for an order. So really, I mean, like we're using the terms nurture and growth because that's kind of like the terms across the industry, but it's really about long -term relationship building. Exactly. And that's the key to it.
Nina Huchthausen (11:59.629)
And I think that's what people shy away from because it feels very hard to start. How do I get a relationship that's brand new to that level? And you know where you want to get to in a relationship, but how do you get that? The other person needs to be open to it. They do need to be open.
to that relationship building. But if you can show that you're helping them sell your product and you're open to supporting them as a business, that relationship is going to build naturally itself. So I guess then first step, once I've created, I've gotten someone to try out my products, right?
Fingers crossed that the product is actually selling because if the product is absolutely not selling and my audience is not there, I mean, it's really hard to nurture and grow that relationship. But let's say that that's happening. And ultimately I am after this big long -term relationship. Like what are my key next steps? What should I be doing after I've received that first order? So essentially what you want to do and your nurturing journey with this stock is starts from day one.
So you've received the order, you've sent it out, happy days. The week you send it out, you should be making sure it got there okay, and what they thought of the first look of the product. Happy with the order, because then right there, you're making sure that there was no struggles with the postage, there was no lost items. They're happy with their order when they received it. So...
You're ticking the box that the first reaction to that order is positive. And if, and if it wasn't, you're going to strive to help what the negative reaction was. Yeah. Yeah. So that's like seven days in. Yeah, absolutely. And you're creating this idea around your brand that you're already helping them. You're just checking in that it's going smoothly for them straight away. Right. After that,
Nina Huchthausen (14:22.925)
about six to eight weeks after that first order, you'd want to be calling them to not directly say, hey, do you want more? You're calling them to see what the reaction was with their retail customers. Because you want to make sure that was there something that's a preference? Get some feedback. Ask for feedback.
If they're a bit nervous about it, maybe it's a sales demo that they need. Maybe it's some social media content support that they need. Asking how you can support them in selling your product and asking them how they're going. Because that conversation, you're being really helpful in that, in offering that, but it also gets them
to look at the stock levels and actually evaluate how that, think about how the brand's going. And if it's going really well, they'll ask for a top up of something. But it becomes, that top up becomes their idea. Because you don't want it to always be your idea that they need a stock up, top up. Cause all of that comes in,
Got a call from Haley again, wanted us to buy some more product. If you can, as many of those sales calls, it needs to be their idea to be stocking up. OK. I guess that's probably a really important mindset to adopt. Whatever you do, it's about how do you get them to decide, I need another order. Yeah.
Absolutely. I mean, it's kind of like friendship, the way I look at it. Everyone's got that friend where love hanging out, it's always a good time, but you're always the one reaching out. And you're always the one making the effort and doing that. As a brand, you don't want to be seen to be, we always hear from Haley, but all she wants is a sale. All it is is a sales call.
Nina Huchthausen (16:46.445)
You don't want it to be the same sort of call every time. Yeah. They want, you want to add a value somewhere and help them and ask it. You shouldn't asking them if they need a top up should be, if they haven't brought it up already, should be maybe the fourth talking point. Later in the conversation that you should ask. Yeah.
OK, so from what I'm hearing is really important. Once the product has stocked for a while and you were saying six to eight weeks, is about seeing, OK, well, how's it going? How can I support you? Yeah. What else do you need? What can I give to you? Because you've done me a favor by trusting me. Yeah. My products can sell in your store. You've given me money. Yeah. How can I make sure you're getting a return?
Absolutely. And it makes sure that they understand that you haven't forgotten them after that order. You haven't just gone, thanks for the money. See you later. Yeah. I'm here. You're interested in making sure that it's made its full journey to the end user and therefore being beneficial to both parties. Yeah. You know? And I think that's a really solid base to build a relationship on. Yeah.
Because you've got to realize too that I hear this a lot. I'm stuck. I have 50 stockists. That's great. That's amazing. You look at the history on those 50 stockists.
They've all placed first orders. Maybe 10 of them are placed second orders. So you don't, do you have 50 stockists or have you had 50 wholesale orders? Because you haven't had reorders from the other 40.
Nina Huchthausen (18:46.157)
So there's been, so do you have 50 stockists? Not really, because you don't know what's going on with them. To be a stockist, you should know what's going on with all of your stockists. Or where that's sitting. It's a much bigger job and different job than if you were to sell online, right? absolutely. Because online, like all communications with your customers is all automated.
though your automated email sequences, you're not really in touch with them. Like, yes, you're setting up all your crazy funnels and that's so cool, but you're not talking to them really. Whereas with the stockist, like it's actually you need to become friends with them. Yeah. On a business level, at least. Absolutely. There shouldn't be that first conversation jitters when you're making that phone call.
There should be a level of, I wonder how Nina's going. I will give her a call. She tried that new product last month. I wonder how it went for them. I think she was having a Mother's Day sale. Let's see how the Mother's Day sale went for them, how they felt about it. Wonder if she's going to the trade show this year to have a look for some new brands. You know?
through that nurturing, you can also gain a lot of insight into the retail industry and how you can get a vibe of what's going on in that retail space, not just for that one stock is but overall, there may be an industry trend that you weren't aware of unless you had these discussions. These check ins. What I kind of like hearing out and I just wrote this out for you, right, is like the tone that I heard from you.
is really a tone or a... It's curiosity, right? It's not like, my gosh, okay, today's the day, yes, I'm gonna call all these stockists and gosh, they're probably gonna think I'm a pain in the bum and it's like a carry, meaning I'm calling again, but it's like you're genuinely, you're putting on that mindset of...
Nina Huchthausen (21:06.765)
I'm curious how Mary is going. I'm curious how Bob is going. I'm curious how James is getting on. Yeah, I actually care what's going on for them. Yeah, I'm curious on what the customers say. I'm curious, you know, can I educate, can I give them some more information? Because I'm sure there's a lot to my product. They get so much going on. I'm curious what's going on in their world because maybe there's a different way I can, I can give back.
almost. Maybe there's a promotion that they're running that you could be a part of. A part of and it's a part of through not to to sell more but to how can I help you more? Absolutely. Because I think like a lot of resistance, a lot of resistance and I thought there's so many times in our tribe it's like I don't want to nag them, I don't want to bother them, right?
But I love this idea of like, now the first thing you said a few minutes ago, how can you make it about them? But that's a statement that's used a lot. And oftentimes you're like, I don't know what that means. But if we have this like, I wonder what mindset, I wonder what the customer has been saying, what the staff has been saying or asking.
We care about your opinion and how you're, we care about how it is for you. Yeah. I wonder how I can help. I wonder how else I can get involved to make this the best, to make this the best deal they have ever done. Absolutely. Versus me have ever done. Yeah. They don't want to think, cause I think a lot of times stockers feel like that, I'm part of this lead, lead gen.
pipeline, they've got a close and a first order from me, that's great. And then they kind of feel a bit forgotten about, or they you get forgotten about as a brand, or they forget forgotten about as a stockist, they feel like you've moved on in the pipeline to the new brand new stockist over there. Like you haven't got, or even that you don't have time for this nurturing thing, and they don't, you don't have time for them as a stockist.
Nina Huchthausen (23:30.061)
you should have all the time in the world for your stockists. Yeah, because I mean, just today we were talking to one of our clients that we both support and they made over like three grand in sales in a day and it's just like the second week. Yeah, absolutely. The second week on the road and that's fantastic results. They are nurturing from the get -go.
They went in hot new lead. They made a first order. Great. Fantastic. But how they nurtured them from right off the bat is they offered to go in and do a taste testing the same week that that order has been placed. So it's super quick, but they're there today lining up a taste testing for their retail customers to come in and taste the product that they're going to have in. What a fantastic way.
to show support for that new stockist straight away. And I think that's the first tool of like, well, what specifically can I do? Yeah. Yeah. Which is the, and we love recommending that in the tribe because it's so easy to do, really. Yeah. When you have a product that you can either put in your mouth or put on your skin or touch and feel.
So make a bit of a bamboozle in store and get everybody to try it and taste it. That's exactly right. Like they've made the sale, they've got a stockist, it's there. But now they're creating hype for that new stockist, retail customers coming in. They're already helping them sell that product right from get go. And I think where people trip up is they don't realize that nurturing
stage needs to be from day one. They feel okay they've made an order in six to eight weeks, ten weeks whenever I want another order that's when I need to start my nurturing journey with that brand with that stockist. No it starts from day one you know you need to have this funnel going
Nina Huchthausen (25:56.141)
not when you've decided I haven't heard from them I'd really appreciate an order from them right now I'm going to go try and nurture them. Well probably it's going to take a little bit to do that. Yeah. You should be doing that and then it'll eventuate into a new order. Yeah. It's not I need some cash flow. Yeah. Let's be friends. If we're thinking about how specifically to structure my
my nurture journey or like, like how specifically can I nurture someone apart from we already spoke about, well, definitely want to check in seven days after make sure they get the product. You say, check in 68 weeks after see how they're going, check in with curiosity. How can I help? Right. Absolutely. But when you're saying, okay, but you actually really need to nurture from day one. Like what can, what, what could I do? Throw some ideas. Yeah.
So absolutely. So if it's depending on the type of product. So going in and doing that sales training or a taste test, if that's appropriate for the product or some sampling that pitching that great idea. If that's not something you're able to do, because we all can't go into every stockist and support that provide a folder of social media content.
You've got to make it for the product anyway, because you've, I'm sure we're all on social media and making content is a need. You're going to have a folder of content that you've already used that went really well or could be helpful. Send that to the stockist, not with all the stuff with their first order, make it a separate phone call. So then there's a bit of, there's individual touch points.
Because if you chuck it all at them right at the start, it can be a little bit overwhelming. And then you're not left with much to talk to them about between orders. Call them a week later and go, hey, what's the best email address to send this folder of social media stuff? Cool. So photos, video content, whatever that is, do that. They'll love you for it because at least they don't have to make the video content.
Nina Huchthausen (28:20.973)
They're real this week. You know? Yeah. Fantastic. The other thing could be offering to do a bit of a new stockist launch post or a newsletter to your mailing list about that new stockist. Ask them for a writer, a little write up about their business, some background, that sort of thing. So you can launch them as a new stockist to your audience as well.
I love that. Because I think that's also a really pivotal thing. At the moment, they're used to every brand these days has an e -commerce platform. They're used to the brands that they're stocking having to be already in the retail market. What they want to see is that you're supporting them selling it, not competing with them.
at a retail level. So if you can offer all of that support, it shows that you're not looking to undercut them. You're looking to support their sales more than you're looking to support your own retail sales. Yeah, awesome. I would assume that's probably a big thing when it comes to trust, right? Because what's the biggest reservation of a retailer? How do I make sure that
The product that's being bought here versus online, right? The biggest, I guess, trepidation I get from stockists is they have, they buy this new brand, they bring it in. That's fantastic. The next week that brand goes on sale on a retail level. They can't obviously meet that sale because the brand can do a really big sale because they've got their
cost price, wholesale price, and their retail price. So they've got margin in there, to the end of the day, you know, that rate, that stock is, doesn't have that same margin because they have from the wholesale price to the retail price. They have that margin. So they feel undercut by that brand and they feel like they're competing with that brand and they're never going to win. So you want to make that, you'd
Nina Huchthausen (30:49.869)
want to get rid of that feeling that we're in competition with each other. Get rid of it completely. And if you can be so can like, if you're helping them with their social media content, being super open on your socials and your mailing list, that you have a new stockist, that sort of competing really gets blown out of the water because why would I?
launch you as a new stockist to my mailing list if I was trying to compete with you on a retail level? That's big stuff right there. Why would I push them towards your store? Yeah. But the big, to me, I'm getting so many ideas as to what I could do. But you just saying as part of that journey of building on long -term relationship and nurturing and growing.
relationship, if you can, we can continuously think about how, what can I do to get rid of that sense of competition, but help them feel that I, that their sales mean more to me than my own? Absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, we all do care about our retail sales. Don't get me wrong, it is important, but you don't want the stockers to
feel that they are, that is more important to you than having them as a stockist. Because all they have is their retail sales. Whereas you have wholesale and retail. Yeah. That is awesome because, you know, the first thing you said that was, I think was really good. It's like, be curious, make it about them, see how you can support them more. But they will probably not say to you,
Haley, you know, the one thing you can really support me with, help me get rid of my sense of competition. They're probably not going to say that. No. Right. So they might not even be aware of it, but they have that level of distrust. But it was the second thing. It's almost like a second job that we have when we put on our nurture hat is like thinking about how can I continuously make all of my stock is feel that I'm not competing them.
Nina Huchthausen (33:11.341)
Yeah. I'm here to cheer for them. I want to drive people to their stores. I want to make sure, hey, you want my product? Go to Bob. Go to Mary. What? You're in Queensland? Go to Stu. Absolutely. And that, I think, will encourage them to make more orders. Right? Because I think something else we had a great topic to talk about that comes up a lot is exclusivity.
Stockists want exclusivity because it means that there's no competition around them and that sort of thing. Giving them that is really, it's important because it builds trust, right? But what you need to do is go, that's okay. Happy to give you exclusivity in your area. But what we need is a order every month, every quarter.
whatever that term is that you need from them, we need to make sure that we have that consistent ordering pattern from you and be super clear with them about that if they're asking for exclusivity. Right. But don't frame it as a point of, we need these repeat orders for cashflow and cannot sell to other people to create competition around you. Frame it in the sense that we need you to have
continuous orders that way and a good range of product so that when someone asks us, who can I go to for this product in this area, we can confidently drive them towards you knowing that you have stock. Because if we're not confident that you have stock or a range of products,
It kind of looks a little bit funny, us driving one of these customers to you, and then they turn up and you don't have anything. That's a really good one. That's probably also a great way to make sure, hey, you know, we, because I think there's also always that sense of, because we've spoken about how can you support them? How can you reduce that sense of competition whilst at the same time?
Nina Huchthausen (35:31.757)
also reminding them of their responsibility that they want to call themselves the stockist of our brand and I put you on my website as a stockist that you are stocked. I guess it's one of those things if you want us to cheer for you you need to cheer for us this is a collective it's a partnership we're doing this all together it's not
As much as we're going to support you, you need to support us as well. It's a partnership. We're working together. It's not, I'm going to cheer for you on the sidelines, whether you're supporting me or not. You know, you want this to be a give and take relationship. You want to be in it together. Awesome. So then it's really like the third point of what you should be thinking about when it comes to nurturing and growing is
Maybe even instead of just thinking about men, I really need to, I need my sales to be up. So I need to, I'm going to nudge them to place an order, but to maybe see, Hey, Sue, I know you haven't ordered in a while, but you've committed to being a stockist of our product. So our people, the people that you serve and my people that they are always taken care of when they are in need of my brand. So.
please make sure you are stocked with our full range so we end up driving people to your store and your shelves are empty. You can say things like, we've had a few inquiries for your area and I just wanted to check in to see what your stock levels were because I want to push these people towards you as a stockist. But because you haven't ordered in a little while, I just wanted to make sure that I'm pushing them towards the correct direction.
Yeah, I want to make sure that your shelves are filled. So, you know, they're looking for a size 39, not all you have left is size 46, you know? Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. So I think it's this level of it is a friendship. It is this partnership that you're a part of that I think where we say in the lead generation and getting that first order, they need to be as excited.
Nina Huchthausen (37:53.229)
to stock your product as you are to have it in there, that, I guess that attitude needs to carry through the nurturing process. And like what you've now spoken about is like two ways of like giving to them, but also one way of reminding them of your partnership without you sounding needy. Absolutely. Because it's like, hey, you know, we agreed on a certain deal and
what you know, I'm a big fan of like reminding everybody of their bigger mission. Right? Because every retail store, every stock is everyone has a bigger mission, a bigger reason as to why they do what they do. Right? And if you've taken the time to understand that at the start, it's also a great way to remind them of like, hey, you know, we are not mission to clean up the planet or to reduce plastic or, you know, reduce toxins that we put into our body.
We've both committed to that. So I want to make sure my product can do its bit for their customers and being accessible in your area. And therefore, I wanted to check in, make sure you're all stacked up. Yeah, it's the responsibility of being a stockist. Yeah. And I think that's a great twist, because I think a lot of people get stuck with, well, how can I
Because if, of course, our sales, we want to make sure they stay up. So we have to, at some point, talk orders if they don't talk about themselves, right? Absolutely. So that angle of, hey, I want to make sure you are stocked because when my customers trust that I'm telling them they can get it from Bob, and they go to Bob, that ample product is available, and not just one product from one range. Yeah.
Absolutely. And I think sometimes people trip up with that because they hear the, we need to become friends. I need to listen to the, my dog Joe did this and you need to remember about their dog Joe and you need to be their friend and do all that. The stories about the dog is not going to get you the sales. So yes, you have to do that part, but you also have to have the other part to
Nina Huchthausen (40:13.997)
get the sales through. Because I think if it's otherwise, you're just having lovely talks about their dog. Yeah, you're not building on their ordering patterns. Exactly. And I think another thing that sometimes people forget as part of this nurturing and growth phase or building that relationship, it's a business relationship. Because at the end of the day, they want to
continuously grow and strengthen their business. And we want to do the same. So when it comes to really thinking about how can I add value is talking business and talking about the business opportunity of stocking your products and what is in it for them, what the margins means, what the profit means and how this could ultimately increase the average basket size. How can it drive more customers to come back more
or more often to restock on something. That's real value creation because the more we can help a retailer see, my God, Nina, you're right. Yes, when I stock this, this, this, after lunch snack bar, I got so many customers, customers come in at 3 PM, grab that bar and a water and whatever else you have to get through the afternoon. So I'm missing out.
on that afternoon rush because I didn't, I'm not, the shelves are empty. Yeah, absolutely. And if I look back at what was that, the basket size at 3pm, my goodness, that was like $25 per person. I see. And if you've got a really great relationship with that stockist, you should be able to go, okay, they've, they've bought four boxes of bars. You should be sort of able to see, know that what that
ordering pattern is going to look like. And before they've thought about it, maybe it's, maybe they order every call it three months. They do a big order every three months, halfway through the third month. You should be calling them and go, Hey, how's your stock going? Do we need a top up? What are we talking about? Because then you, they, you've read their ordering pattern.
Nina Huchthausen (42:40.557)
You're ringing up for a conversation, you're going to have a chat, but you're making sure that you're sustaining that rush and they don't miss out because they've fallen behind in their own business to -do list. You're restocking them for the interest of them not missing out. Cool. Which is really point number four, right? Like is understanding and remembering and flowing with their order patterns.
That's it. And being top of mind. Yeah. And that, I think, is also a thing that I just invite everyone to remember. If you are any average retailer, they've got about 1 ,000 -odd different products. Yeah. Unless they have a really sophisticated system that
constantly tells them when stock is low based on trends in this and when they need to reorder. Not everybody has that. And even when you have it, oftentimes there is a manual step involved to then place that order because no retailer just wants to set up auto orders because what if they don't want the product? Absolutely. The amount of stockists that I talk to that go, your brand has been on my to -do list.
It's been so really when you're calling them on these nurture calls, yes, you're not throwing sales at them, but you also on a level are alleviating some of that mental load. Yeah, yeah, because. Technology is all well and good, yeah, and yes, it can be immensely helpful to automate orders and to make it easy so you don't have all this paperwork, but a good old phone call to say like.
Hey, Haley, you know, it's been two and a half months. Normally I'm seeing an order from you. Should I put that through for you? Yeah. And all you have to do is like, yes, please, Nina. Same as last month. Cool. Bye. Done. Exactly right. Could be that, thank God she just called me because all I had was 10 seconds. Yeah. And I've been meaning to do that. I walk past that shelf every single day.
Nina Huchthausen (45:01.709)
And I think about, I really must restock that. I really must restock that. You're alleviating their mental load and they'll be thankful for that. But you only can do that once you've built this relationship and you've built that trust and you have the knowledge behind that stock as to know where they're up to. And they become a nurture set. That's what we call a nurture cycle. Is you have
that momentum. That momentum of whenever you're three quarters empty or you have that kind of understanding do that. Yeah absolutely. And I think that's so important for you to figure that out because if you think about it like any stockist and based on the value of your product is slightly different but there is so much more revenue and profit in it.
for single stockers than it is for an individual person on the internet that buys from you. Yeah. Right. If you have retailers and that I always invite you to look at like what is like the yearly order value and you can always forecast that up. Yeah. That's where you can then literally see, my goodness, this retailer, it could be worth 50 grand, a hundred grand a year for me in revenue. You got to pick up the phone.
who's not in their right mind, pick up the phone to make sure that the relationship stays strong for that revenue opportunity. Absolutely. There's so many, so many times you hear, how did the product go for you? Yeah, it went really well. So what happened after that? I just never got to reordering. We just never got there. So, so much money is being left on the table because
no one called them to nurture them to alleviate them of that to -do list task. So they just never got there. They never thought about it. And then another rep walks in with a similar product and that was just easier. Absolutely. Absolutely. And it would have been a reorder had you nurtured that stockist, but because it just never happened, it was on their to -do list to reorder and they just never got there.
Nina Huchthausen (47:23.533)
And sometimes they even forget that that happened. They'll go, yeah, we did have that at one stage, didn't we? And then you've got to start with a cold lead all over again because they've forgotten how it went. And the first order meant nothing now. Yeah, it's crazy powerful. It's crazy powerful because you've done the hard work once to get them to the first order. So to then...
Just staying creative and connected and making it about them, staying curious about what happened, how can I support you? What do you need? Making sure that they become and actually step up to the stock is promised that they made when they signed up with you. Staying stocked in number four, just you being because of all of this, being able to flow with their order and can anticipate it. And then also
We can use technology because we can set ourself reminders. Maybe it's once we understand the order pattern, all we need to do is set ourselves a reminder and then call them when we need to. We don't need to sit there every day. Yeah. Absolutely. So yourself a reminder, write a small note of what happened last time. Bring them up. Have a browse over their ordering history so you know that they're essentially the stuff that they're reordering or ordering. You're not in the dark.
And then go with that. Exactly. Exactly. It's so fantastic. And if you can turn, because of just flowing through the sense of making it about them, checking in, being curious, reminding them of that partnership, promoting that partnership, and flowing with that order, if you get those four things right, if you can turn a
a one grand order into a 20 or 50 grand order for the year. Honestly, you'd be out of your mind to not try this out. And all it takes is a bit of chat. Honestly, that's all it is. It's strategic chat. Remember that we're not going on off on a tangent. It's strategic and we are reminding ourselves of
Nina Huchthausen (49:49.549)
the relationship and making sure we're doing that, that at the end of the day, it's just supporting and chatting. Yeah, supporting, chatting, staying curious, and then following through, right? Yeah. And I think I just want to mention this is just the last thing of this. Of course, sometimes the retailer gets stuck with the product or can't seem to turn it. And it's important to then see, OK, well, how can I help them through it?
Right. We did a podcast episode, I think, like two, three episodes before on that and how to troubleshoot it. But oftentimes when you ask them, hey, how's it going? They're like, man, Nina, it's not moving. Yeah. To them be like, OK, how can I help? Yeah. They say, OK, well, that's too bad. I'll check in with you in three weeks time. But actually, staying in that curiosity space, as Hailey said at the start, and being like, OK, cool.
Is it the shelf space? Is it the positioning in the shelf? It's just too low. People can't see it. Have we hidden it somewhere where people wouldn't expect it? Or does it need more signage? Does it need more explanation? Does it need more staff training? Does it need more? What does it need? Does it need a different twist for you even? Do we need to position the product slightly differently? Because how we originally positioned
is not working for your customers. That's exactly right. But that type of brainstorming, exactly that type of brainstorming and curiosity does two things. Well, number one, the retailer will be incredibly helpful or grateful if you can help them turn that stock and turn the dead duck into a thriving elephant. Stupid analogy, but like something that is good. Sorry. End of the day. But number two,
you learn so much about the things that need to happen with your product so it can sell. That's it. Because so often, if retail bot says, yeah, I put it down the shelf, nobody notices it, and you're like, hey, how about we put it on iHide? How about we widen the space so people can see it? How about I create an explanation poster? And then because of that itself,
Nina Huchthausen (52:13.837)
What a great data point for you to be like, okay, so all my other stockists I'll make sure all these other boxes are ticked too. Yeah, absolutely and they are probably if they've got a Bit of stock that's not moving for them how draining for them in that They see that every day and it's not moving. They're not excited about your product. They're not excited. They're not gonna put
the mental load of that product not working, they're not thinking creatively on how to move that product. They need your spark of energy and your outsider's perspective because you know that product sells. They need that perspective to help them move it because otherwise they're just going to sit in, it didn't work for us. They're just going to throw it into a discount basket and be like, fuck, whatever. Yeah. Yeah.
which is which your product doesn't deserve. You know, if you know it's a good one, we have to we have to give it all the energy it needs to expect from your retailer who stocks 1000, 2000, whatever amount of products. They not ever will be able to give all the love to every single product in their store. They just can't. That would be insane task to master. So for us to keep coming in.
and supporting them on that journey to really milk that cow off this product that we got into the store, then like freaking amazing outcome. Absolutely. And that builds that relationship you have with them. They'll be thankful for that. Yeah. And I honestly, if we're thinking about, we know they are not endless amounts of retailers in this country, in New Zealand and also overseas. It's all limited.
So at some point, the more we have retailers we get on board, the less fish in the sea. So the more you continuously nurture every single, is that that story of the goose, the golden goose who lays one golden egg a day? You need to keep nurturing that goose, man. If you put the goose, no more golden eggs. Yeah. And that's the other thing. If you don't nurture that, someone else will take that spot. They're not.
Nina Huchthausen (54:39.597)
They're not coming to you. Don't wait around for that. Exactly. And it's really once you've brought someone on, if you can master the art of nurturing, growing and using all the tips that we mentioned, curiosity, making it about them, creating a collective partnership with equal responsibilities and flowing with that next order. Yeah. Man, you're going to create many, many golden geese.
That's it around you and all you got to do is be there every single day Nurture them supporting them and you get the golden egg. That's it. That's absolutely right because Yeah, I guess a wholesale order is really great but what we want to build is a sustainable wholesale branch to your business and You're not building that unless you're keeping on your stock as the nurturing them
Exactly. Sustainability is everything in that space. So thank you. Thank you so much, Hayley, for this awesome conversation. And I honestly am really excited because by the time that we are recording it, we are one day before we are officially announcing that there will be a weekly, a freaking weekly session with you in the tribe. I'm so excited. That where we're just jamming.
how we do nurture and growth because that's where the money is my friends. That's really where the money is. Like anything else prepares you to be able to receive that golden egg. Yeah. But you have to, you have to put a lot of things in first in order to get to that point. But once you're at that point, my friends be there and be ready to, to, to
to really crack through what retail wholesale, getting your product stuck in the physical space can really mean for you. There's so much power. Thank you, Hayley, for this conversation, for being part of the tribe. I'm so excited that we're doing this together. Just for all of our listeners, I think you and I, we are on every three weeks, every four weeks,
Nina Huchthausen (57:01.806)
a wholesale specific conversation which I'm super excited about. So good. Rowan and that other announcement right there. Not going anywhere. She's not going anywhere and I'm so stoked. So thank you Hayley and I see you Friday, tomorrow. I will see you tomorrow. Chat soon.
