Episode Transcript
Nina Huchthausen (00:08.376)
Hello everybody and welcome to the Makers Business Tribe podcast. In this week's episode, I wanna go back right to the very start, right to the very start of that key question. If you've been selling your products at a market store for a while or you've been really busy formulating, making, crafting, perfecting it, and you are at that point where you're like, all right,
I am interested, I am keen to get my products onto shelves. I want my products to be sold in retail. But where do I start? I got this product, I got this thing, I'm really passionate about it, I know it's good. I've had people tell me they're loving it. I am on the mark here that I've...
created something that can make a real difference in a person's life. Now, how do I turn that into a full -time income? How do I get it out onto as many retail shelves as I can to make the biggest difference ever? Where do I get started? So in today's podcast, I would like to talk you through the key steps that you need to take. And I will also link some other podcasts
into the show notes that will direct you to other conversations that we've had in the past that will help you of what we call get pitch ready. So you can start reaching out to retailers with confidence and competence, knowing that given your favorite humans, your customers shop there, they would be
highly likely to wanting to stock your product. Cool? Okay, so let's get started. So I invite you as pretty much always get a pen and paper out so that you can follow along and write down those key steps in the hopes that this, in this conversation, we can help you break down this huge mountain that you might feel like you're standing in front of and don't really know how to tackle. Okay. So let's take a look.
Nina Huchthausen (02:31.03)
Now, the very first thing that you want to get in order and ready to go is your product packaging. Now, what do I mean by that? Because let's say you are selling skincare or you are selling chai. Chances are you have it in some type of packaging. But the key question is, does it pop out of the shelves?
Does it really speak to the customer that you've designed it for? And does it have really good and different branding applied that if I was to see your chai across five different chais in a store, that your product will stand out and that your product really talk to
me if you made it for me and not really be interested for anyone that you haven't made that product for versus it's just in some generic packaging because the stockist wants a product to be different. A customer wants a product to be different and for you to really stand out and be different, you have to be different. So getting your product packaging right and unique
and really in tune with what your brand stands for, that is one of the most important things for you to get right. Because nobody is going to taste that chai if the packaging isn't already speaking to them, unless you hand it over to them and ask them to taste it. But you won't be able to do that, and the stockers won't be able to do that either. So the packaging has to do a big part of the selling work.
And it does that well when it speaks to your customer. And that happens when there's really good brand strategy applied so that every single element on your packaging is bang on the money. OK, that's the first thing. And then, of course, there's the labeling that kind of comes hand in hand because we want to make sure that all the labels that you require in order to sell via retail are on there.
Nina Huchthausen (04:52.995)
Yeah. And that you also have structured the information in a way that is very simple and easy for a customer to digest. And they can actually read about the why, the what, and the how of the product on the packaging. To a degree, not to an nth degree. I don't want to have to wear glasses in order to read the label. But it should give me as much information as possible for me as a consumer to make an informed choice. OK.
So that's the first thing to really get right. Once you've got the, I'm just going to stick with the chai example. Once you've got the chai in itself, tasting amazing. Okay. Then make sure that you have all of your key certifications done. if you are saying at a market, so right now this is a vegan product, or if you want to claim that on the packaging, you need to have a vegan certification. Yeah. So make sure you get your certifications in order.
or take this label off, but you want to make sure that you have the key certifications that a retailer is looking out for in order to stock it. Then you want to make sure that your website is updated. So on your website, what we want to see is a wholesale application page so that any stockist can see you're open for business for stockists. Simple and easy page.
where people can put down their name, their phone number, their email address, submit it to you so you can start having conversation. So that's literally just putting out a simple digital sign saying, hey, I'm open for wholesale, which you can also then share on social media and let people know. And as soon as you have some stockists on board, you want to have a page where
customers can go to and find a stockist in their area because chances are people want to taste that chai before they buy that chai, which is the biggest hurdle to overcome online. So show me where I can taste it so that I can buy with confidence. Then of course, you want to make sure you get enough product to meet demand. So if you're making product at home, can you service?
Nina Huchthausen (07:06.862)
that first stock is that second stock is that third stock is or are you going to bust out of all seams and going to struggle? So then it might be good to take a step back and see, how can I create that ability to produce a little bit more so that I can bring on a few stock is and then use that money to reinvest to increase my production further. Now, product samples and testers. So when we,
approaching a stockist. Well, first of all, you need the stockist to try the product and you need to staff to try the product because if the staff sees a new product on shelves and they haven't tried it, why would they recommend it? They wouldn't. They got no idea what it tastes like. And if a customer comes into store and asks about that chine, they're like, yeah, we got this new, but no idea what it tastes like. That's a hard sell, man. So you want to make sure that you have ample opportunities.
for to give out samples, to get people to test it, or for you to be available to do in -store demos and tastings. Yeah, so you might have to figure something out to portion out that product a little bit smaller. Barcodes. Most people want barcodes on their products so that they can easily scan it into the inventory system, take it out of the inventory system, and see the price. Yeah, so you might have to go to Barcode Australia.
and get a back coat. Then what the two big artifacts that we need to create in order for you to be able to go out with confidence and pitch your product. So first one is your product catalog. And the second one is your pitch because you need to know what you what you want to say. And you want to be able to lead a stock is true is
On a Tuesday morning at 10 a Not been thinking about your brand at all, but just been going about their business. And when you come in, you want to have a conversation with them. You need to know how you can guide them from doing their business to actually wanting to stock your product. For that, what we call you need a pitch, which is a structured way of leading the conversation. But there are certain elements that go both into the pitch as well as the product catalog.
Nina Huchthausen (09:35.936)
And those are the elements that are very important to sit down and work through with as much diligence as you can, because those are the things that turn a pitch from a loopworm handshake and a catalog from a loopworm handshake into something really irresistible and emotionally connecting. And here are those key things.
So number one, you really want to work through why your brand exists. What is the deeper reason for being? Why did you create it in the first place and become emotive about it? Share an emotionally charged story that we like to call our heartfelt story. And in that heartfelt story, you focus first on
What was the problem that you saw that made you upset, that made you angry, that created frustration for you, that created some type of urge within you to say, I'm going to solve this? What's the first part? But then you want to go a little bit deeper and talk about, well, what would happen if you didn't?
for anyone to see, my gosh, I can really very much relate to that story before you then flip the story into the solution, what you created and the key benefits and the magic behind your brand and your product and what it actually really gifts to people and the planet today. So I'm gonna share with you a key brand story.
so that you can see and hopefully feel the power behind this because I hands down believe everybody needs a heartfelt brand story in order to differentiate themselves from yet another chai. But this is the story about a silk crunchy. So, hate from silkness, this is kind of her story that we've developed together. And that is a story about
Nina Huchthausen (12:04.192)
a woman who had a, who was going through multiple births and a few other traumas at the time. And what has happened is because of this, her hair got thinner and thinner and brittle and she started losing it by the bunch.
And a few weeks after the birth, she looked at herself in the mirror and she couldn't even recognize herself anymore. And her hair was just standing up on all ends and she was devastated. Absolutely devastated because she couldn't even recognize the woman in the mirror anymore. And that is terrible because whether it's a birth or whether it's something else that we couldn't control that led us down this path where our body wasn't able to keep
holding onto and making new beautiful hair anymore, which is a signal of a woman's health and beauty and is closely tied to our identity, it's very easy to go down a slippery slope of anxiety and depression. And that is not what any mom or any woman deserves. And that is why Paige
has created the brand Silk Nist and her silk scrunchies made out of mulberry silk. That is just the finest, most gentlest silk that you can ever imagine that wraps the hair like a cocoon and turns it from fristles and frittles into something beautiful again. Because if you put that scrunchie up on your head, that silk really may turn your eyes into magic.
And it makes you beautiful again. It turns you back into that woman that you once were and helps your hair to heal, helps your skin to heal, and helps you to be as gentle with your hair as you can be so that it has a chance to recover.
Nina Huchthausen (14:14.38)
Now, when you write out that story, you might turn it into a little bit shorter and snappier. But I wonder how many of you guys got a little bit of goosebumps. And that is the real story of Paige. That's where she once was, and that's why she created it. And that is the power of her mulberry silk organic silk scrunchies. Because they're not just silk scrunchies. They kind of look pretty.
But they are there to help a woman turn herself back into the confident, beautiful human that she is. And it just helps her on that path. And I think just being able to share that story with a potential stockist makes them connect so much more to your brand and being able to say, yes, me too.
I connect with that. know so many women who come to my salon every day who don't want to look themselves in the mirror or that, yes, I can cut their hair, but I can't do anything about this or that. And that's powerful. And that is one of the biggest things for you to differentiate yourself and your brand. And it also connects a lot of customers to your brand because you care. You're not just making scrunchies.
OK, so creating a story like that can go a really long way. And you can shorten that, abbreviate that. You can go all out writing that in your catalog for people to see why you're a brand because you've got a really strong story that people want to connect and associate themselves with.
Okay. Then the second thing for you to work through is your customer to get super clear on who are you doing this chai or this scrunchie for? Who is the person? Who is that what we call favorite human? And as part of that, we always invite you to work through really unpacking what are the key challenges that they are experiencing that your product is the solution for.
Nina Huchthausen (16:30.774)
What are people searching for that have this challenge? What are they needing? And what are they wanting on a surface level? But also, where do they hang out? What are they interested in? And what do they want as an outcome? What do they want? What is the thing that they want changed? And how do they describe it to be changed?
And the clearer you become on who this person is together maybe with their gender and their age group, the clearer your brand and your brand messaging can become. And the better you can do validating research with that group to see, do they resonate with your product? Do they resonate with your messaging? Or how can you fine tune it to really talk to them?
customer research, feedback, once you have that, absolutely everything and can go such a long way for you to create raving fans very, very early on. Then the next thing, you want to delve into your product. And when you delve into your product, you really want to look at it from all angles to pull out all types of possible benefits, all types of possible payoffs to gain creative, really extensive
catalog for you to find what are the key differentiating bangers about your product. Whilst at the same time, I would also highly recommend comparing your product to some of the comparable brands. Not competing, we're not competing, but there's some brands that you're like, I could compare my product to this. Because quite often a retailer will ask you, well, how does your chai compare to that chai? What's different?
If you've worked through that and you can show that your cinnamon is three times more potent and has a longer shelf life and this because of that, much easier for you to pitch your product and being able to answer those questions. So really creating that library and then a comparison table banger. And then you also want to pull through your customer reviews.
Nina Huchthausen (18:53.826)
because you need some customer reviews. And if you can include that in your wholesale catalog, and if you can also reference them, amazing, because we need some street credibility. OK? Then the last thing, what you need both for your catalog as well as your pitch, is you need to have a really good understanding of your cost of goods, as well as your distributor and your wholesale prices and margins, as well as your recommended retail price, and really making sure that
you have enough margin in your products that you can work with the distributor, with the retailer, and not just sell B2C. So there's a fair bit of calculation to be done. I think that I have done a podcast on this. I will link to it. And once you have all of that, then, well, the last thing that you really need
before you can put together a catalog is some banger product charts. Really banger product charts that make me hungry, that make me just want to drop everything and look at this thing. Because, and that's where a lot of people skip. I kind of like, yeah, I have some shots. I think they're good enough. No, no, Because here's what the job of a catalog is. It's a salesperson.
It's a physical salesperson, it's a digital salesperson that can massively help you get people super excited about your product and wanting to have a conversation with you. Or not, or not be interested. Because if you pop into a store and the store owner isn't there and you leave an average catalog, they take one look at that and like, nah, that's it. And then they don't want to talk to you. If they take one look at that and go like, holy cow.
This looks really cool. For certain, they want to have a chat with you because they want their store to look unique and different. They're always looking out for something that looks unique and different. So the catalog, banger shots, making me hungry, everything. What goes into the catalog? The story. is it for? The benefits and payoffs of your different products. The pricing. The margin.
Nina Huchthausen (21:16.108)
and some customer reviews and how can I order. Some people put a little bit more, more information about the ingredients and the power of that. You can totally do that, but in a nutshell, everything that I shared with you before goes into your catalog. And then, my goodness, all of that stuff will also going to be worked through in your pitch, which is beautiful because you might have to do a fair bit of work upfront, but once you do,
be super easy for you to put your pitch together because those are the key elements that answer the why I shook here, what it is, how it works, how is it different and what it costs. What is the deal or what is the intro offer? Okay.
Nina Huchthausen (22:08.566)
And then just a few more things to get right. We need some sales support. Any stock needs to be trained on your product. So you might want to do a little bit of sales training material. You might want to do some point of sales material. You might want to do a bit of a display stand based on your products. They might need a little bit of support. And you might also need to do a term sheet.
for to make sure that you are legally supported. And you might also want to have a look at your delivery and shipping processes, your shipping costs, as well as a rough order timeline. And you might also want to work through how you do your packaging and how you might process orders if you don't want to do that manually for a prolonged period of time.
But yeah, once you have all of that pulled together, then literally your next step can be starting to approach Stockist. And if you have your wholesale catalog, you've practiced your pH, which by the way, we do all of this in the tribe, yeah? And it takes about three to six weeks to prepare. But once you have all of that packaged together and you've
practice it and you're confident with it, you can go out, can start pitching, you can give them all the information they need and you can pull through those deals with confidence. Okay? And once you've pulled them through, you want to make sure last thing, you have all the conversations documented, you know exactly what was ordered, when was ordered and when you need to follow up and you have a really good onboarding plan in place.
so that you not just drop the product off and run, but that you want to make sure you have a really good shelf positioning in place, the staff has been trained, has tested and loving the product, samples in place, the product is visible and the customers can see it, and that you have a really good sales goal in place so that you know how much product do we need to sell in order for them to place and reorder.
Nina Huchthausen (24:29.454)
because that way you can do everything that you can on your side, drive customers there via social media and do a taste testing and whatever to make sure we are hitting those targets. We're gonna get another order. And that my friends is that very start of your wholesale journey. Those are the key steps that I just mentioned. I don't know how many steps I mentioned. There are lots and I'm well aware of it.
And that's why we do what we do, but it's figure outable. And whether you do this work to get into retail or not, this work, what I just explained is exactly what you need for you to, to build out your online presence and really stand out in that space as well. So it doesn't actually matter what you use this for. And we recommend to all of our clients, whatever the work that we are doing, you want to use that across.
all of your channels because these key steps really make sure that you're unique and different and not just another chai because if anyone just walks in say hey I got chai I'll be like yeah me too you need to give me more than that my friends and the steps I just shared with you they will help you do that so what I do my friends because they know there was a lot to it
I will put a link to this step list, to our step list that we're using with our tribe into the show notes. So you can click the link, download that, so you can actually see, OK, what are all of those steps. And number two, I'll have a look and see what other podcasts are really good to listen to if you're at the start of your journey and to see and to get ready for retail. OK?
So with that, I love you and leave you with it and I wish you an awesome week. Have lots of fun. And if you ever want to chat with us to see how we can support you get into retail, I think I'm going to put a link to my calendar as well. And you are more than welcome to reach out. Bye for now.
