Mike Fowler:
Getting your sales up on Amazon that used to be so frowned upon mm-hmm. <affirmative> by these major retailers cuz they looked at it as competition. That's not the case anymore. They look at it as a proving ground. You've gotta have your e-commerce game there and you have to be fulfilling that well and, and servicing those channels very well so that they can understand and trust that when it's, when it's go time, and a retailer that you're gonna ship on time in full.
Welcome back to Retail Oriented with Mike Fowler. I am in fact Mike Fowler today. We've got a really special podcast for you. Um, we're gonna be talking with Kate Mann, a sales strategist on our sales team. Um, we, our sales team at, at sales factory handles everything, uh, for your retail business, right? So all the management, all the data, all those things and stuff like that. Kate is a strategist on that team, and so we're excited to have her. We're gonna be flipping the script a little bit on this particular podcast. Kate's gonna grill me with a couple questions, which should be interesting. But before we get into that, I want Kate to have a chance to introduce herself. Tell us a little bit about, uh, her and why she got into this crazy retail world. So Kate, tell us a little bit about yourself.
Kate Mann:
Uh, yeah, so I got into this world because I like the data. I like looking at the numbers, trying to understand the consumer, why people make decisions. I have a background in psychology, so that's kind of what led me this direction. Uh, why do people do what they do and how can we benefit from knowing that? Yeah. Uh, so I've gotten really into that in this position. Yeah,
Mike Fowler:
That's awesome. The psychology of kind of understanding consumers and how we can use that information, um mm-hmm. <affirmative> in the retail world has become really an impactful way to like, grow your business and make this something that is long term, not a short term flash in the pan, but a long term growth plan. So understanding the consumer is it's the name of the game. Yes. Right? Yes, it is. All right. So with that being said, I'm gonna hand it over to you and let you kind of grill me with a couple questions here, and I'll do my best to answer
Kate Mann:
'em. All right. We'll start off easy. Okay. Uh, how creative does my PLR presentation need to be?
Mike Fowler:
<laugh>? Oh gosh. <laugh>. Uh, I'm not sure that's really an easy one, but we can start there. So, um, a PLR presentation and whether it's a short turnaround, like rapid business review, or a full fledged six months to prepare type of PLR presentation, and really no matter the category, there is some showmanship that is involved, right? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So the most important thing, uh, about it though, is to know your audience, right? So who is your merchant? You gotta flip the psychology part around on them as well and say, understand what are their motives? What are, are they trying to accomplish with this PLR? Are they looking at turns or assortment or prices, you know, fluctuating with inflation and supply chain issues. Like, what is your merchant really trying to accomplish with this PLR understanding that kind of dictates what the presentation should be like, right?
So we've done everything those from very straightforward. Um, this is our offering. This is the understanding of the consumer that we've have, why they're a good fit for your retail environment, and why this manufacturer will win here. All the way to like, pretty grandiose things. Um, we, we once had an ATV client where we had test drives through the woods and all around, and like, you actually had the merchant experiencing what it would be like to drive one of these things, right? So that's a pretty big show. You go from looking at the numbers on a screen in a, in a presentation like PLR, room, like out to the set you're getting in an atv you're driving all around. Awesome, right? That's awesome. So it, it kind of goes to, um, these merchants are humans too, right? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So you want them to experience this in a real way, in an impactful way.
And you have to be able to take the, the data that you're showing on a screen about the consumer and turn that into a story. And sometimes that story comes out in, you know, pretty exciting ways and there is a little bit of a show and a, and a PLR because they're humans, right? They're, they're looking at the numbers, they care about the category and the numbers, but they also will respond to story, right? So it's important for us to tell a story with, with the PLR um, and with the presentation that we're putting there. So I think it needs to be pretty creative no matter what, how that manifests itself, just
Kate Mann:
Specifically
Mike Fowler:
Creative. Yeah.
Kate Mann:
Makes sense. Uh, I guess that begs the question, who would you send to the PLR Hmm.
Mike Fowler:
Yeah, so I think the, the team that is presenting the PLR, again, needs to mirror the merchant's team, right? So if you have a merchant that's just gonna be in there, it's them and an analyst or, um, them and maybe their e-commerce person, you, you need to cater your team to them. That being said, don't just send in the reps, right? Like someone from your organization, someone from the manufacturer needs to be there. It's great if they've got some weight. I've, uh, have presented with presidents and vice presidents of sales and marketing and stuff like that. And usually that adds some clout to the meeting. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, it means, Hey, we care about this. This is an important part of our business and we, we really value this. We're not sending just, you know, the junior channel sales guy and that's it, or the rep group that goes in.
And that's it, right? We, we care enough to be there. We care about this. We have, uh, participated in putting this meeting together. Um, we know our product, we know how it fills the needs of your consumer, Mr. Or Mrs. Retailer. Um, and so we are here to kind of, to let you know that we care. We are gonna be a great partner. So I think it's important to show that, um, that you care with your audience and, and the people that you bring to the meeting. So, but that said, you don't want to have 15 people in the room <laugh>, right? If there's two people coming from the man, uh, for the, from the retailer, you don't wanna have 15 people from the room. Because I've also had the question from, from a merchant, Hey, if we got rid of five of the people in the room, could I save some money? Right? You can. My products come in cheaper, and that's a tough question to answer. You gotta be really, uh, understanding of like, what is the room that you're gonna be in, who's gonna be there? And then mirror your presentation and the attendees to that.
Kate Mann:
Mm-hmm.
Mike Fowler:
<affirmative>. Yep. <laugh>, that was a tough one. When, when that question was asked, I was like, no, we can't lower the price, but we can be more thoughtful about who we bring next time.
Kate Mann:
<laugh>. Yes, we can limit it down. We can limit it, yeah. But you wanna have enough people there to answer questions that are asked. Sure. So what if someone asks a question that you can't answer? What do you do then?
Mike Fowler:
Just like always authenticity is key, right? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So be honest. If you can't answer a question, don't go spouting off about something that you don't know anything about. It's okay. These are all people, it's okay to say, Hey, I don't know the answer to that. Let me go find it out for you. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I would love to come back and have some more information on that. I always like to ask a lot of questions around things that I don't necessarily know the answer to and say, okay, well let me understand why you're asking that. What's driving that? Um, what is your goal with, with that information? And because oftentimes we can take that and come back even more powerfully than if we had just answered it right there on the spot. So it's not a thing where you have to come in and know absolutely everything.
Of course, you need to know your product, you need to know the consumer, uh, in your category, but there may be some questions that you get that you just didn't have the answer for going in. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, we always try to plan for that, but that's not the case every single time. So going away, getting a good answer, often with a lot more context and then coming back is sometimes a really positive thing because it offers you a really natural follow up with the merchant, right? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you can come back and say, Hey, I went and found out the information that you were looking for. Here's this, and then here's also three other things that you didn't even know you needed, uh, that I wanted to share with you. So it can be a good thing when you don't know the answer. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, don't feel like you have to just drop something that you don't know anything about. Um, don't, don't speak outta school, up school <laugh>. Yeah. Don't make it up right there in, in the moment. Try to, um, get a little bit more context and understanding of why mm-hmm. <affirmative> and then come back to it.
Kate Mann:
So if you don't wanna make things up and you wanna cover the base layer, what kind of data are we bringing in for the merchant?
Mike Fowler:
Oh gosh, lots of data <laugh>. Um, and that's what all the data, yeah, that's what we love, right? So mm-hmm. <affirmative>, it's really, um, you're wanting to come in and present. We always call it our four part process, right? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So that's kind of how we would think about it at Sales Factory. It's understanding the prime prospect, which is the consumer. How are they shopping the category? What do they need that they have, what do they need that they don't have? What's driving their purchase decisions? Like having a real clear picture of who the consumer is that's walking in these stores of these consumers or of these retailers and saying, this is who shop in your category. This is how they behave. This is what they need that you're maybe not giving them. Um, and there's opportunity to grow your category and grow your business there. So clear understanding of the consumer, what their, the prime prospect, the prime prospect's problem, what they are, what those problems are.
Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And then also, how do we answer that problem, right? So how do we as a manufacturer help you grow your business? Mr. Or Mrs. Retailer <laugh>, like how can we, how do we fit in? What is our positioning that is gonna help you grow this category? So it's all that category research. It's also really helpful to understand just the competitive landscape. You need to know who else is out there. You need to know what other retailers are doing. You need to know what, um, different distribution, uh, channels are doing. Like if, if a, a manufacturer has got a ton of distribution in plumbing, wholesale, um, and they need more distribution in a retail channel, right? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, understanding all of that and how those pieces fit together will help a retailer kind of get comfortable with you as a, as a manufacturer and as a partner to say, okay, I see how they fit a need that I've got. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So that, that clear understanding of consumer category, um, pricing, competitive landscape, all of that stuff will help you to communicate your knowledge of, of the category and how you are gonna help them win. Because at the, at the end of the day, um, I think on a previous episode, Dave Geren, our president, talked about PLRs being about risk. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, they're trying to mitigate risk while taking the necessary risks to grow their category, right? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So it's helping them get comfortable with those decisions.
Kate Mann:
So if you come in with all that, what happens if you don't have the sales to back up that data? Like you come in with the competitive landscape and you've got all the research done, but you don't have sales. Is there a different strategy to use for that?
Mike Fowler:
Yeah, that's a tough one because, you know, they're, they're looking, one of the biggest things merchants are gonna be looking for is just making sure that they can handle the business. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> a, a manufacturer can handle the business because if you get one of these major retailers, it is a lot of volume. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So kind of building your sales and other channels can be a good way to, to do that ahead of the meeting. Getting your sales up on Amazon, that used to be so frowned upon mm-hmm. <affirmative> by these major retailers cuz they looked at it as competition. That's not the case anymore. They look at it as a proving ground. You've gotta have your e-commerce game there and you have to be fulfilling that well, and, and servicing those channels very well so that they can understand and trust that when it's, when it's go time and a retailer that you're gonna ship on time in full, right? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And so they, they want to understand that you have the capacity to fulfill that, and there's other ways to prove that you can fulfill that capacity. Sometimes in distribution channels, sometimes by, Hey, this is the amount of investment that we're willing to make in this partnership. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, so there's different ways that you can approach that, but it's really important, um, that if you do approach the retail channel, you know how big it is and you are ready to answer that question of, Hey, we can fulfill these sales, um, and here's how.
Kate Mann:
So if you've got your pitch kind of down then and it worked somewhere, can you copy and paste that to other retailers and just keep yeah, reusing.
Mike Fowler:
It <laugh>? Yeah. Uh, not exactly. There are certainly pieces of, of a PLR presentation, um, that are just kind of true to the core of the category, right? Mm-hmm. <affirmative> to who you are as a manufacturer. That being said, just like each retailer is different, the consumers that shop in them are different, and the approach to those retailers needs to be different as well. The people that shop in Menards are not necessarily exactly the same as the people that are shopping in Depot. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, and even within different categories in the stores, people just shop different categories and different retailers differently. They have different needs. Some people go to one retailer for one thing and another retailer for other things, right? So mm-hmm. <affirmative> there is, there is a lot of nuance into how consumers approach categories. And so because of that, your, your solution for a retailer needs to be nuanced, right?
It needs to be spoke, you know, focused specifically on them to get a bunch of consumer research is great on the category, but you need to know how do they interact with each one of these retailers? What do they care about? What are one retail, what's one real retailer doing really well that the other isn't? They're always looking at each other, right? The, retailers are competitive also. So they're looking over across the street to see, okay, well they're doing this really well. Maybe there's opportunity for me to grow there. So kind of understanding how the category is set up and that competitive landscape across retailers and across e-commerce and all of those things, it needs to be tailored in your presentation. So you need to prove to them that you really understand their business and their consumer. Um, and that can't be copied and pasted, right? No, because it's, it's always not one size different fits all. It's not a one size fits all thing, unfortunately.
Kate Mann:
Uh, well, is there a way to get to know the merchant beforehand so you can kind of tailor it specifically to them as well?
Mike Fowler:
Yeah, that's a great question. So I always like to do a lot of research on who I'm talking to before I talk to 'em. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, that's always helpful in any sales scenario and it's no different here. So I like to, uh, ask merchants if they'll be willing to store, walk with us ahead of a PLR, right? So we want to understand what are they seeing in their category, what have they done in other categories that has maybe been successful that they could potentially replicate in this category. So there is a ton of learning that's available and just having a conversation. If you can get a store walk great, but having something, uh, ahead of the meeting so that you're not coming in completely cold and trying to learn about, hey, you know, Mr. And Mrs. Merchant, what are you looking for in this PLR?
What are you trying to get out of it? What's a success look like for you long term? Right? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, what are the partners that are coming into this PLR, what can they bring to you that you don't have right now? Getting all that understanding and then having that ready in your presentation can make that presentation a lot more of a fit. Um, in, in the day and during the, during the meeting. So store walks, even a phone call, you know, a Zoom or a Google meets or teams or something like that ahead of time. You can learn a lot about what's driving the PLR and what they're looking to get out of it. Um, and that will really help you to answer if they're your prime prospect, answer what their problem is in the meeting. Um, so always try to get, get to them ahead of time, if at all possible.
Kate Mann:
More information is better.
Mike Fowler:
Yeah. The more information, the better. That's what we always say, right? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, we want all of it. Send us all the information, give us all the context that you possibly can, and then we'll figure out what's important and, what do we need to do right. With that information. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>.
Kate Mann:
Exactly. I believe that's all our questions. Oh, okay. That's all I have for you today
Mike Fowler:
Off the hot seat. So yes, that was fun. Cool. Down, cool down. Yeah, that was fun. Hopefully there was some good tidbits in there for everybody. Um, I don't know, but while I have you on the hot seat, oh no, I'm gonna turn the tables and I'm gonna ask you a couple just kind of rapid fire questions. We always do this at the end and it's interesting to see like, you know, not specific to these retailers just in general mm-hmm. <affirmative>, how are people interacting and shopping and stuff like that. So I got a couple quick rapid fire questions. This is just like top of mind. Okay. Whatever comes kind of quick response. Um, so what retail brands are you kind of loving right now?
Kate Mann:
Um, you know, wicked Weed is probably my good too. Yeah. For beer brands, uh, represent North Carolina. Love it. Um, and then Celsius Energy drinks, I'm very dependent on to get through the day. That's why. That's cool. They have the best flavor. I'm loyal to them and I'm not, not loyal to a lot.
Mike Fowler:
So <laugh> That's awesome. Yeah. That's really cool. Yeah. Well, it, wicked Weed is a North Carolina brewery. Yes. If you don't know North Carolina, that's a pretty big deal around here. And, um, we, we love that. And it's important. A lot of people in the beer world mm-hmm. <affirmative> love supporting local stuff. So they'll say, Hey, what's your, what's your beer? Right? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And so if you go to a, a new place or something, we were up in Wisconsin Rapids recently and we were like, what's your local beer? That's, that's what I'll go with. So, exactly. It's always cool to know what's going around on, around the area that you're in. All right. Next up, what's your most recent impulse purchase? Just like grabbed it didn't mean didn't plan it out.
Kate Mann:
The Skittles got me <laugh>, that little checkout area right at the end of Target. It just, it calls to you.
Mike Fowler:
Yeah. You're not alone that those snacks at the register Yep. Have gotten many, many people. And so it's cool to think about how stores and manufacturers have changed to like get those little cart add-ons mm-hmm. <affirmative>, right? They're, they're growing the size of the shopping cart.
Kate Mann:
It's just a Dollar. It's fine.
Mike Fowler:
Yeah. And it gets us every time. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, all right, last question. Shouldn't be too hard. What's one thing you wish brands knew about the journey and big box retail in general that maybe they don't know? What's one thing you wish that brands knew?
Kate Mann:
I would say to start off strong, you need to have clean data. You need to be pulling from correct sources, correct dimensions, correct everything. And just be aware that the lingo is gonna be different at different retailers, but as long as you know what you're talking about should be smooth sailing. Yeah.
Mike Fowler:
Yeah. That's interesting. There's not necessarily common vernacular amongst all of these retailers. <laugh> a lot of acronyms. I'm sure we'll do a podcast on that sometime. But having clean data, making sure you know your stuff and it's up to date and, and consistent. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> is a really good place to start from good foundation.
Kate Mann:
Absolutely.
Mike Fowler:
Cool. Well, Kate, thank you so much for being here today. It was a pleasure. We enjoyed having you on the podcast.
Kate Mann:
Oh Yeah. Thanks for having me. Yeah.
Mike Fowler:
Well guys, thank you so much for joining us. Um, as you know, on retail oriented, we're always gonna be digging into interesting stuff about the retail world and this crazy retail channel that we all know and love. Um, if there's anything that you would like to hear more about, please get in touch with us. Uh, my mic, my, my Mike Fowler, my email is mike dot fowler sales factory.com. Or you can go to our website and do one of the little form submissions there. We would love to hear from you. We'd want to know what, what you're looking for, what content you want more of, what guests you want more of, um, what snacks you love at the retail checkout, right? So we want to know all that stuff. Send it our way. We'd, we'd be excited to talk to you. Uh, and thanks for coming, uh, and checking out this episode of Retail Oriented. As you know, within the retail channel, we're always thinking about selling in and selling through.