Using a Specialty
Vendor
Specialized Needs for Your Business
This industry has seen fit to
usually have the right number of suppliers - be they manufacturers
or wholesalers - for the needs of a business, whether it is home
based, a catalog, an Internet merchant, store front retailer,
or one that is geared specifically to commercial accounts by setting
up operations in a non traditional location.
There is more than
one advantage to doing business with the manufacturer of many
of the products you stock. Two of the most obvious are getting
the lowest price because you are dealing directly with the source,
as well as increasing the likelihood of getting what you want
when you order. After all, if a manufacturer were out of one of
their products, surely it would be unlikely that you will locate
the product with another supplier that has to get the identical
item from the manufacturer.
As you deal with wholesalers,
there are also advantages to doing business with them. Wholesalers
carry items from several manufacturers. They have already "cherry
picked" the various manufacturer's lines to include what
they believe to be the best product offerings.
Many of the wholesaler's
have sales representatives with an assigned route in which they
call on each of their accounts with a certain frequency. You can
envision this rep with the catalog and samples, telling of the
new products they have added as well as sharing with you the successes
of other businesses that have purchased from his company. An advantage
of many wholesalers is that you can often order products in less
than full case pack; definitely a benefit for a small business
that does not have the space or dollars to tie up with large quantities
of product that could take many months or years to use in gift
baskets.
There is a third group of suppliers
that we want to call to your attention; the specialty vendors. Unique
products are the signature of this group. These vendors bring to
you the many unique products that allow you to differentiate yourself
from your competitors as well as allow you to make an additional profit.
Unfortunately, these are the
vendors that many gift basket business owners do not take the time
to visit with. Granted, the average workday is more than hectic.
But the key to extra profit for you, and wowing your customers with
gift baskets containing things they have never seen before, can
often be had with that salesperson walking in the door, or that
catalog you received in the mail.
There is a natural tendency
for your customer to take a look at the ingredients of your gift
basket and do a quick addition of the price of each item as well
as the price of the basket, before calculating how much you are
charging them for creating the basket and for delivery. Unfortunately,
they are probably expecting you to be providing your service for
something near minimum wage, as well as having built their basket
in a record time of 20 minutes.
What we would like to create
in the mind of your customer is the idea that you provide a quality
finished product that is an exceptional value for their money.
Do not read this as being low priced, but instead that the customer
has spent their money wisely.
Searching out these specialty
vendors allows your gift baskets to have a flair that your competition
can't match. Imagine a gift basket with a Tex-Mex theme. Instead
of the traditional bottle of hot sauce, (the same one that can
be found at the local grocery store), your basket has a bottle that
could otherwise be found only in a restaurant in south Texas.
