After you’ve spent months or even years slaving away on your new line you’re likely to just want to hand it off to a showroom to handle sales.

Well not so fast….

In this business as I’ve mentioned before, you don’t just go “get,” a sales rep….you partner with your sales rep(s).  And before you even get to that stage you need to be perfectly positioned acquire great sales representation that believes in your brand and in you.

Fashion Business Inc. now has a great new seminar where you can learn more about the sales rep/brand relationship,  merchandising, common commission rates, showroom/tradeshow participation and more….Directly from a showroom owner.

Join us at the FBI Resource Center, Tuesday December 8th from 4-6 pm.

Hosted by Showroom Owner:  Mirana Ojeda of Miriana Ojeda Showroom

Click Here Register

New designers doing their own sales are in a bit of a tricky predicament. Their product is their creation so they obviously love it–hence they have little room to appear objective when they are trying to sell it to someone else.

So, how in the world can you convince buyers to purchase your product if you’re understandably biased?

Well lets stop there.

Convincing should never be a part of wholesale sales.  This is not retail..where customers may not be able to see through a smiling salesgirl telling them everything looks good on them.

A smart boutique owner knows their business and at the end of the day they should have a pretty good idea what they can or can not sell.

Your job is to put things in context, provide information and call attention to things you’ve noticed that may take them a little more time to recognize.

Are you doing anything to drive customers to their store for your product…maybe some upcoming  PR or advertising?  Has your product been successful in another store that sells similar brands?  Do you have any key selling points they can relay to their floor staff if they should decide to give your product a chance?

The point is…always attempt to suggest and provide perspective. Never try to convince buyers they can sell something they don’t believe they can sell.  Put your best foot forward, make a stratight forward case…then let the buyer do the rest.

Ok lets face it…folks in the fashion industry can be very particular.  We create these brands and we care about them…we want to protect them and we don’t want to leave our “babies,” with just any ol’ retailer.

That means we have to discriminate a bit when it comes to picking the stores we sell to.  No matter how tempting it may be to imagine how black a new account could make our financial statements– selling our brand too short…too soon can have a detrimental effect that just won’t pay off.

Let me tell you a little story to illustrate my point….

A client of mine had these aspirations of creating a high end luxury lifestyle brand.  She imagined her stuff in the windows at Barneys, on the racks of the finest boutiques, on the homepage of international online retailer net-a-porter.com.  Her vision was crystal clear in her mind.  She believed in it and was excited to see it come to life….

But as she sat at her first trade show she watched buyer after buyer pass her by… they’d glance…comment, maybe even take a few pictures… They seemed interested but they weren’t buying….what was she supposed to do?

On the last day of the show, a slightly more mainstream department store paid her a friendly visit.  They were interested and ready to write an order.  I mean they were by no means a luxury brand….but one order from them alone could pay for the cost of her show, save her from hustling for more accounts when she needed to be designing and even allow her to give her consultant (me), a much needed bonus for all my dedication.. hard work, brilliant insight and commitment… (I know that’s right;).

And as much as I wanted and so deserved a little extra padding in my pocketbook I had to keep it real.  The department store deal didn’t make sense.  Of course we had the option of revising the strategy…adjusting our pricing, going slightly more mainstream— but it was only her first trade show.  Was it really the time to sell out?  Was an offer from one vendor offer enough to constitute a total change of plans?

Maybe eventually but not initially.

As you develop your brand you will sometimes have to resist the temptation of big business money…and just give yourself a chance to grow.

I advised that she stick to the program….the brand she wanted…the one she believed in….and the brand she worked hard to create with everything from imported fabric to the paper linen hangtags she loved that made for the perfect finishing touch.

So she took my advice and decided against the major retailer.  However, soon after the tradeshow she was able to acquire about 10 niche brand building boutiques that were interested in finding the next big thing…not just stuff that was sold in (nose in the air)… mid-tier department stores!

Now keep in mind the orders of those 10 stores didn’t even add up to the one order she turned down.

However–she wasn’t trying to host a thanksgiving day clearance sale–she was trying to build a brand.  That takes time.  And that means being strategic as well as pacing yourself.

Soon after she acquired her first 10 stores without a showroom she was picked up by one of the top international showrooms for her product category…who has since been able to place her in niche boutiques all over the world.  A lot more brand appropriate than being sold off to the highest bidder.

She’s since been featured as a top emerging designer in major fashion organizations and publications including Vogue…Not her hometown paper but…Vogue.

The moral of the story–If you have a vision for your brand let people help you refine that vision but don’t ever throw it out the window based on one tempting proposition.

If only for a little while…just believe–trust your gut and see what happens.  It could be better than you’ve ever imagined.

Finding a showroom as a new brand is no easy feat.  You have to find a place that believes in your brand and is willing to nurture it to its full potential.

It really takes warm-up time to build brands up…and in those times you nor your showroom will be making any “real,” money so to speak. In fact you may want to plan on losing some.

That said…you as well as the showroom you choose must be willing to be patient and prepared to deal with a bit of uncertainty as you climb the proverbial success ladder together.

To find a showroom in Los Angeles I recommend looking up brands you’d like to share a showroom with on the LA fashion district website directory. This directory contains all of the lines showing in “The Intersection,” which includes (The LA Mart, The New Mart and the Gerry and Cooper Buildings.)

When you search this directory look for lines you may be compatible with not competitive with.  You want to find a showroom that does not house direct competitors but that the same stores that buy the lines they carry may also be interested in your products as well.

Once you find some leads…walk by…take a peek in and see if it suits your company.  If it does ask if they are accepting new lines…and if they would take a meeting with you.

If you get to the meeting stage it’s time to put your best foot forward. If you even think you want them…sell yourself  and your new company like nobody’s business…get them to really want you.

Start the meeting by showing the the rep completed sales samples, marketing materials and sharing the long term vision of your company.  Reps love to see that you have a long term vision and a plan to get there.  Your communication skills will be key.  You want to vividly display the passion and commitment you have for making your business grow.

You also should highlight stores you’ve gotten into without a showroom (yes..you should be trying to get yourself in at least a few brand building stores before taking on a showroom), press coverage you may have received, mention investors so they understand your business is secure and don’t forget to bring up your past work experience to give them insight into your competency as a businessperson.

Once you have them where you want them….It’s time to start negotiating things like commission percentage, rent fees and the term of your agreement.

The better you present yourself the more flexible the showroom will become.  Give them the reason to believe they have much more to gain…than to lose by taking you under their sales umbrella.  Even though showrooms tend to have a bit of a chi-chi…boo-boo snob appeal they need you as much as you need them.

Present a great product…a great strategy and a strong business acumen and carrying your line can quickly go from getting a straight “NO,” to becoming a “NO-brainer.”

Happy Showroom Shopping!

The biggest struggle for a new fashion business owner is getting in the right boutique doors.  Many designers have beautiful product at competitive prices but buyers still resist.  Why?

Well, in addition to being uncertain that a new line or brand will take off…buyers are even more hesitant to invest a significant amount of dollars into something new…. that could be invested in a sure thing.

Some ways around this….

1.  Minimize Minimums–Most lines have minimums where buyers have to buy a certain amount that the manufacturer believes makes a good presentation.  As a new line you may want to initially be a little more flexible with ordering minimums.  Do what you can to get people in the door and if your product sells…minimum ordering won’t be a big concern.

2. Multi Level Pricing–Having a low, mid, high price structure allows buyers to buy your brand without having to invest in one across the board pricepoint– that could be more than the open dollars they have available.

3.  Entry Level Products–Again buyers only have so many open dollars to use. Think about what you can create that still represents your brand but at a lower price point.  For example if you have an expensive handbag line you may want to offer a less expensive wallet or clutch.

Fashion Business Inc. is sponsoring an international trade show opportunity for select manufacturers to show at World Boutique Hong Kong 2009–which is held January 12-15, concurrently with Hong Kong Fashion Week.

This boutique-style exhibition will give selected California companies selling exposure to an expanded array of buyers from markets including:  Japan, China, Australia, Europe, Canada and Russia.

In 2008 World Boutique hosted:

• A total of 255 exhibitors from 14 countries and regions
  

• 19,304 trade buyers from 96 countries and regions

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The best part—-FBI has coordinated a package deal so for less than $3,000 designers can receive a booth, travel from Los Angeles to Hong Kong and a six night hotel stay.

For more information on showing at The Hong Kong World Boutique with Fashion Business Inc. please contact me, Ralinda Harvey at blog@fashionbizinc.org or call Fashion Business Inc. at 213.892.1669.

–Don’t Delay…Spaces are Filling up quickly…the deadline is October 15th!

The right color can determine whether the products you’re producing or buying for next season fly off the racks or end up under a big red clearance sign.

But how are you to know whether the hot colors of this season will be trendy a year from now?

You don’t.  For that you have to ask the experts.

There are people that actually research color trends ahead of time, so you don’t have to spend days fretting about things like whether something may sell better if it’s in olive or emerald green.

The secret of major retailers and design houses is that they use color forecasting services like the Los Angeles based, Design Options to make sure the collections they’re producing are not only beautiful but merchandised to sell.

For a minimal cost Design Options will supply you with palettes of the hottest upcoming colors for women’s, kids, men’s, lifestyle and home furnishings up to a year in advance.

With over 20 years of color prediction services under their belt they have a strong track record of “getting it right.”  Taking advantage of services like theirs can help ensure you “get it right,” as well….

Inquire about the latest colors and Subscribe to Design Options free newsletter at www.Design-Options.com

Unfortunately, many buyers don’t write at the show.  So, now is the time to follow up and turn that brief encounter into an order you can take to the factory—then to the bank.

Here are a few ways to remind buyer why you belong in their store.

1.  A Personal Email-  You can send out an email blast to everyone that visited your booth but for select customers why not go for a more personal approach?  Remind them of their visit, referencing any notes you may have taken about them.

2.  A Mailing–Send prospects another copy of your line sheets or other marketing materials.  You may want to circle or place a star next to anything they may have mentioned in their visit.

3.  A Phone Call– Yeah a phone can be annoying to some folks, but for many buyers that verbal communication can put you top of mind.  Give your prospects a call to remind them of your meeting, your mailing and to look out for you in their email box.

As a manufacturer be leary of holding any inventory.  Get the habit of producing “Just in Time,” never “Just in Case.”  The last thing you want to show on your balance sheets to a potential or current investor is a truckload full of inventory you’re “trying,” to sell.

The more nimble you can be in adjusting your product to current trends and your customers needs the better off you’ll be as a company.  Your working capital should be used for working on this and not being tied up in goods that could or more importantly could not sell.

Once you start selling you should definitely take notice of your rate of sale and put in place an infrastructure for a quick reaction to a specific product.  You may want to have your materials on order or quickly accessible.

Keeping inventory may seem logical once you start noticing a clear rate of sale.

As the L.A. Shows come to a close it’s time to follow up. Even though the show is done you should still be in heavy sales mode.

• Mail. Send another postcard reminding buyers of delivery dates (you may want to use the ones you sent for pre-show promotion and attach a sticker with the latest available deliveries).

• Email. If a store took notes on your product shoot them a quick email to thank them and remind them of specific delivery dates. You also may want to send them a digital picture to get them excited again.

• Call. Many people believe telemarketing has gone out of style. It is becoming more and more rare and that’s exactly why it can be more valuable than ever. Giving buyers a call perhaps when their stores are less busy…right after they open.

Remember the game is not over yet! You’ll be surprised at what following up can do.