Why You May Not Get a Sale On The First Try - And Why That’s OK
If you’re a maker who is cultivating relationships with stores, it can feel discouraging. The fact is, most seeds you sow don’t take root; and most retailers don’t respond to your emails.
The flip side (and the good news) is that if you do steady, thoughtful, consistent outreach to stores -- and if your product stands on its own -- you will get sales.
But, far more common than getting an order right of the bat is needing to follow up with stores once or twice and then getting a sale or 2 or 3.
Why you may not get a sale on the first try, even if your product is a great fit for the store:
Volume:
The stores you are reaching out to likely get flooded with emails so your chance of being seen increases if you (figuratively) come by occasionally and take your letter from the bottom of the pile and put it on top.
Timing:
It’s a crazy time of year but even when it’s not store owners are busy and have businesses and kids and dogs that need to go to the vet. And as we all know, when things get crazy, email maintenance is one of the first things to go.
And that’s OK, because it’s not personal.
The story we tell ourselves that the lovely lady who runs whatever store is sipping her tea and reading your email and saying ‘who does this person think they are?! emailing me four times! And you call that jewelry?! ha! delete!’
I have never (literally not one time) heard of someone responding negatively to a follow up email. I have, however, seen and personally received dozens of emails that say, ‘Thank you so much for bringing this back up to the top for me!’ or ‘thanks but not for me’ or ‘I just finished ordering for the holidays, would you mind pinging me in February?’ The truth is if they’re not interested they’ll just skip over it or tell you nicely, end of story.
We can help you do the best you can getting your email templates in order and help you think through your line or pricing. But ultimately, if growing steady is your goal, persistence will win the day. Keep at it!
