SOURCING: Calling a Brand

Task Summary

1 The Initial Call

2 Question: Do you sell on Amazon?

3 Objection: We don't allow any Amazon sellers

4 Contact person is NOT a decision maker

5 Contact person IS a decision maker

1 The Initial Call

Before you call the brand, you should have identified them as a brand worth pursuing by having a Virtual Assistant

complete the first step of the Product / Brand Pre-Call Research. 

Once you know the brand or product is worthy of pursuit, the goal of your initial call is simple: to obtain a wholesale

account and a price list. You do not need to mention that we sell on Amazon unless they ask.

Call Script

"Hi, I'm [Name] with [Company Name] and I'm calling to open a wholesale account. Can you send me an

application and a price list?"

If they don't ask us if we sell on Amazon, do not bring it up. If they ask us if we sell on Amazon, move to section 2.

2 Question: Do you sell on Amazon?

If the person you are speaking with asks us if we sell on Amazon, the answer is:

"Yes, Amazon is one of a number of marketplaces that we sell on in addition to a network of our own corporate
sites."

As this point, in the conversation, you are going to want to ask them the following questions:

1. Do you have a MAP policy? How is it enforced?

2. Do you have online reseller agreement?

3. Can you tell me about your Amazon sales policy? 

If they tell you that they don't allow any Amazon sellers, go to section 3.

3 Objection: We don't allow any Amazon sellers

This is a very common objection and you are going to need to become proficient at handling it.

The reason brands don't want more Amazon sellers is almost always one of the following:

1. They have too many sellers now and don't even know who they all are

2. The sellers they have are driving their price down and violating MAP
3. The sellers they have now aren't adding any value to their brand

How to Respond

"I agree that you do not need any more Amazon sellers. In fact, I feel strongly that you'd be much better off with

fewer sellers, and ideally just two sellers who have your brand's best interests at heart.
Have you thought about the various ways that a seller could add value to your brand's presence on Amazon?"

**It is very important that you not speak after asking this question. You just WAIT for them to speak!

**It is equally important that you also determine if the person you are speaking with has any authority to make
decisions about authorizing us to sell on Amazon.

If the person you are speaking with is NOT a decision maker, go to step 4. If they are a decision maker, go to step 5.

4 Contact person is NOT a decision maker

If the person you are speaking with is not a decision maker, you need to help them to understand that helping you

will make them look good to their boss. To do that, you need to say something like:

"Unlike most Amazon sellers that don't lift a finger to add value to your brand, our company's goal is to become a
trusted advisor and authorized reseller - and we have a number of really great references in this regard.

Do you think that would be something your company would want to know more about?"

It is very important that you not speak after asking this question. You just WAIT for them to speak!

Most likely, if the person on the other end of the phone is rational, they are going to say yes. If they don't say yes,

you can respond with something like:

"I want to make sure I understand your answer, ok?

So you're saying that you don't think your company would want to learn about how we have helped numerous
other brands to solve all sorts of Amazon-related problems once they authorized us to become one of their

Amazon sellers?"

If they do say yes, then you want them to understand that you are going to do everything you can

to make them look good and that in order to do that, you would like to prepare one of our listing

deficiency reports.

"When we prepare a listing deficiency report for a potential supplier, we generate a written report that covers our
analysis of:

1. The areas of your product listing that need improvement

2. The areas where we believe your competitors are out-marketing you

3. The advertising footprint from any campaigns being run by your current sellers and how we think it could
be improved 

Do you think that this is something that one of your management team would want to see? If so, would you help
me to connect with them for a short call so that I can ask a few questions before we invest the time in having our

analysts create the report?"

If they say no, ask why not. If they don't give any good answers, just call back another day and try the same
approach with someone else.
5 Contact person IS a decision maker

If the person you are speaking with tells you that they are involved in the decision to approve us to become an
authorized seller, ask them to tell you about how they select their sellers.

How does this brand select it's Amazon sellers? (copy this answer to Hubspot record)

Once you've listened to their answer, you want to find out if they are going to be interested in taking a look at

a Listing Deficiency Report (this is the report that you will be able to create from all the data your VA entered into
the Pre-Call Research checklist) and potentially speaking with any of the suppliers we currently work with.

To get their buy-in for a Listing Deficiency Report, you are going to want to say something along the lines of:

"I regularly talk to brands who don't want anymore Amazon sellers; however, in every case, these brands do want
to increase sales, eliminate problems, and improve overall performance. 

If this is how you feel, I'd like to offer to do something for you.

We have a report that we call a Listing Deficiency Report and in this report, we provide you with our analysis of:

1. The areas of your product listing that need improvement

2. The areas where we believe your competitors are out-marketing you

3. The advertising footprint from any campaigns being run by your current sellers and how we think it could
be improved 

I'm happy to create the report at our expense and all that I ask is that you give me an opportunity to present it via

online meeting to yourself and any other stakeholders that would have a say in whether or not to approve our
account application.

Is that fair?"

It is very important that you not speak after asking this question. You just WAIT for them to speak!

If they say yes, schedule a time for the next call and assign the remainder of the Pre-Call Research checklist to a VA
to complete for you.

If they say no, you could use any one of the applicable talking points below:

1. "None of your current sellers are responding to negative product reviews. Were you aware of that?

2. Do you know why competitors (A, B, and C) are all out-ranking and out-selling you?
3. If your MAP is being violated, do you know how to put a stop to it?"
4. Did you know that none of your current sellers are running any ads to help your product(s) gain market
share?

Hopefully, by using one of the talking points above, you will find some common ground and a reason to move
forward to a 2nd call.