When it comes to getting your products on the shelf, securing a meeting with a buyer is only half the battle. The real challenge lies in what happens during your time together – whether at the buyer’s office, at an ECRM Session, or in a virtual meeting. To help brands navigate this journey, I sat down with Tia Ellis, founder of Wildflower Insight, during ECRM’s recent General Merchandise Sessions, which covered the categories of Impulse, Front-End & Checklane, Hardware & Automotive and Lawn & Garden.
Ellis is a veteran broker who has helped founders sell over $ 200 million worth of products across all 50 states. From health and wellness to food and beverage, Ellis has seen what works and what falls flat when it comes to buyer pitches. Her mission now is to empower founders to handle these meetings themselves.
“I’ve found that a lot of the time founders don’t need somebody to pitch in the buyer meeting for them,” Ellis says. “They just need to understand the retail landscape, what buyers look for, what they expect, what they want to see, and what they don’t want to see.”
During the Sessions, she presented to an audience of inventors and emerging brands as part of the RangeMe x United Inventors Association General Merchandise Innovation Summit, and our interview covered some key takeaways from her presentation which provided a guide to acing your buyer meeting, broken down into the three essential phases: Prep, The Meeting, and The Follow-Up.
Preparation – Beyond the Product
Most founders walk into a meeting ready to talk about why their product is “special.” According to Ellis, that’s the first mistake. Instead, they should focus on alignment.
Demonstrating Retailer Alignment
Within her winning pitch deck template, Ellis emphasizes one slide above all others: Retailer Alignment. This isn’t just about why your product is good; it’s about why your product belongs on a buyer’s specific shelves.
“What you really want to include here is an explanation of why your product fits on their shelves,” she points out. “In addition, you want to show why your company and your mission align with the incentives and the programming and the goals for that buyer, their category and for that buyer’s organization as a whole.”
Whether the retailer has a philanthropic initiative or a focus on a specific health trend, you must tie your brand to their corporate goals. “Everybody likes to think that they are super special,” Ellis says. “Unfortunately, I have to be the one that tells people, you’re not special all the time. The way that you become special is by how you treat people in those meetings.” (Click here to learn more about what retail buyers really want from brands).
Getting Intel on Your Buyer
Research isn’t just looking at a retailer’s website. It involves several components. Of course, whenever possible, you should visit the store in-person. See who is shopping there, check out the store’s layout, and examine the category and your competitors to see what white spaces you can fill. Press releases are also a good source of information about what is important to the buyer’s organization as a whole, as they will highlight initiatives the buyer is likely being pressured to support.
It’s also helpful to learn a bit about the buyers themselves – their meeting style, interests, and any other information that might help build rapport. A great resource from this is other brands that might have done business with that buyer. Tap into your network and ask around to get a feel for what to expect when you meet with them.
LinkedIn is another great resource. Follow the buyers and the retailer’s corporate page so you can see what kind of content they are posting, and what they are liking, sharing, or being tagged in. In addition, if the buyer you are following posts regularly, adding thoughtful comments to their posts is a great way of warming up the relationship before actually meeting with them. This way, by the time you meet face to face, it feels as if you already know each other a bit. (Keep in mind, though, that not all buyers are active on the platform, though an increasing number of them are using it these days).
The Buyer Meeting – A Collaborative Conversation
Ellis identifies three distinct pitches every founder must master. Understanding which audience you are speaking to is critical for success.
- The Customer Pitch: This is the pitch to your brand’s end-consumers, and usually focuses on taste, health benefits, and personal “why.”
- The Investor Pitch: Focused on how the investor will get their money back in five to seven years.
- The Retail Buyer Pitch: Focused on corporate and category performance.
When pitching to a buyer, you must realize they are corporate employees with internal KPIs and promotion goals, and your ultimate goal is to help them achieve theirs. One of the biggest misconceptions founders have is that a buyer meeting is a one-directional pitch. In reality, it should be an open, collaborative conversation.
“When you explain how your product is going to perform well for them in their category and help them hit their goals and internal KPIs,” says Ellis. “That’s when the conversation shifts from being about you to being about the buyer’s needs.”
The 20-Minute Meeting Breakdown
Here’s how Ellis recommends that you break down a buyer meeting, using an ECRM 20-minute Planning Session as an example (you can adjust the time up or down accordingly). For a 20-minute slot, Ellis recommends this high-efficiency structure:
- Minutes 1-2 (The Setup): This is where you make intros and set the stage. Have your slides downloaded and a printed backup ready. Ellis suggests bringing two people: one to handle the tech and take notes and one to engage in the conversation.
- Minutes 2-14 (The Meat and Potatoes): This is the formal pitch itself. Use about one minute per slide for your 10 main slides. Cover your mission, the problem you solve, and – most importantly – why their shoppers will buy your product.
- Minutes 14-20 (Q&A and Relationship Building): This time is for the buyer’s questions and your own discovery.
Be Adaptable During Your Meeting
Not every buyer wants to see your slides. Ellis describes what she refers to as the “Agitator” buyer profile: a seasoned vet who has a “no BS” style and may cut you off five minutes in to ask about margins or marketing plans.
“You have to be able to confidently know your deck and the things that you’re going to say so that if the slides don’t work or if you have a buyer that asks questions, you can prioritize that and then get back to the rest of your pitch,” Ellis advises.
The Art of the Follow-Up
The meeting doesn’t end when you walk out the door. The follow-up is where partnerships are actually built.
Soliciting Feedback
Before leaving the room, ask for genuine feedback. “End the meeting saying to them, ‘I would love some feedback. If you’ve got any type of information on how I could be better, whether it’s good, bad, or ugly, please give me all of it,’” she says.
This humility signals that you are coachable and looking to be a true partner rather than just a transactional vendor.
Dealing with Ghosting
Ghosting is a reality of the industry, but it’s rarely personal, according to Ellis. Buyers are managing 50 to 200 brands at any given time, and sometimes may overlook an email. If you get ghosted, do not ask for attention. Instead, provide them with value.
Share a new SKU you’ve developed based on their feedback, or congratulate them on a recent company award. Forward them an interesting blog post relevant to your conversation. Make sure that each follow up gives the buyer something vs. just asking them for something. Aim for a follow-up every 30 to 40 days.
“Every single time you communicate with them, especially if you’re getting ghosted, you’re not asking for anything, you’re adding value to the conversation,” says Ellis.
Two Pro-Tips for Founders
Ellis shares two pieces of advice for new brands heading into their first buyer meetings..
1. SRP Only!
Never put your cost to the retailer on a pitch slide. Instead, show the Suggested Retail Price (SRP). Your actual cost to the retailer is dependent on many variables, such as whether you use a distributor or ship direct-to-warehouse. Putting a hard number on a slide locks you in before you can negotiate the logistics.
2. Have Patience
A “no” is rarely a final rejection; it’s usually a “not right now”. Ellis emphasizes that success in retail requires extreme patience. Even with a “yes,” it may take 18 months to get on a national retailer’s shelves. “You have to be patient, you have to be willing to fail, you have to be willing to be coachable, you have to be willing to get back up and try again,” says Ellis.
By focusing on strategic partnerships rather than trying to get a “yes” from everyone, you ensure that when you finally do land that purchase order, it’s a win for you, the retailer, and the customer.
Editor’s note: Tia has a full “Pitch to Purchase Order” course for emerging Founder-led brands, which you can sign up for here. Watch my full video interview with Tia below, or listen to our interview on our podcast, Winning Pitches with RangeMe & ECRM (Episode 35).