Start-up|Designer childrenswear|engaging agents

[Montgla]

Hi, I'm new to the forum and looking for some help on engaging designer childrenswear agents. I'm building my business plan at the moment, and pretty much on top of the start-up business costs, I'm looking at premises and have a solicitor lined up for the lease when we're ready, and have a plan in place for funding. So far so good. The bit I'm struggling to get traction on is sourcing suppliers! A lot of the brands I want to stock are represented by agents, and they either take a long time to reply to enquiries, or just don't bother! I am signed up for Bubble London in July, but hoped to have at least signed up with some suppliers before then. I suspect there are some trade secrets that I don't know about, so would love to hear from anyone with some good advice on this. Thanks in advance!

 

[billmccallum1957]

have you tried this list of phone numbers

http://www.juniormagazine.co.uk/fashion-biz/childrenswear-uk-fashion-agents/1552.html

 

[digthecat]

In my experience, if you're not trading to a sufficient level then it's very much about who you know and what your credentials are (work history etc).

Thanks to @billmccallum1957 for sharing the phone list. This will be best way to try and win them over if you can't get a warm intro / show off creds by email - assuming you don't want to get on the phone.

Phone will be best way to get their attention though, if you're not getting responses to emails and form submissions. You can strike up a rapport and you get to the bottom of things far more efficiently. There is a good article on UKBF, about cold calling, if this is new to you.

I've done a lot of cold calling over the last 5 years and my advice is not to think of yourself as one of those dreaded, dreary, scripted workers (poor souls) whose calls we desperately avoid.

Ultimately if you have a strong business plan, funding in place and you know you can genuinely connect their brands with the affluent, family audience they're after then they SHOULD be speaking to you.

Be confident, be assertive (but not aggressive), be friendly and be open. Know what makes you stand out and be ready to perform your elevator pitch on demand. Ask questions. Use the power of silence (read further sales articles is unfamiliar). Objections are opportunities for you to delve further into what they're after so don't feel defeated - they're showing intrigue. Make sure you agree an outcome (a further call, a meeting, follow up email etc, even just a no, although try to find out more about why it's a no and how you can make it a yes!)

It might be hard, but it's not impossible! Best of luck.

 

[Montgla]

Thanks @billmccallum1957 for the telephone list, much appreciated. And to @digthecat - lots of good advice there - time to get the pitch, and get on the phone I think.

Do you know anything about the terms I can expect - I'm expecting to pay on order to begin with, but what can I expect in terms of minimum orders - I don't want to be overcommitted to any one supplier.

 

[jodie howell]

Hi,

If you're interested I have approx 1200 pieces over boys and girls from a gorgeous designer brand selling under wholesale prices to clear.

Pm me if interested

 

[TheConsulter]

You wondered about terms that you could expect. Below are some of them.

MOQ - Abbreviation of minimum order quantity. To qualify for the advertised goods, you have to buy at least a minimum amount of units.
Brokered stock - This means that the supplier hasn't got the stock. He acts as a middleman to another supplier.
Physical stock - This means that the stock is with the supplier.
Buyer liabilities - Sometimes you have certain liabilities that may incur extra costs. For example customs charges and VAT.

Apart from this, it would be great if you could share the progress with us on this forum.

Best of luck!