Getting the almighty yes. The approval to even look at the goods. While spending the majority of your time sourcing new products and reaching out to new potential suppliers it becomes demotivating when you get told no so many times.

If you’ve ever worked in sales you’ll understand this process and be comfortable with it: You’ll reach out to ten new suppliers, six of them will respond, you’ll be approved for four and only one will be profitable for you.

Once you understand the math, you have more control over your growth. If for instance, I know that for every ten suppliers I reach out to I will add at least one new profitable product line to my Amazon business, then I simply work the math. How many suppliers do I need to reach out to each day to add another ten great products to my business?

 

I typically do this during sourcing sprints. During a full week, I’ll do nothing but reach out to 50 new suppliers each day. From this sprint, I know I can come out with a handful of profitable products. I highly suggest you set this kind of goal while getting started. Just 50 suppliers each day for a week and see how you grow.

 

Now, of course, these numbers are made up as the breakdown may be better or worse for you depending on a few factors. What matters is that you understand and accept the process. That you will not be approved for 100% of the accounts you want.

 

Your fate isn’t sealed of course and there are a few simple things you can add to your process to increase your approval rate. Especially when you’ve already been told no or denied.

 

Before we can increase your approval rate we first need to understand the process from the supplier side. Have you ever truly thought about what the supplier gets out of the deal? If your answer is that they get your money/orders, you have things very wrong.

 

Just because you have money to spend does not mean you’re of value to any potential suppliers. Instead, you must break down and tailor your approach to their real needs.

Those needs can vary, but what I’ve found is the following:

1. An increase in volume, not just another slice of the same sized pie

2. Protection and building upon an already established brand

 

These two things, when added to your outreach tells the supplier that you aren’t just some (eBay) seller trying to “flip” their products. You need to be building a real company that can buy their products for years to come and easily convey that during your communications.

 

When I reach out to suppliers, I barely talk about how much I would like to spend with them each month. Instead, I focus on answering questions they haven’t already asked, like the fact that I prefer MAP (Minimum Advertised Pricing) agreements, that I’ll be using PPC and other methods to increase their volume on Amazon, rather than simply being the 15th seller of the same 500 units.

 

Doing this alone will allow you to greatly increase your approval rates, but what if they tell you no still? You may want to better convey your value via a phone call, especially if you’ve been communicating through email, which brings me to my next piece of advice: calling a supplier has a much higher rate of success than email does.

 

For the most part, I prefer email because I can send it at 8 pm, like I’m writing this post for you now. I enjoy the control over when I work, but growing a business, especially from six to seven figures, requires much more than email.

 

It requires real communication, real business maneuvers and putting in the work.

 

Key Takeaways

 

  1. Convey your value to a potential supplier. More than simply giving them your money as that’s not enough at all. Understand what they value and become that solution for them.
  2. Call a supplier as much as possible!
  3. If you’re told no, always follow up at least one more time to help them better understand that you aren’t just some seller, that you’re building a real company that will last many years to come.
  4. You won’t win them all. Don’t focus too much on getting denied. Instead, understand the sheer volume of great products on Amazon and refocus your efforts on finding the next great product to add to your wholesale Amazon business.