How to Contact Suppliers who Dropship

Contact with Supplier Guide – Initiating a Drop Shipping Partnership

A supplier who is interested in working with you will contact you. After an initial phone call or email, the supplier will send you a detailed questionnaire to determine whether or not you are a good candidate to work together. This questionnaire will ask questions such as:

‘Do’ And ‘Don’t’!

You have done your research and found a great wholesale supplier with the perfect products for you to sell on your website. Unfortunately, the wholesaler may not be dropping ship at the present time. This wholesaler will drop ship for you if you can show him you have a large pool of qualified people who are willing to buy his products and willing to pay his low prices. What should you say in your “first contact” email?

This chapter will teach you “Do’s” and “Don’ts” for your first email to a supplier. In addition to that, this book will give you lots of examples, so you can make a good “first impression” with your client.

If you want to make an instant positive impression, the first thing you need to do is listen to what people have to say.

Even if you’re not selling on Amazon, you should read this report. It’ll give you the details and the research behind the report I co-authored with Joe Polish titled, “The 12 Clues of High-Priced Ownership”. This is a natural feeling. That’s true of almost any organization, so it’s best to err on the side of caution.

If you have an excellent relationship with these people, then you can be a bit more daring, but still remain within the context of this email. You can’t do anything about your past. You can only control your future. All you can do is put your best foot forward.

Once you understand these two vantage points, you’ll be able to craft more effective sales messages. By “understand” what I mean is you’ll have a clear picture in your mind’s eye of what both your customer and you find attractive.

Entrepreneurs are dreamers who have big goals. But without a compelling reason to achieve those goals, they won’t even attempt to make those goals come true.

If your eCommerce website has a distinct comparative advantage in any area, it will pull in more orders, and hence more profits, than other websites which don’t offer that particular advantage. You have a limited budget, but you still want to have a wide selection of samples and full size products displayed for customers. No one is immune to the power of the Amazon sales force. If your product is not among the top sellers on Amazon, you will never see a dime of profit from your sales.

With “dropshipping”, you can put up products for sale without having the products in stock. This saves tons of money… because you don’t have to pay for inventory you don’t use. This lets you use a low price-point dropshipping model to get your product to market at a price so low, it will put many “big brand” products out of business. This also keeps your overhead low since you won’t have to pay for any inventory or pay for warehouse space or other associated costs.

Dropshipping needs a hero. Someone who can make it understandable to those with no ecommerce experience.

Imagine how stressful it must be to have a bunch of hyperactive kids with nothing to do all day! Imagine how happy that would make you, if you could provide those kids with endless amounts of interactive games and activities. To have as many people as possible reading their email messages. A: Why are they doing that? B: So they can measure the effectiveness of their campaigns. Yes, they are advertising themselves on wholesale directories as a wholesaler and are looking for more retailers to sell their product to.

A potential drop-shipper needs to find a product or category with good sales potential that is not already being handled by an established wholesaler.

There are certain brick-and-mortar retailers who only carry the highest-end products. They are often referred to as “reserved distribution houses” for certain brands. Or, they are sometimes called “select retailers” because they carry only the most sought-after products. These retailers are NOT generally online retailers.

What kind of research should you do before making a purchasing decision? C: There are three main choices when it comes to researching a brand new product. 1. Maybe, they don’t. But even if they don’t, there are certain things you need to know in order to market your product to them, no matter where they are. You should consider using your website for marketing and advertising their merchandise in your “neighbourhood.

Almost like an interview.

Some suppliers will want you to “become a member” or to “join their club. Great. Now tell me about yourself. A: I’m 59 years old, a retired Naval Intelligence officer, and a life-long student of human behavior. It wasn’t that long ago that people used to ask, “Why should I work with you?” But now, thanks to the Internet, it’s almost “Why shouldn’t I work with you?

You want more customers, right? Well, what you say and what you write in your sales copy and website copy must be in harmony.

Write some of your ideas down. A: Now rewrite those sentences so they sound like questions. B: Rewrite those sentences so they sound like questions. You should use it. Even if it’s only for minor edits. It’s a useful tool for sharpening up your writing skills. And who knows? You can send your initial email, come back the following day and fix any grammatical or wording problems and then send a final revised version of the email. This is the best (and really only) checklist you need to make sure you hit the important points in your first email to a wholesaler. There are several important things you absolutely must cover, and several other key areas you should pay close attention to.

Ask Persuade Wholesaler to Drop Ship

Get A Response

It’s very important that you try to find a mutual interest, between you and the person you are speaking with. You and your spouse need to discuss your finances and create a plan that works for both of you.

You have sent me an email that seems to be a “throwaway” email. I consider these types of emails to be very dangerous to a business relationship.

The very first step in a “sales pitch” is for the sales person to make a “warm” or friendly phone call to the prospect. The wholesaler will wonder why you are contacting them “out-of-the-blue.” That’s because you didn’t ask for his email address or phone number when you purchased from him in the past.

It’s always a good idea to get your “email pitch” just right, because this is what your potential customer will first perceive about you as a seller. You want to be taken seriously as an expert in your field, so others will take you more seriously.

Tell us a little about your family. A: I’m married to a wonderful woman named Nancy and I have two grown sons, Jeff and Jack, and three grandchildren, Trevor,

Become a magnet for customers

Everybody wants to be in the spotlight. It’s the nature of things. However, without the proper preparation and technique, being in the spotlight can cause more harm than good. In this section I reveal the 3 secrets that helped me become one of the top copywriters in the world. It is very important to personalise these e-mails and make them seem very much like a one-on-one conversation between yourself and the supplier. Use language that is conversational, not formal. Don’t write “because…” or “since…”. Instead, say things like “I understand your concern…”, “As you know…”, etc. This will put the supplier at ease and enable you to explain your situation in a more effective manner.

When you sound uninterested or indifferent, not only do you risk burning the bridge… you also risk losing the supplier’s respect. Making them feel that you do not value their input, their time, or their efforts will quickly result in lower quality, lower output and, sometimes… a complete loss of the business. When you are first getting started as a drop shipper, it is very important that you develop a great relationship with your supplier. This will enable you to get exactly what you need when you need it and to eliminate hassles which can delay or even stop your dropship business dead in its tracks. You want to make sure they like you and are willing to work with you on the basis that you may indeed increase their overall profits.

Why should the supplier work with you? Well, for starters, because you are a reputable company that offers good terms and fair payment.

Whether you’ve already got an established ecommerce business, a great idea for a new product, or you just have a passion for selling, you can use portions of your plan in this section. The most important words in this entire email are, “This business description section should be the one with the most emphasis.” These are the words that the supplier will be most likely to remember and relay to his superiors.

There is no better way to indicate that you are very serious about obtaining access to their product range than to do a bit of research, and let your enthusiasm shine through in your email. A few of the things we will discuss include but are not limited to:

-Experience with a specific product category (e.g., direct response magazines, golf clubs, etc.) and why you are interested in this.

-The Ultimate Shopping Guide For Lesser Merchants – How To Use What You Already Know To Set Yourself Apart From The Competition

-Distribution platform – It’s where your product or service gets uploaded, listed and sold on the Amazon website.

-Target Market – This is the first question you should always ask when you are creating a new product. Who are you selling the product to?

This covers everything from newspaper ads, direct mail, space ads, TV and radio ads, magazine ads, and so on. It includes ideas for increasing brand awareness, for creating effective promotions, and it describes the different types of media you can use.

-Pricing Strategies – Knowledge of the market, and how to price your products or services to make a profit. This includes knowing the legal aspects of pricing and how to establish reasonable expectations about what you will charge for your goods and/or services.

When you are writing about a specific product, it is essential that you find out as much as you can about that product. Here are a few ways to do this: 1. Look up the product in Wikipedia.

Here are two examples of what I will elaborate on in the supplier contact template: 1. I will explain exactly how each of the above headlines can be used to dramatically increase response… and… how to craft a compelling “ask” in each of the three variations of the headline used above.

There are several good reasons: 1. The biggest advantage of drop shipping is that it gives you access to thousands of products… and… it lets you sell them without keeping any of the profits.

Drop shipping allows you to sell through another middleman. When you drop ship, you don’t have to maintain any inventory and you don’t have to pay for facilities or fulfillment costs. This enables you to mark up your product by a much higher percentage than you could if you were doing retail. That isn’t true. Not at all. In fact, most modern distribution operations and warehouses are more like small businesses than Amazon. They have to deal with suppliers, customers, regulatory agencies, auditors, employees, paperwork, slow-moving bureaucracy and, oh yeah… The Weather!

The reality is, in Australia, most of the warehouses that carry stock that may be accessible to small to medium type businesses are actually located in big cities. This means if you are a small to medium type business, you will most likely have to pay high transportation costs to get your goods into the warehouse and then even higher transportation costs to get them out again to your customers.

Increase supplier’s profits with drop shipping

A fulfillment center is a big box that holds thousands of items. The items are kept inside the big box in rows and columns, like beads on a string. Amazon calls these items “SKUs” which is short for “stock keeping units”.

These self-service P.O.S. (Point-Of-Sale) are very similar to the automated teller machines (ATM) you use when you want to withdraw money from an automatic teller machine. Except, these ATMs are for your store instead of a bank.

Wholesalers are just like any other business. When the economy is good, they thrive. When the economy is bad, they suffer too. The difference is most businesses have someone – often their owners – who has the ability to make decisions when the chips are down. But most wholesalers don’t. During these inactive periods, it’s possible for the wholesaler to lose sight of the forest (his inventory) for the trees (his stock). Make sure you maintain an adequate level of inventory so you’ll always be ready to fill orders when the cycle turns around.

Wholesalers who are serious about making a lot of money need to be more than just “willing” to explore the possibility of working with one or a handful of resellers and embrace the drop shipping concept. They need to make it a priority.

Your job is to convince the wholesalers that you can make good on all orders without losing your shirt, thereby creating a mutually beneficial business relationship, while at the same time taking care that you are not devaluing the product by doing silly things like having an Amazon failure rate of 80%+, which again might cause issues with other re-sellers who are also enjoying the benefits of having access to the particular range for resale purposes.

(If the wholesaler isn’t familiar with the concept of drop shipping individual items to Amazon re-sellers, then I suggest you point him or her toward this website for further information.

Obtain a Response

Wholesalers will respond to an attractive offer, but they will also respond to an offer they can make a lot of money on. So be sure to offer both (and more) the wholesaler. Responding to an ad or direct mail piece positively is the coup de grace. No response means no sale. If a customer doesn’t give you feedback, there is absolutely no point in continuing to market to them. A value proposition is important for any wholesaler to know, especially one that is new to the business. Once the wholesaler understands the value proposition, then he will be able to calculate potential profits from the relationship.

If you don’t hear back from the mastermind in 72 hours, send another email to reinforce your commitment. This may show him that you are “sincere” and are not just some scam artist looking for a free ride. Doing this will also show him that you are serious and are not going to walk away from this deal. Even if they tell you they received it, ask if they read it. If they say yes, ask if they understood it. Then, ask if they have any questions about anything in it. You would be surprised at how much can be achieved by sending a quick email followed by a phone call.

It takes time, money and energy for the potential drop-shipper to set up an account for you. And then, they’ll want to make sure you’re not a scammer, and that you have a good history as a seller on their site. Therefore, they should make sure it’s financially beneficial for them and that they are dealing with a serious and decisive individual who will even take charge and suggest ways in which the relationship may work.

Projecting Positive Personality Traits

You want to leave a “good impression” in the mind of the wholesaler. Show humility, openness to new ideas, and the ability to recognize opportunities when they are presented to you. You want to lay the foundation for a trustworthy relationship with your future drop-ship customer.

Negativity has no place in direct marketing. It can cause your offers to be ignored and your sales to suffer.

Be positive, polite and respectful.

Your personal characteristics will be evaluated by the distributor, and if they deem you to be honest and worthy, they’ll pass your application onto the next level for review. You don’t want to look unprofessional, either. That’s why it’s so important to make sure your emails, letters, ads and websites are as polished as possible. Some email marketers simply never learn. They think that because their email is an “SMS-like message” that their email will be delivered and read by the recipient.

– Two, they might not want to help you unless you give them a huge amount of money. C: – Three, they might not want to help you at all. Some ecommerce software programs will automatically delete completed orders from your server. If your email has poor grammar and spelling, the wholesaler might think you are a “spammer”.

– Yes, I am serious. It doesn’t matter how ridiculous the goal seems. If you really want it, you’ll find a way to make it happen. If you’re merely dreaming about doing it, you’re not really serious about doing it. You have to be running a profitable business before you can even think about taking time off for anything… even if just to have a baby! You must be legitimate. You must be shown that you are indeed serious.

If you are not running a profitable business but in fact are in the stages of setting up your business, tell them that but also show them that you are a business minded individual with a passion for success and that you have done your research.

– It’s not profitable for them to work with you either. In fact, it’s so unprofitable for them to work with you, they will stop working with you as soon as possible! Relationships between people or businesses must be mutually beneficial.

You’ve probably heard it said a million times, “you never get a second chance to make a first impression”. That’s true in business as well as in relationships, and thus, if you don’t nail the first impression part of your sales pitch, you may as well stop talking right here and now. So then, what exactly is the first impression part of your pitch?

Let’s take a look at two real world examples of “killer” emails and see if we can learn a thing or two about “breaking the ice”. Here are 8 ways to make your website more profitable… B:

WRONG! A: How to Think B: THINK! A: It’s easy to get confused (and angry) at the IRS.

Good news! I am finally ready to commit to this project and I’m sure we can work together to make this happen.

Drones are very useful. They’re great for spying, photography, surveying, search & rescue, and many other types of missions. But, they’re not very useful for running an online business.

I’m glad you noticed that. It seems our products are a good fit for each other. How did you come up with this idea?

I’d be happy to send you all the info you need. Just give me your email address.

I am only starting out myself, so I’ll have to pass on that one. Maybe another time. Please let me know if there is anything else I can do to help you. Sincerely, Jeff Scott P.S.

Good! Now comes the really important stuff… Your “Aha” Points! Remember how I told you to concentrate on getting your “Aha” points as fast as possible?

Regards Paul OK, now compare those two sentences. What you just read is an example of what I call “hot swapping.

Your bullets need to be much more than just a simple statement followed by a list of bullet points. They should all be tightly written in an easy-to-read font and size. The email was definitely not written by a pro. It’s very obvious that the writer does not know English as a first language, or is not sufficiently motivated to improve his grammar and spelling. However, there is nothing wrong with the idea of the email and certainly nothing that cannot be fixed easily. It could also have been a lot better…

In many cases, the suppliers don’t even reply to these types of emails, because they’ve been inundated with them.

Many direct response copywriters won’t even acknowledge the existence of the DRTV industry. But the truth is, they are missing out on an enormous source of potential clients. And, they are denying themselves access to a huge marketplace of people who could use their help.

Heres an example with multiple paragraphs that you can use to guide your emails:

Hi, my name is Roger Smith and I’d like to set up a wholesale account with your company.

I’d be happy to send you all of my product listings for your review. Just give me your email address and tell me which categories you are most interested in.

As a drone pilot and an experienced mechanic, I’ve had my share of close calls and emergency situations. This gives me a unique perspective and an extensive knowledge of drone operations, laws, and everything else you need to know in order to fly and maintain your own fleet of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

I’ve been an active contributor to various online discussion forums and I’ve written a few help guides on related topics which can be found on my website.

As my website is becoming more and more popular with audiences who are interested in drones, I have decided to use this foundation to launch an eCommerce business selling drones and all associated parts and accessories.

I believe my knowledge of the product, combined with my marketing experience and ability to articulate that knowledge to my customers, will be of great benefit to your company, and allow me to represent the quality brands you have available, suggesting the right products and offering expert advice to my customers.

I have extensive knowledge of DJI, Parrot, and a few other brands of consumer / hobbyist drones. As I have direct experience operating the various models, I am in a unique position to offer tips, advice and insight that can help you make an informed decision when it comes to purchasing a drone for yourself or your business.

I’m also very passionate about these three brands, and I’m aware of the manufacturer’s warranty processes and claim processes.

It would be best if we could sell the four mentioned products as well as all of their accessories and goodies. Then, later on, we can expand the selection to include everything else your business has to offer. That way, your customers will always have the widest choice of everything you have to sell.

I understand that some models are reserved for exclusive re-sellers. Therefore, if there are any models that you think would work for me, I’d be happy to consider those models. And of course, if you have any suggestions, I’ll be glad to consider them.

I’m also aware of the potential repercussions for reselling certain products on Amazon, and if other sellers are taking advantage of your hard work. That’s one of the reasons I always recommend a certain percentage of your inventory be available for direct customer purchase.

I’m not going to sign any agreements or re-seller policies regarding the resale of these products.

This website is built upon the e-commerce platform of the largest affiliate marketing network in the world. It can be completely customized to suit your own unique selling proposition.

This is a very modern, fast, clean and responsive ecommerce website design. It will make your product stand out from the crowd and really bring home its great sales appeal.

I’ve got a marketing plan that involves social media, PPC (Pay Per Click) campaigns using Google Adwords and a mobile application for smartphones and tablets called “kiwi” which would drive more traffic to the store and create even more brand awareness for the brands that I would be stocking.

As this is a new venture for me and I see that you currently do not offer drop shipping, I would like to take this opportunity to ask if this is something that you would be willing to consider or maybe have done in the past?

I believe it’s worth exploring the possibility of drop shipping. It could be a real benefit to both of our companies.

I’m sorry, but I just don’t see how anyone could charge more for this information than I did. In fact, if anything, I think my price is rather low considering what people are willing to pay for such vital info. So, if you have any objections, feel free to give me a call and we’ll discuss it.

1. Off the top of my head, I can think of two or three major ways you could take advantage of the fact bulk buyers might be entitled to a higher percentage of the sale than direct buyers:

2. You could sell the product yourself at a discount via an affiliate program.

3. You could have the product manufacturer or a 3rd party supplier sell the product to the bulk buyer at a mark-up and give you the difference.

I’ve been talking with Jason about what he calls “The 3 Big Secrets” to supercharging your dropship business. And there is another guy who has been very helpful to me in this regard. 

If you are unfamiliar with the term “drop shipping” I would be happy to share with you some information that will help you understand the value of this type of fulfillment process for any type of business, whether it is a wholesale business or not.

There’s just one thing I’d like to add. One of the questions that was asked of me in the research I did for this letter is, “What is the single biggest mistake new Amazon sellers make? If you have any questions or concerns on how I see this business relationship benefiting us both, don’t hesitate to ask. Thanks again for all your support. George.G

I’m looking forward to working with you. Please feel free to call or email me as I’m available to take your calls and respond to your emails immediately. George.G

======

The above example of a first contact letter is exactly what you should be aiming for when you are trying to obtain a small business / supplier relationship from a supplier, or any kind of business relationship for that matter. In both cases, you are making an attempt to create a “connection” with someone, in order to set up a more “proper” (and hopefully longer term) communication between the two of you.

It provides a detailed analysis of your strengths and weaknesses, as well as reveals lots of little-known facts about you.

One of the main reasons your emails get answered is because you’re a “sales-minded” sender. You have put a lot of effort into crafting your sales pitch, and that makes the recipient feel your message contains both “thoughtfulness” and “concern”.

If you are a true professional, then you’ll send a personal email to each of the suppliers that you cold-email. This will show them that you are a real human being who cares and not just another “spammer” trying to extract money from them.

Verdict: The chance of getting a reply to this “Right Way To Write A Letter” example: VERY HIGH! Did you notice how I emphasized the word VERY in that last sentence?

Good Luck! Don’t forget to click on the back links at the bottom of the email if you want to get even more valuable info about the way that you will work with them and how you will market their products. This puts everyone at ease and gives a level of trust.

Dealing with suppliers is really over thought out, at the end of the day they are people just like you and me. Be natural and think of making it as easy for them to say yes that its a no brainer to get you onboarded.

Aside from having a viable business idea, there’s one thing that sets the successful entrepreneurs apart from the rest:

Clear, concise, confident communication.

Knowing how to communicate effectively with potential business partners is crucial to your success as an online entrepreneur.

As always I hope this helps you with some clarity.

Topic Resources To Continue Learning

Next Chapter

Previous Chapter