The Wholesale Forums

[Pete]

Well, you sort of dragged this one from the crypt.

There is some mis-information here. While I don't think George Bush is on the forum, it is possible others can innocently mis-inform.

There is no hard and fast rule for wholesalers. Particularly concerning order acceptance. I have several who are perfectly happy with emails. Others who want them faxed to them on their forms. (In these cases, they use the forms for pulling orders and billing.) and others who love it when you order on the net, directly into their system. This is naturally the best. It speeds things up, eliminates reading and writing errors and puts the blame squarely on the customer if the wrong item is orders.

I've been order virtually daily for decades and I've learned that for best service you must adapt your style to suit them. Some want to the item number first, others want the quantity first. Some want you to say "XXL", others are happy with "double X".

I've even had different suppliers who read and take orders with 7 digit numbers in different ways.

One wants you to read 2374563 as Two thirty seven, forty five, sixty three. And another who wants it called in as Twenty three seventy four, five sixty three.

So, for your own good, when you first start doing business with a supplier, ask them how THEY want you to order. Then, if it's by phone, ask the person taking the order do they want quantity or item number first. If it's clothing and you can order open stock by size, ask how they want you to order that. Most times they have an grid style order form with rows for the item and columns for the sizes already set up. They just enter the item code and then travel across the line entering the quantity in the S M L XL XXL etc columns.

Place your orders as if you are dealing with an "English as a thrid languge school dropout". Make it as easy on them as you can, it will be worth the little extra time it may take you by eliminating costly shipping errors.

Been there, done that.

[OQuixotic]

Good Useful Tips

[aston]

Tips appreciated!

[Balooka Heights]

Very helpful and a great read .

[Despina]

Oh that was fun reading

Personally, unless it’s obvious the sender is extremely mentally challenged, I could not care less weather I am referred to as Dear/Madam/Hi.
The world is diverse; people express themselves in many different forms.
Ok, getting around it, quite frankly I had a hell of a time suffering dyslexia to express myself. From pen to paper now I still do. Words do the tango on my page and my brain has to work hard to maintain order!
Fortunately I am lucky enough to be rather bright and have an excellent formula that works well for me.
If Mr. ‘Hi M8’ wants to spend his money in my shop then he is welcome

[JamieIntel]

Originally Posted by Despina

Oh that was fun reading

Personally, unless it’s obvious the sender is extremely mentally challenged, I could not care less weather I am referred to as Dear/Madam/Hi.
The world is diverse; people express themselves in many different forms.
Ok, getting around it, quite frankly I had a hell of a time suffering dyslexia to express myself. From pen to paper now I still do. Words do the tango on my page and my brain has to work hard to maintain order!
Fortunately I am lucky enough to be rather bright and have an excellent formula that works well for me.
If Mr. ‘Hi M8’ wants to spend his money in my shop then he is welcome

Agreed, many wholesales are not bothered how you address them. As long as you can prove to them your serious, they will take "alright mates" all day.

But i do agree with your comments, it's certainly better to address them in a more formal fashion.

[Beneddie1112]

Originally Posted by JamieIntel

Agreed, many wholesales are not bothered how you address them. As long as you can prove to them your serious, they will take "alright mates" all day.

But i do agree with your comments, it's certainly better to address them in a more formal fashion.

I disagree with this, opening a pitch to a major wholesaler with 'Alright mate' will get you ignored.

[PT]

If I was to get an email off somebody and they wrote in text language, they'd be ignored. Of course, not everybody has great English skills (I for one, don't and will often spend ages writing just one sentence!). But text language is something totally different and just shows a lack of professionalism.

[JamieIntel]

I suppose it all depends on the seller, some may feel it brings a closer relationship between the seller and the buyer.

But i do agree a more professional way would be formal language, saying "alright mate" is something of course i wouldn't do. But if i was a wholesaler, it wouldn't put me off selling my products to them.

Personally i think approaching someone like that does show a lack of experience.

[Andy777]

Great article Anthony! Thanks!