1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,080 Kevin Mako: Hello, product innovators. Today we learn how to find wholesale buyers to sell your new hardware product in large volume. 2 00:00:06,720 --> 00:00:12,300 Kevin Mako: This is the Product Startup Podcast, a show to learn from top leaders in hardware product development, 3 00:00:12,480 --> 00:00:17,300 Kevin Mako: prototyping, manufacturing, product selling, and everything in between. Hosted by Kevin Mako, 4 00:00:17,420 --> 00:00:23,350 Kevin Mako: the leading expert on product development for hardware startups. Welcome back, everyone. Today I'm very 5 00:00:23,350 --> 00:00:28,610 Kevin Mako: excited to introduce Collin Mitchell to the show. Collin has been in the sales space for over 15 years, 6 00:00:28,610 --> 00:00:33,410 Kevin Mako: including selling over 5,000 SKUs of product through his first of many companies that he founded. 7 00:00:33,670 --> 00:00:39,490 Kevin Mako: He is currently the Managing Partner at Leadium, a full-service selling agency for helping companies scale up their sales efforts. 8 00:00:39,990 --> 00:00:46,270 Kevin Mako: Today, Collin will share some valuable knowledge for inventors, startups and small manufacturers on how to figure out what types of wholesale buyers there are, 9 00:00:46,490 --> 00:00:54,330 Kevin Mako: which ones are ideal for your particular product, and how to build and manage a list of these buyers so that you can grow your wholesale selling efforts quickly. 10 00:00:54,630 --> 00:00:55,770 Kevin Mako: Now, on to the episode. 11 00:00:56,980 --> 00:00:59,160 Kevin Mako: This show is produced by Mako Design. 12 00:00:59,180 --> 00:01:08,040 Kevin Mako: The original firm providing end-to-end consumer product development services tailored specifically to hardware startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. 13 00:01:08,200 --> 00:01:14,260 Kevin Mako: Take your product from idea to store shelves at MakoDesign.com. Now on to the episode. 14 00:01:16,130 --> 00:01:17,345 Kevin Mako: Hey, Collin, welcome to the show. 15 00:01:17,345 --> 00:01:19,370 Collin Mitchell: Hey, Kevin. Thanks for having me. Glad to be here. 16 00:01:19,370 --> 00:01:30,250 Kevin Mako: Well, we're really excited to have you on today to talk about selling direct to wholesalers, distributors or really anybody other, corporation or an individual body, somebody who sells in. 17 00:01:30,270 --> 00:01:36,850 Kevin Mako: volume new hardware product innovations. This is one of arguably the largest sales channels, 18 00:01:36,970 --> 00:01:42,170 Kevin Mako: especially for a new emerging hardware startup. I know there's a lot of buzz in and around selling direct to 19 00:01:42,170 --> 00:01:47,970 Kevin Mako: consumer via Shopify on your website or via Amazon or Kickstarter and crowdfunding campaigns. And all that is a 20 00:01:47,970 --> 00:01:51,830 Kevin Mako: great option that many hardware startups, of course, should at least at a minimum, take a look at. 21 00:01:52,270 --> 00:01:59,750 Kevin Mako: But there is a much bigger market out there, and that's selling to people who sell on. And it sounds scary. 22 00:01:59,750 --> 00:02:04,530 Kevin Mako: if you've never sold product before and you've never worked with the sales processes before, 23 00:02:04,630 --> 00:02:09,290 Kevin Mako: it seems like a daunting venture. But Collin, you're here today to talk about how any hardware startup 24 00:02:09,290 --> 00:02:15,230 Kevin Mako: with their new innovative invention, their new manufactured product, how they can start the process 25 00:02:15,230 --> 00:02:19,950 Kevin Mako: of prospecting for these types of buyers, building your list and then moving it on and actually 26 00:02:19,950 --> 00:02:24,810 Kevin Mako: selling products to those people. Before we get into all that exciting conversation for today, 27 00:02:25,170 --> 00:02:29,170 Kevin Mako: Collin, just give us a bit of a background on your history of how you became a success story that you 28 00:02:29,170 --> 00:02:35,020 Collin Mitchell: are today. Yeah, so I've been in sales for 16 years. In that time, I've had several 29 00:02:35,020 --> 00:02:40,960 Collin Mitchell: companies, exited a few of those. And the first company that my wife and I started together 30 00:02:40,960 --> 00:02:46,540 Collin Mitchell: selling technology products, we scaled that business from zero to five million in about 26 months 31 00:02:46,540 --> 00:02:51,880 Collin Mitchell: with the sales team. And that was kind of the most relevant experience that I have probably to your 32 00:02:51,880 --> 00:02:57,740 Collin Mitchell: audience is with selling products. And I think that part of it, which is probably relevant to your 33 00:02:57,740 --> 00:03:03,380 Collin Mitchell: audience is being really specific on who we sold to and building a list of who we wanted to 34 00:03:03,380 --> 00:03:07,980 Collin Mitchell: target and staying really true to that and not venturing out of that. That's so important in list 35 00:03:07,980 --> 00:03:13,200 Kevin Mako: building. So let's dig into it. Let's start high level. What is the starting process? What do you need 36 00:03:13,200 --> 00:03:19,460 Kevin Mako: to think about as a hardware startup going, I want to sell product to volume-based buyers? What's the first 37 00:03:19,460 --> 00:03:24,900 Collin Mitchell: thing to start thinking about? Yeah. I mean, if you're looking for distributors, wholesalers, 38 00:03:24,900 --> 00:03:31,140 Collin Mitchell: retailers, whatever the case is, you want to be as specific as possible. I think that often 39 00:03:31,140 --> 00:03:37,020 Collin Mitchell: the biggest mistake that people make, the very beginning of your sales process is, who are we 40 00:03:37,020 --> 00:03:43,220 Collin Mitchell: going to target? And we often call that your ideal customer profile. And maybe, depending on 41 00:03:43,220 --> 00:03:49,320 Collin Mitchell: what it is that you sell, that list could be very small and super niche, or it could be quite 42 00:03:49,320 --> 00:03:54,600 Collin Mitchell: large, right? There could be, you know, lots of distributors, lots of wholesalers that could potentially 43 00:03:54,600 --> 00:04:00,020 Collin Mitchell: you know, sell your product, carry your product for their resellers. But you want to basically 44 00:04:00,020 --> 00:04:06,280 Collin Mitchell: find the ones that are best suited and focus on them first. And don't deviate from that, right? And 45 00:04:06,280 --> 00:04:10,600 Collin Mitchell: that could be maybe there's only a handful. Maybe there's only a dozen or two dozen. Or maybe there's 46 00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:16,500 Collin Mitchell: hundreds, right? But the first thing is identify how many potential wholesalers is there that could 47 00:04:16,500 --> 00:04:22,800 Collin Mitchell: carry your product. Build that list and build out your criteria of what that is. Maybe 48 00:04:22,800 --> 00:04:27,920 Collin Mitchell: their geographical location, maybe the size of those companies, maybe the amount of revenue 49 00:04:27,920 --> 00:04:33,860 Collin Mitchell: that they do or how many similar products like yours they carry or don't carry. Build out this 50 00:04:33,860 --> 00:04:39,800 Collin Mitchell: criteria so that you can be very specific. And then you can rank those in order of which ones 51 00:04:39,800 --> 00:04:44,140 Collin Mitchell: are maybe the best suited for you to target first and rank them all the way down to the bottom. And 52 00:04:44,140 --> 00:04:49,220 Collin Mitchell: then at the end, kind of have the basic information of those companies, the revenue that they do, 53 00:04:49,220 --> 00:04:52,780 Collin Mitchell: where they're located, types of products that they carry, and so on. 54 00:04:52,800 --> 00:04:57,440 Collin Mitchell: on, then you can take it a step further, and you want to start to enrich it with the contacts, 55 00:04:57,520 --> 00:05:02,300 Collin Mitchell: the people that you're going to need to reach out to. Those are probably the purchasing agents and 56 00:05:02,300 --> 00:05:06,440 Collin Mitchell: stuff like that. Maybe if it's a smaller wholesaler, there may be only be a handful of those. If it's 57 00:05:06,440 --> 00:05:12,580 Collin Mitchell: a larger wholesaler, it could be that there's certain buyers for certain commodities. And then that's 58 00:05:12,580 --> 00:05:17,620 Collin Mitchell: where a lot of people stop. It's like, okay, I got the list of accounts. I've got the person that I need to 59 00:05:17,620 --> 00:05:22,780 Collin Mitchell: reach out to. Now I can go reach out. And I want to tell you that don't be. 60 00:05:22,800 --> 00:05:28,300 Collin Mitchell: like everybody else. Take it a step further. And what you can do is you can find out as much 61 00:05:28,300 --> 00:05:34,560 Collin Mitchell: information. The beauty of technology today is data is very accessible. We've got social media. 62 00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:39,760 Collin Mitchell: We've got people who write blogs. There's people on LinkedIn, maybe even TikTok, who knows. 63 00:05:40,260 --> 00:05:46,500 Collin Mitchell: There's lots of information that you can find out about these people. And the more information that you 64 00:05:46,500 --> 00:05:51,520 Collin Mitchell: find out about these people, the better. Because then you can reach out in a really personalized way. 65 00:05:51,520 --> 00:05:56,840 Collin Mitchell: Maybe you can know what their favorite sports team is. Maybe you know that they have kids. Maybe you know what they 66 00:05:56,840 --> 00:06:02,560 Collin Mitchell: enjoy doing on the weekend. And you can really customize regardless of what channel. You know, 67 00:06:02,580 --> 00:06:06,940 Collin Mitchell: maybe you call them on the phone. Maybe you email them. Maybe you reach out to them on social or all of the 68 00:06:06,940 --> 00:06:13,640 Collin Mitchell: above. The more information that you're armed with before you reach out to that person is going to make a huge 69 00:06:13,640 --> 00:06:20,560 Collin Mitchell: difference and allow you to stand out. Because you got to remember, there's probably, I don't even know, 70 00:06:20,560 --> 00:06:26,100 Collin Mitchell: maybe hundreds of people knocking on these people's doors constantly, trying to get their attention, 71 00:06:26,400 --> 00:06:30,220 Collin Mitchell: trying to get them to carry their products. And you've got to think about how you're going to stand out. 72 00:06:30,680 --> 00:06:35,480 Kevin Mako: That is such powerful advice. I appreciate how you broke it down from initial ideation through to getting 73 00:06:35,480 --> 00:06:41,480 Kevin Mako: hyper-specific. I could tell you that does make a major difference. You and I, we get hit constantly. 74 00:06:41,480 --> 00:06:50,020 Kevin Mako: How many hundreds of either emails or LinkedIn outreaches or whatever else? And very few actually put in the effort 75 00:06:50,020 --> 00:06:56,700 Kevin Mako: to create a tailored message that's logical in that original engagement. And all it takes 76 00:06:56,700 --> 00:07:02,540 Kevin Mako: is a little bit of customization or a little bit of understanding of who that person is, what they truly 77 00:07:02,540 --> 00:07:08,380 Kevin Mako: need to set yourself above 95% of the other people reaching in. So it's a really easy way that 78 00:07:08,380 --> 00:07:12,600 Kevin Mako: if you do your research, you set yourself above before you've even introduced the product to these people. 79 00:07:12,600 --> 00:07:19,060 Kevin Mako: And why not take that edge and have that advantage as you go into the process? Now, break down a little bit 80 00:07:19,060 --> 00:07:23,200 Kevin Mako: for everybody that's listening that's maybe never gone through this process before. What 81 00:07:23,200 --> 00:07:29,420 Kevin Mako: tools and resources do you like to use in order to start figuring out this information? Where 82 00:07:29,420 --> 00:07:35,220 Kevin Mako: do you find your data? And then how are you actually amalgamating that data onto a spreadsheet or 83 00:07:35,220 --> 00:07:42,520 Collin Mitchell: whatever else? Yeah. You need a core database, something like a Zoom Info or an Apollo. There's less 84 00:07:42,520 --> 00:07:48,860 Collin Mitchell: expensive ones like Lusha, LeadIQ or even a seamless AI. There's so many data tools. 85 00:07:49,060 --> 00:07:54,460 Collin Mitchell: And I don't want to say that any one data tool is necessarily better than the other, because 86 00:07:54,460 --> 00:07:58,840 Collin Mitchell: a lot of it depends on who you're targeting, right? What market you're trying to sell into, 87 00:07:58,840 --> 00:08:05,440 Collin Mitchell: what type of data you're looking for. And so you need one core database. And I would even recommend 88 00:08:05,440 --> 00:08:11,040 Collin Mitchell: two because having two data providers is better than having one, because there's going to be gaps 89 00:08:11,040 --> 00:08:15,480 Collin Mitchell: and you'll get better coverage across the board of your entire total addressable market. 90 00:08:15,980 --> 00:08:19,040 Collin Mitchell: Also, some data providers might have insights. 91 00:08:19,060 --> 00:08:22,860 Collin Mitchell: that you can't get otherwise, like maybe technologies that they use, if they're hiring, 92 00:08:23,360 --> 00:08:28,120 Collin Mitchell: just other insights about the company or even the prospect individually, maybe social handles. 93 00:08:28,620 --> 00:08:34,320 Collin Mitchell: Another good reason to have multiple data providers is getting mobile data. The phone is probably 94 00:08:34,320 --> 00:08:38,980 Collin Mitchell: one of the most powerful tools that you have, and I don't think that's going to change anytime soon. 95 00:08:39,340 --> 00:08:44,780 Collin Mitchell: People getting spammed on social platforms and people having way more email in their inbox than they want. 96 00:08:44,780 --> 00:08:49,040 Collin Mitchell: The phone still remains one of the most powerful ways to reach people and introduce your 97 00:08:49,060 --> 00:08:54,720 Collin Mitchell: products. So being able to reach them directly on their direct aisle or their mobile 98 00:08:54,720 --> 00:08:58,840 Collin Mitchell: rather than going through like a phone tree or calling the main business line, those are going to be 99 00:08:58,840 --> 00:09:03,160 Collin Mitchell: a huge advantage for you when you're reaching out to these people. But the key is before you pick up 100 00:09:03,160 --> 00:09:06,440 Collin Mitchell: that phone, make sure you're prepared, right? So all that research that I talked about, 101 00:09:06,740 --> 00:09:10,920 Collin Mitchell: all that information that you might be thinking, well, I'm going to use it to write this well-crafted 102 00:09:10,920 --> 00:09:14,740 Collin Mitchell: message. You're going to want to have that information accessible when you pick up the phone and call 103 00:09:14,740 --> 00:09:19,040 Kevin Mako: them as well. Now, those are powerful databases and anybody can just go on and sign 104 00:09:19,060 --> 00:09:24,000 Kevin Mako: up and I think it's a relatively nominal fee, especially as a small startup, to use many of these 105 00:09:24,000 --> 00:09:29,300 Kevin Mako: databases. So it's an easy way to start your research. And through those databases, they have all 106 00:09:29,300 --> 00:09:33,840 Kevin Mako: kinds of search criteria that you can look up. Keep in mind, you can also use what's public out there. 107 00:09:33,980 --> 00:09:39,220 Kevin Mako: You can use LinkedIn, social media, Google to figure out who these people are, what they're doing. 108 00:09:39,340 --> 00:09:44,380 Kevin Mako: Are they being written about in articles? Are they writing on blogs or other articles? Do they have a 109 00:09:44,380 --> 00:09:48,500 Kevin Mako: podcast? All these sorts of things that you can really quickly start to learn who these people are, 110 00:09:48,500 --> 00:09:53,900 Kevin Mako: especially for your high value individuals. Now, you already mentioned it earlier in the conversation, 111 00:09:54,440 --> 00:09:58,480 Kevin Mako: rank your folks. So you're going to start building this list and then you're going to start 112 00:09:58,480 --> 00:10:03,500 Kevin Mako: attributing a rank to it. So the more specific, the buyer to your particular type of product in the 113 00:10:03,500 --> 00:10:07,380 Kevin Mako: geography or whatever else makes them a really, really good buyer. You want to put them at the 114 00:10:07,380 --> 00:10:12,240 Kevin Mako: higher levels of the list. People here are less certain about, maybe more generalistic. You'll put lower 115 00:10:12,240 --> 00:10:17,550 Kevin Mako: down the list. But up those high prospect ones, use your databases to find information and then use 116 00:10:17,550 --> 00:10:22,330 Kevin Mako: the web to find even more information. And that's going to build a whole variety of things that you can 117 00:10:22,330 --> 00:10:26,510 Kevin Mako: look at and spend the time and the effort to figure out who are those people. What do they want to 118 00:10:26,510 --> 00:10:31,530 Kevin Mako: see how to your product? How does your product suit their needs, then gives you the ammo to do the 119 00:10:31,530 --> 00:10:37,200 Collin Mitchell: research and go after them. Yeah. And I think the important thing is, is don't limit yourself to one channel, 120 00:10:37,340 --> 00:10:42,020 Collin Mitchell: right? You might be more comfortable reaching them out to them on a platform like LinkedIn, if that's 121 00:10:42,020 --> 00:10:46,660 Collin Mitchell: maybe a platform you're active on. You might be more comfortable picking up the phone and calling them 122 00:10:46,660 --> 00:10:51,620 Collin Mitchell: if that's maybe something you've done in the past, or you might just think, well, email's probably 123 00:10:51,620 --> 00:10:57,700 Collin Mitchell: the best route. You really don't know because you're better off reaching out to them on all of those channels 124 00:10:57,700 --> 00:11:03,760 Collin Mitchell: and it has a lot less to do with you and it has more to do with them. Some buyers are going to be easier 125 00:11:03,760 --> 00:11:08,060 Collin Mitchell: to reach on the phone based on their personality type or whether they pick up the phone or not. 126 00:11:08,160 --> 00:11:12,400 Collin Mitchell: Some prefer email as a communication style. If there's somebody who's active on a platform like 127 00:11:12,400 --> 00:11:16,460 Collin Mitchell: LinkedIn, that might be the best place to reach out to them. So you're better off reaching out to them 128 00:11:16,460 --> 00:11:21,280 Collin Mitchell: across multi-channel and it'll be different from prospect to prospect where you get 129 00:11:21,280 --> 00:11:25,540 Collin Mitchell: their attention and where they tend to respond to you. Yeah, it's worth the effort because keep in mind 130 00:11:25,540 --> 00:11:30,340 Kevin Mako: that these folks could potentially, any one of them could potentially be a multi-million dollar buyer 131 00:11:30,340 --> 00:11:35,940 Kevin Mako: over the course of the next few years. You've already done the hard work of designing, building, 132 00:11:36,100 --> 00:11:40,580 Kevin Mako: innovating the product, getting it to production, getting production going. So if you're at that 133 00:11:40,580 --> 00:11:46,440 Kevin Mako: level, then why not put a little bit of research, even if you've got a full-time job and this is this whole 134 00:11:46,460 --> 00:11:51,660 Kevin Mako: product businesses on the side for you. It's not a full-time gig to do this research. You can 135 00:11:51,660 --> 00:11:56,200 Kevin Mako: approach it on the weekends, but I would say do it consistently. Add to your list, continue to research. 136 00:11:56,320 --> 00:12:00,120 Kevin Mako: I mean, look at this as a fun journey. You're filling in the puzzle pieces. Who out there in the 137 00:12:00,120 --> 00:12:06,240 Kevin Mako: world could buy my product? And then when I identify who they are, how do I get at them? How do I prove to 138 00:12:06,240 --> 00:12:11,440 Kevin Mako: them that my product is really something they're missing out on? Keep in mind that it's their job 139 00:12:11,440 --> 00:12:16,400 Kevin Mako: to find new products that sell. That is why they are in the position. 140 00:12:16,460 --> 00:12:20,420 Kevin Mako: that they're at, especially the more senior the buyer, the more experience they have with 141 00:12:20,420 --> 00:12:25,340 Kevin Mako: identifying the next hot product and getting it into their particular distribution network 142 00:12:25,340 --> 00:12:30,760 Kevin Mako: before their competitors do. So it's their job as well to find you. So you've got to realize that 143 00:12:30,760 --> 00:12:35,960 Kevin Mako: this is a two-way street. You just need to figure out how to show them that your product best 144 00:12:35,960 --> 00:12:40,840 Collin Mitchell: matches the need that they have or the gap that they're trying to fill. Exactly. Sometimes it's 145 00:12:40,840 --> 00:12:45,660 Collin Mitchell: timing. The thing is don't reach out once and think, oh, they didn't respond. They don't want my 146 00:12:45,660 --> 00:12:50,800 Collin Mitchell: products. You got to be persistent, you know, and there's a balance of being persistent and being 147 00:12:50,800 --> 00:12:56,560 Collin Mitchell: annoying, right? You don't want to be annoying and follow up maybe too much or too often. So a little 148 00:12:56,560 --> 00:13:02,140 Collin Mitchell: bit of space in between following up, you know, spreading it across multiple channels is really 149 00:13:02,140 --> 00:13:07,520 Collin Mitchell: what's recommended. But don't give up, right? Because typically it's going to take the average is like 150 00:13:07,520 --> 00:13:14,160 Collin Mitchell: 15 to 20 touches before somebody actually ends up responding to you. And most people give up 151 00:13:14,160 --> 00:13:20,060 Collin Mitchell: before eight. So if you're persistent, you continue to follow up. Sometimes it has nothing to do 152 00:13:20,060 --> 00:13:24,220 Collin Mitchell: with you, has nothing to do with your product. They could be out of the office. They could just be 153 00:13:24,220 --> 00:13:29,880 Collin Mitchell: busy. They may be intended to respond to you, but had other priorities. So don't take it personal 154 00:13:29,880 --> 00:13:35,620 Collin Mitchell: because rejection is a huge part of this. But don't give up too early because you know, you might miss your 155 00:13:35,620 --> 00:13:40,880 Collin Mitchell: shot because you didn't just stick with it and continue to follow up. That's very powerful advice, 156 00:13:40,880 --> 00:13:45,680 Kevin Mako: especially for people who are new to the whole concept of outbound sales, let alone for a hardware 157 00:13:45,680 --> 00:13:51,720 Kevin Mako: product. Because one of the big fears is the fear of rejection. So if somebody's new to it, 158 00:13:51,720 --> 00:13:55,820 Kevin Mako: they'll send that one email with hopes and dreams. They finally built up the courage. They're excited. 159 00:13:56,260 --> 00:14:01,260 Kevin Mako: They draft the perfect email. They've done their research to draft that email. And the email's been sent 160 00:14:01,260 --> 00:14:05,500 Kevin Mako: and then they sit there and wait. But the reality is you're reaching out to somebody who's busy. 161 00:14:05,920 --> 00:14:10,860 Kevin Mako: And it's your job to continue to hit them on those different touch points on a variety of 162 00:14:10,880 --> 00:14:16,160 Kevin Mako: channels to the point where they either say, yes, I'm interested, or you're bugging me and I'm 163 00:14:16,160 --> 00:14:22,500 Kevin Mako: interested. That's okay. In fact, I would look at it so far as to say, don't be afraid if it isn't 164 00:14:22,500 --> 00:14:28,860 Kevin Mako: the right fit because then it wasn't going to be a sale anyways. So no harm has been done. You've reached out 165 00:14:28,860 --> 00:14:32,680 Kevin Mako: and even if you get to the point where you're either bugging them too much or it truly isn't a great 166 00:14:32,680 --> 00:14:37,940 Kevin Mako: fit, no harm, no foul, because you're just doing the best of what you thought was presenting a great 167 00:14:37,940 --> 00:14:40,340 Kevin Mako: product to them, for whatever reason it wasn't. 168 00:14:40,880 --> 00:15:10,680 Kevin Mako: And you got a no answer. On the flip side, though, is by doing that process, especially over a large number of people, inevitably, you're going to hit that certain person or a variety of different people who it is the correct fit and who you did hit a number of times to the point where they actually got, you know, the right timing like you say, or the right approach within their business model or their buying cycle, which is really big, especially in hardware. You can finally get them at the right time and they make that order. Well, isn't it worth it to go through a bunch of nose to get that one yes? 169 00:15:10,880 --> 00:15:16,400 Kevin Mako: All you really need in the hardware space is one big buyer, and that makes you a massive hardware startup. 170 00:15:16,900 --> 00:15:23,100 Kevin Mako: So it's worth the effort to go through and not to worry about the rejection and don't even worry about it if it's 171 00:15:23,100 --> 00:15:28,860 Kevin Mako: not the right fit for them as well. I think if you have that approach going into it where you realize you can only 172 00:15:28,860 --> 00:15:34,500 Kevin Mako: gain from this, then it's going to overcome that hurdle of the fear of rejection or the fear of reaching out 173 00:15:34,500 --> 00:15:40,640 Collin Mitchell: too many times or whatever else. Absolutely. And I think that you can even shift your mindset here a little bit 174 00:15:40,640 --> 00:15:46,900 Collin Mitchell: that a no is a good thing. A no is a positive thing. I know is a win. And that might sound a little 175 00:15:46,900 --> 00:15:54,040 Collin Mitchell: ridiculous. But part of reaching out to potential buyers for your product is refining your list 176 00:15:54,040 --> 00:15:59,360 Collin Mitchell: to the people that are good candidates to carry your product. So that means if you have 100 people, 177 00:15:59,840 --> 00:16:06,340 Collin Mitchell: each time you get a no, you're refining that list to a smaller, workable amount of people that could 178 00:16:06,340 --> 00:16:10,620 Collin Mitchell: potentially carry your product. So, you know, it's better to get a no than no response that 179 00:16:10,640 --> 00:16:15,460 Collin Mitchell: all because, you know, then you don't have to waste your time and you can spend more time and energy 180 00:16:15,460 --> 00:16:20,400 Collin Mitchell: on the people that could be potential yeses and could be that next huge buyer that you're looking 181 00:16:20,400 --> 00:16:25,520 Collin Mitchell: for. And the great thing is here is you don't need them all to say yes. You know, you just need a few of them 182 00:16:25,520 --> 00:16:30,380 Collin Mitchell: to say yes. And that's a good place to start. And then, you know, once you have a few that have said yes, 183 00:16:30,380 --> 00:16:35,120 Collin Mitchell: you can always leverage that to try to go get more later. Yeah, you can even go back to some of those 184 00:16:35,120 --> 00:16:39,000 Kevin Mako: knows potentially, right? Say, hey, look, this and this has happened. We're in a different place now. 185 00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:44,500 Collin Mitchell: potentially might this change your no to a maybe? Yeah, absolutely. In this space, you know, 186 00:16:44,560 --> 00:16:49,260 Collin Mitchell: name dropping and references, I think is huge. So if, you know, somebody's now carrying your 187 00:16:49,260 --> 00:16:53,500 Collin Mitchell: product, you can use that as leverage to get more people to carry your product. Absolutely. That's 188 00:16:53,500 --> 00:16:56,820 Kevin Mako: a bit of the snowball effect, especially with hardware. That's how you see so many hardware companies when 189 00:16:56,820 --> 00:17:01,500 Kevin Mako: they start to scale, it might be a hard grind in the beginning. But as you start to get some traction, 190 00:17:01,500 --> 00:17:06,720 Kevin Mako: you get more traction, and that's how that hockey stick curve appears in the sales cycle, because 191 00:17:06,720 --> 00:17:12,100 Kevin Mako: that interacting snowball effect of the sales cycle is starting to occur. The more effort you put 192 00:17:12,100 --> 00:17:17,400 Kevin Mako: into it in the early phases, the more that will start to amplify and exponentially grow as the 193 00:17:17,400 --> 00:17:21,980 Kevin Mako: results of that effort start to unravel. Before I let you go here, Collin, just talk a bit about 194 00:17:21,980 --> 00:17:28,220 Collin Mitchell: what you're doing at Leadium. Yeah, so we help companies, any from early stage to larger organizations 195 00:17:28,220 --> 00:17:34,360 Collin Mitchell: with their top of funnel. So outbound prospecting, inbound lead management, anything to do with 196 00:17:34,360 --> 00:17:39,500 Collin Mitchell: helping them fill that top of their funnel. We help them with that and we do that with 197 00:17:39,500 --> 00:17:44,980 Collin Mitchell: fully U.S.-based sales development talent. That's amazing. What website can they go to to learn 198 00:17:44,980 --> 00:17:50,200 Collin Mitchell: more about it? Yeah, pretty simple. They can go to leadium.com or they love the podcast. They can check 199 00:17:50,200 --> 00:17:55,000 Collin Mitchell: out sales transformation where we drop almost daily content. From there, you can pretty much find out 200 00:17:55,000 --> 00:17:58,980 Kevin Mako: everything that we're doing at Leadium as well. Much appreciate. And as always, I will put those 201 00:17:58,980 --> 00:18:03,540 Kevin Mako: links in the show notes below. So anyone who's listening on can just click the links below and check it out. 202 00:18:03,540 --> 00:18:08,740 Kevin Mako: Collin, thanks again for all your words of wisdom on selling products to wholesale buyers. 203 00:18:08,940 --> 00:18:11,100 Kevin Mako: Appreciate your time. Thanks for having me. Thanks. Take care. 204 00:18:11,600 --> 00:18:17,120 Kevin Mako: Thanks for tuning in to this episode of the Product Startup Podcast. If you found some value in the show, 205 00:18:17,380 --> 00:18:22,160 Kevin Mako: please do us a huge favor and hit the like button and subscribe. If you have any questions, 206 00:18:22,360 --> 00:18:26,980 Kevin Mako: guest suggestions, or anything else, feel free to reach out to us anytime at our email, 207 00:18:27,300 --> 00:18:33,520 Kevin Mako: podcast at MakoDesign.com. This show is hosted by Kevin Mako, North America's leading 208 00:18:33,540 --> 00:18:38,960 Kevin Mako: expert on product development for hardware startups. And the podcast is produced by Mako Design, 209 00:18:39,160 --> 00:18:43,440 Kevin Mako: the original firm providing end-to-end consumer product development services tailored 210 00:18:43,440 --> 00:18:48,620 Kevin Mako: specifically to hardware startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Take your product from 211 00:18:48,620 --> 00:18:57,240 Kevin Mako: idea to store shelves at MakoDesign.com. That's M-A-K-O-Design.com. Thanks for joining and see you again soon.