Help needed with new product we ship

bigcatman

Hi everyone,
After all the help I received from the merchant account problem, I thought I would throw another spanner in the works as it where
My company, has the exclusive distribution rights to a microphone and audio gear sanitiser deodoriser and cleaning product that kills 99.9% of germs which is from the USA.
The problem I have is trying to get it into schools etc.
I've contacted the local council and they have advised my to go to the procurement department and register the product there, the only problem with this however is that that I'm the only one shipping it to the UK, so they don't know it exists.
I've managed to get a large e-shot together and sent that over a month ago and I've had nothing back from that.
I would of assumed that health and hygiene would be high priority to schools, but it looks as though they aren't interested in a product that will assist them.
Can anyone out there offer any advise as to what I can do to start getting awareness of this product where it's most needed?

Many thanks

COOLTRIKERCHICK

when you are trying to sell a product, the buyers are not going to come to you, you have got to go to the buyers, and YOU have got to get the product known over here....

you will need to work hard over the next year or so, just bbecause you might have some stumbling bocks in the way, just keep going.

if it was me with a new product( and it was a genune one, with certificates and tests to prove its strength etc)

Find out if there is an industry magazine/newsletter and do a promotion in there, or at least send some information over to the editior, so maybe they could do a write up for you.

Trade shows.... check out the NEC and see if there is trade shows which your product would fit in, and hten contact the organisers, and find out hte price of a pitch etc...this isnt going to be cheap, but if you firmly believe in the product, and want to start getting the name out there, this isnt going to come cheap.

individual businesses.

tele-sales companies

nursing homes


good luck... but as i say its up to you to push the product

paulwf

The problem may simply be that schools barely have enough money for routine equipment, buying microphone sanitiser is probably always going to be down their list of priorities however effective it is. It might also be the case that in the real world they simply wouldn't use it...are the teachers going to spray and wipe down every piece of equipment after use?

Another thought is they have managed perfectly well without it up to now so why change? Suppliers stockpiled sanitising telephone wipes and keyboard sprays when swine flu hit but I don't think I've ever seen these products used!

With your marketing have you used the old "features and benefits" adage? What you list in your post are features (kills 99.9% of germs) but you don't list any benefits (e.g. cuts down sore throats by 50% or something like that). Get your marketing strategy checked by some professionals...or perhaps just post it here

My thinking (and I'm not in the industry so take with a pinch of salt!) is you would be better off concentrating on recording studios that have the money for your product and have equipment they take care of. It would be very important that a recording artist doesn't get ill so they'd pay to prevent that. Have you tried marketing to the professional audio crowd at all?

I agree with cooltrikerchick you need to be doing newsletters, trade shows, making phone calls, visits in person, have a website...I would imagine a procurement department would get a dozen similar emails a day so that on its own is nowhere near enough.

DKLS

Getting into the education market is quite an art, when I used to do mailshots to schools, My MD would consider a 2% hit rate as good. Schools get bombarded with sales bumf and the bulk of it is binned.

Horace

You are not going to get your product into schools or colleges without registering it with the procurement dept of the council - that is a fact.
The council would also need to test the product to make sure that it is safe to use as it may contain chemicals that are not licensed for use in this country.

There are other sanitisers out there so because you have sole distribution rights to this stuff from the USA doesnt mean to say that there isnt anything already on the market that competes. I think you need to do your research a bit more and then contact the procurement dept because you will not get on the list otherwise.

As this sanitiser is for microphones - try contacting the radio stations, music shops etc - customers won't come to you, you need to go to them.

bigcatman

Horace wrote: »

You are not going to get your product into schools or colleges without registering it with the procurement dept of the council - that is a fact.
The council would also need to test the product to make sure that it is safe to use as it may contain chemicals that are not licensed for use in this country.

There are other sanitisers out there so because you have sole distribution rights to this stuff from the USA doesnt mean to say that there isnt anything already on the market that competes. I think you need to do your research a bit more and then contact the procurement dept because you will not get on the list otherwise.

As this sanitiser is for microphones - try contacting the radio stations, music shops etc - customers won't come to you, you need to go to them.

Horace, as I said in the first instance, it's a chicken and egg situation, we are already registered with a large number of councils in the UK, but how do they know this stuff exists if we can't get the councils to look at it first?
As regards other products on the market, yes there are quite a few, but the product I import is unique in a number of ways, plus this product can also be used to clean and sanitise equipment as well.
With regards cost to usage ratio, the product I ship is far better than anything else due to the initial cost and the amount of times the product can be used.
You also mention contacting radio stations etc.
This is what I have been doing for the past four months, but once again, companies don't want it, because they have never heard of it.
As regards safety regulations with the UK, the company in the US have all the paperwork from the EPA, including MSDS information which according to the relevant government departments in the UK this is good enough for the product to be sold in the UK.

If anyone else has any further ideas, I would love to here from you.

Many thanks to the people who have already supplied information.

COOLTRIKERCHICK

bigcatman wrote: »

Horace, as I said in the first instance, it's a chicken and egg situation, we are already registered with a large number of councils in the UK, but how do they know this stuff exists if we can't get the councils to look at it first?
As regards other products on the market, yes there are quite a few, but the product I import is unique in a number of ways, plus this product can also be used to clean and sanitise equipment as well.
With regards cost to usage ratio, the product I ship is far better than anything else due to the initial cost and the amount of times the product can be used.
You also mention contacting radio stations etc.
This is what I have been doing for the past four months, but once again, companies don't want it, because they have never heard of it.
As regards safety regulations with the UK, the company in the US have all the paperwork from the EPA, including MSDS information which according to the relevant government departments in the UK this is good enough for the product to be sold in the UK.

If anyone else has any further ideas, I would love to here from you.

Many thanks to the people who have already supplied information.

its looks as though you are covering all basis, coucils are a hard department to break, i have been trying for nearly 3 years, and htis is to buy a by-product from them, not to try and sell to them...lol..

now you got to look at it at a diff agngle, and i am going to brutal here, so dont take it personally.

with any new product in the country people are going to be cautious, as its only the rep ( you) telling them how good it is,

you say its trails are good enough for the product to sold in this country... it did sound the way you put it, its 'just' good enough, didnt pass with flying colours.

If the product is soooooooooo good, why havent a big importer/seller of cleaning/cleansing products get the sole importing rights...

maybe its your selling technique that is letting you down, do you smoke, and if you are having a fag in the car, or just before you go and meet people, the smell of smoke is on your clothes, this can be extremely off putting, i smoke, and it annoys me when a rep calls to me and i can smell stale smoke on his clothes.

Also maybe you are selling/pushing the product too much, hoping the longer you talk about the product the more you will get a sale.... if truth be known its the opposite... the quicker and more streamline you are about the product information, the more people will be interested.....I know i am, if some one take longer than a couple of minutes to explain about a product, i loose interest, and even if its the best product in the world, i wouldnt buy it....also its the first couple of words/centnces that come out of hte rep's mouth and will capture the interest of the prudct... and will lead to a sale...

Also.... my hubby is in a very successfull local band... and as a whole, ground level musicians do not use things like this...

Thinking about it, i personally think you have a limited market for this product...and as i say if it was that good, why hasnt the producer tried selling it in this country, or why hasnt one of the big boys got the sole import rights ..? maybe they could see there was not enough of a market in the uk for it....

good luck..... hope you havent tied up to much of your money

paulwf

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

Thinking about it, i personally think you have a limited market for this product...and as i say if it was that good, why hasnt the producer tried selling it in this country, or why hasnt one of the big boys got the sole import rights ..? maybe they could see there was not enough of a market in the uk for it....

I agree, it sounds like one of those products that you would just add a bottle of on to an order from Staples or Viking or whatever the audio equivalent is...not something you would order in specially and not something to base a complete business on.

A product may be good on paper but that doesn't mean there is a market for it. Sorry.

patman99

Do you sell other products?, do you have a web site?.
I was listening to a chap on local radio who was talking about the power of Twiiter as a business tool.He reckons a start-up company can generate a large part of their income by spending 20 minutes a day Tweeting hints and tips about their products.
Be warned however, Twitter is a powerful medium, get it wrong and you can end-up spending a lot of time tweeting apologetic grovelling messages and trying to rebuild your brand. Eurostar made the fatal error of ignoring Twitter. It took then 24 hours to get round to tweeting about the failure of their trains (unlike their stranded customers who started tweeting about the break-downs within an hour).

james2005

bigcatman wrote: »

Hi everyone,
After all the help I received from the merchant account problem, I thought I would throw another spanner in the works as it where
My company, has the exclusive distribution rights to a microphone and audio gear sanitiser deodoriser and cleaning product that kills 99.9% of germs which is from the USA.
The problem I have is trying to get it into schools etc.
I've contacted the local council and they have advised my to go to the procurement department and register the product there, the only problem with this however is that that I'm the only one shipping it to the UK, so they don't know it exists.
I've managed to get a large e-shot together and sent that over a month ago and I've had nothing back from that.
I would of assumed that health and hygiene would be high priority to schools, but it looks as though they aren't interested in a product that will assist them.
Can anyone out there offer any advise as to what I can do to start getting awareness of this product where it's most needed?

Many thanks

I have experience in selling into schools both local authority and independents and not forgetting colleges, I have previously promoted VOIP Phone systems and outside " fresh air" classrooms and also cost reduction services, you dont need always need to go through local authority procurement.

You would be suprised that schools can cough up £20k plus for a phone system and then £5-£8 k for a outside fresh air classroom.

Telemarketing is the way forward, only send information once there is an actual interest and then agree a day and time with the prospect to speak further.

The best way forward is to make an appointment to drop in and see them and show them your product.

If you need any more advice I would be happy to help.

Slinky

Outside fresh-air classroom? Is that what was called 'the playground' or 'the field' in my day?