Recently, we decided to be active on social media and updated Facebook cover photo. A subscriber from Mangaluru commented saying your product is not available anywhere here. Fact is it is available at many outlets at Mangaluru. But he has a valid point, that it is not available at many shops where he has tried out. I replied saying that we are working hard to place the products at as many shops as possible. How is it such a hard work to place the products? Because of objections by retailers. Retailers have limited shelf space, inventory budget and no intention to promote any product. So, they will only sell those brands that are fast moving. Here are the common ways in which they object to our salesman when he tries to sell.

• No response – This is common when you are not interested in what the salesman is offering
• No consumer demand – retailers will take the pain to stock a brand only that has consumer demand
• Price is high – He needs to earn a decent margin and yet compete with other retailers
• Low margin or MRP – He wants MRP to be printed higher so that he can offer a significant discount to consumer and yet earn decent margin
• Credit – Retailers are habituated to purchasing on credit from local distributors and will object to anyone with cash and carry terms
• Oil is yellow/not pure – His imagination of pure coconut oil is one that is extracted from Ghani/Chekku and is clear white, anything different is considered not pure
• New brand – He is not interested in selling new brands because he is not sure about consistent supply and he has to work hard to promote It to consumers
• Dictating terms – He is already getting the product from another source. Here he would like to exploit a new supplier by dictating terms like discount and credit

These are some of the common objections which may be presented in different ways. It is up to the salesman to answer these objections skilfully to earn a sale. In the coming posts, we will answer these objections.