Small companies learn to land big deals
By Joyce M. Rosenberg
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Jewelry maker Melissa Joy Manning remembers that awful first trip to New York, when she carried her hand-crafted bracelets, necklaces and rings from one retailer to another.
Associated Press
"I left in tears. None of the stores would see me," she said.
It took Melissa Joy Manning two years to get her handmade sterling silver jewelry into high-end stores such as Henri Bendel's. She worked on cultivating relationships with buyers and getting herself known.
Four years later, Manning's jewelry is featured at Henri Bendel's on Fifth Avenue and other high-end merchants. Her success wasn't a miracle; it was the result of perseverance and making contacts — a prescription many small business owners follow when they try to land a deal with a big company.
It took Manning, who lives and works in the San Francisco area, two years to get into stores like Bendel's, which she cracked after building a relationship with a buyer. She spent time visiting merchants and going to trade shows, getting herself and her jewelry known.
Landing an account at a big company such as Macy's, IBM or American Airlines might seem like the impossible for a small business. But many entrepreneurs find that a little aggressiveness and the quality known as "sticktoitiveness" can make that big deal doable.
Keith Alper, who founded Creative Producers Group Inc., a St. Louis-based corporate communications firm, has won contracts with companies including Ernst & Young and American Airlines. He says the climate is excellent for small firms to do business with big companies.
"They get better service and better pricing and they're usually dealing with the owner," he said. "Ten years ago, if I were to call on a big client, they didn't want to do business with small companies."
Many business owners don't know whom to approach at a big firm. Alper's suggestion is, "Try to find an inside 'coach' in the company. You can do this by cold-calling." Or you can choose an executive from the company's Web site.
"People like to develop relationships," Alper said. "Once they've developed some trust, you can ask for coaching ... and they'll start giving you some names."
But before you make that call, be sure your company's products or services fit your prospective customer's needs.
"Find the most ideal account for you," said John Sheaffer, CEO of Sysix Technologies, an information technology firm based near Chicago that has done business with the bank ABN AMRO North America. "Know everything that your company does and be sure you can try to apply it" to the big firm.
That means doing some research about the customer — finding an insider to help you is one way. But researching a company can also be quite simple — Dave Lakhani, vice president of Los Angeles-based VersaPOS, a software provider to retailers, says employees of his firm have found potential customers just by visiting stores and seeing outdated equipment in use.
A combination of aggressiveness and patience is also needed.
Dan Gould, president of Synergy Investment, a lighting and energy efficiency consultancy based in Westborough, Mass., said he walked into a Bed, Bath and Beyond store in Chicago, and asked the manager for a contact at the chain's headquarters. "Every few months I kept trying, and finally the timing was right," he said.
Many, if not most, small business owners started their companies after working for someone else. Contacts from the past can help land accounts at big firms — and so can new contacts made through networking.
Peter Murane, president of BrandJuice, a Denver marketing consultant, won a deal with Verizon after getting in touch with someone he'd done business with at GTE a few years back, when Murane worked for another consulting firm. His acquaintance went to work for Verizon after the telecom company bought GTE.
"I knew this guy, but hadn't talked to him for some time. So I called him and said, 'I've started my own company,' " Murane said.
His contact helped Murane, who said he started out with a couple of small projects. Then, "all of a sudden I had exposure to the top 10 markets in the company," he said.
Rebecca Collins, who runs a pet portrait company called Artpaw in Dallas, has found trade shows to be a great way to network. But one of her biggest successes, getting into the Horchow's catalog, happened after she hired an artists' representative, someone who helps artists sell their work to retailers.
Collins said she found the rep while doing charity work in her efforts to get her work known. "Nothing beats networking," she said.
Many entrepreneurs will also tell you to keep trying — even what seems like a fruitless attempt right now might pay off in the future.
Tom Drews, who owned a San Francisco-based sportswear company called Active Stick Wear, said he was turned down 10 times by Macy's. When he finally went to collect his samples, he made a last-ditch effort, asking another buyer at the store to look at his merchandise. It worked.
