Sometimes the Best Wholesale Decision Is Turning Down a Sale

A new email hits your sales inbox from someone who wants to carry your products, and they’re talking about a pretty big opening order. You’d love more emails like that. But before you get things moving, you need to know how they plan to sell those products. If they’re going to list them online and undercut your existing retailers, that order comes with some baggage. Now you’re weighing new revenue against the relationships you’ve spent years building, and saying yes starts to feel a little less obvious.

It’s a situation that Matador Equipment has found themselves in more than once. In the latest episode of Between the Drops, we sat down with Chris Vonderhaar, Director of Sales and Nellie Stephenson, Chief Operating Officer, who told us they hear from third-party resellers all the time. And plenty of those conversations end with a no. They want to know what happens after the order ships. If a reseller’s plans could hurt the stores already carrying Matador, a big opening order doesn’t make that problem go away.

When a sale could undermine existing retailers’ ability to compete, passing on it can help protect the business you want those partners to keep building with your brand.

That Big Order Could Cost You

Chris doesn’t pretend these orders are easy to turn down. He wants to grow sales and get Matador into more hands:

“I want that revenue. I want the sales. I want us to spread the net as wide as possible and be everywhere, right? But we have to remember the long-term brand strategy and protect not just the brand but also our existing retailers.”

A big opening order tells you what an account wants to buy. It tells you very little about how they plan to sell it. A reseller might introduce your products to customers you haven’t reached before. Or they might list those products on the same marketplaces as your existing retailers and compete mainly on price. In that case, some of what looks like new business could come at the expense of a partner you already have.

Before opening the account, ask where they plan to sell and look at how they handle the other brands they carry. Do they reach customers your current retailers don’t? Do they rely on heavy discounting to move product? If their whole approach depends on being the cheapest listing, that’s a conversation to have before your products leave the warehouse.

Your Retailers Have Other Options

Earlier in the episode, we talked about the work that goes into helping store staff understand Matador’s products. A good store employee can walk a customer through a travel pack and point out features they’d probably miss shopping online. That knowledge takes time to build, and the retailer is already putting money into inventory and giving your brand space on the shelf.

It’s a frustrating position to be in when that same customer finds the product cheaper online. The store has done the work to help sell it, but now it has to choose between losing the sale and taking a smaller margin to keep it. If that becomes a regular occurrence, carrying your brand starts to look like a lot of work for very little return.

That’s the risk Chris sees in chasing wider distribution without thinking through the consequences:

“I can sell our product and put it all over the internet and get it in everybody’s hands, all these third-party marketplaces and stuff. But if I’m not protecting the price primarily, then it just becomes this race to the bottom, and everybody loses.”

When the next buying season comes around, that retailer has choices. They might order less from you or give another brand more space. They have to make the numbers work, too.

Being selective about new accounts gives your existing retailers a better chance to make money selling your products. And when carrying your brand is good business for them, they have a reason to keep ordering.

Don’t Undercut Your Own Retailers

It’s hard to tell retailers you’re looking out for them when they can pull up your own website and find the same product for less. Imagine being the sales rep walking into that conversation.

Matador gives Chris a much better conversation to have. In the episode, the team described offering a limited selection on Amazon and deliberately pricing those products higher than they cost in retail stores. Chris clearly enjoys being able to point that out:

“It’s fun to go to my brick and mortar retail partners and say, hey, our stuff, if it’s on Amazon, it’s more expensive on Amazon than it’s gonna be in your store.”

The team also explained why they don’t simply stay off Amazon: leaving that space open creates an opportunity for another seller to step in. Their approach lets customers buy there if they want to, while giving them a reason to choose a retailer on price.

That’s a commitment a store can check for itself. When Chris talks about supporting retail partners, he can point to a decision Matador has made about its own business.

Your approach might look different. But before your next online promotion goes live, consider the retailer that just bought inventory from you. Will they have a fair chance to sell it, or will they be explaining why the brand’s own website is cheaper? Those decisions give retailers a pretty clear picture of where they stand.

Set the Rules Before the Next Big Offer

Turning down revenue is a lot easier in a blog post than it is when you’ve got inventory to move and bills to pay. We talked about that in the episode, too. Some opportunities deserve a closer look, even when they fall outside the kinds of accounts you usually work with.

But your sales team shouldn’t have to figure out the brand’s position every time one of those offers lands in the inbox. And the answer shouldn’t depend entirely on how badly you need the order that month.

This week, get sales, operations, and finance together and walk through a real account you’re considering. Where will they sell your products? What business could they bring you that you aren’t already reaching? Which existing retailers could be affected? Use that conversation to agree on what makes an account a good fit, what would make you pass, and who needs to weigh in when an exception is worth considering.

Put those decisions on one page and make reviewing them part of opening a new account. Give your team something they can actually use when a tempting order comes along.

Before you say yes to the next big sale, make the case for why you want that account beyond its first order.

Listen to the entire episode of Between The Drops here!