You’ve added a batch of products to the line, and the next rep training gets a few more slides. Each product has features worth explaining. By the end, everyone has seen the whole collection. Whether they know what to lead with in their next buyer meeting is another question.
That gets harder when an independent rep carries several brands. Your product team lives with your line every day. Your reps have to find room for it alongside everything else they’re selling.
We talked about that with Nellie Stephenson, Chief Operating Officer, and Chris Vonderhaar, Director of Sales, at Matador Equipment on Between the Drops. The team estimated that its SKU count had tripled in two years, with products ranging from $15 to $20 accessories to travel packs around $300. That’s a lot of ground to cover in a training session.
Matador’s approach starts with helping reps understand which parts of the line make sense for which retailers. Product details become much easier to put to work when a rep knows why they’re recommending something in the first place.
A buyer at a luggage shop needs a recommendation that makes sense for the customers walking through that shop. Matador made the point that an outdoor store could carry the same brand and need a different conversation. Training has to help reps recognize that before they open the catalog.
Chris described this as understanding the architecture of the assortment. Grouping products by use case and the types of stores they suit gives a rep a starting point:
“It’s sort of helping our network understand how that breaks up, what products work for what types of retailers, what are the use cases? And then talking not just at that SKU-by-SKU level, but in these kind of groupings or categories, right?”
That changes what a rep needs to learn first. They need to understand why a group of products belongs in a particular kind of store and what need it serves for that store’s customers. Then they can work through the differences between individual items and adjust the selection with the buyer.
For your own training, explain the reasoning behind the assortment you’d suggest to an account. Include what you’d leave out and why. A rep can reuse that reasoning when they meet a similar retailer, while still making room for what the buyer knows about their business.
The specifications still matter. Knowing which fabric a bag uses is more useful when the rep can connect it to the kind of travel that retailer’s customers are planning. Give the details a place in the sales conversation.
One of the best lines from the episode came when Chris talked about helping people get familiar with the products:
“Most of our products, the story is told better in 15 seconds holding the thing than staring at a spreadsheet or whatever online for an hour.”
Matador wants its reps and distributors traveling with its bags and accessories. The team also talked about getting products, like its soap bar case, into the hands of retail floor staff. Using the product gives them a personal story to draw on when a customer asks about it.
That’s a useful distinction for your next training. A rep who has packed a bag for a trip can talk about how it worked, what they kept within reach, and which features they used. Those are details a buyer can picture explaining to a customer.
Where firsthand use matters, build it into the training. Have reps pack the bag, try the fit, or use the accessory for the job it was designed to do. Ask them what they noticed and what they’d want to show a buyer. That also gives you a chance to catch misunderstandings before they make their way into a sales meeting.
Keep accurate technical information close at hand. Personal experience makes the explanation more specific, and the specifications make sure it holds up when the buyer asks a detailed question.
Even a rep who knows the line well will need to check a detail. The buyer might ask about a material, a size, or the difference between two similar products. Make it easy to get the right answer while the conversation is still moving.
In the episode, this came up during the discussion about educating retail staff. Matador described the value of getting a rep in front of store employees, while acknowledging how hard it is to do that everywhere, every season. Its B2B gives retailers access to photos and training videos between those visits. The team also pointed out that people need reminders that those resources are there.
The same lesson applies to your reps. Use your B2B to keep product information easy to find after the training ends. Organize short assortment guides alongside individual product details and demonstrations, so a rep can go from choosing what to present to checking a specific feature.
When a new product launches, explain where it fits and link directly to its supporting material. If it replaces an existing item, make the changes clear and update the older resources. Reps should be able to trust that what they’re looking at is current.
During training, show them where to find an answer. A useful resource needs to be familiar enough that a rep remembers to open it when a buyer asks.
Before you plan another product walkthrough, choose two different accounts you already work with and ask a rep to prepare a recommendation for each. Let them use the same materials they’d have before a real meeting.
Ask which products they’d lead with and why. Have them demonstrate one product, then ask a detailed question that requires them to look something up.
Pay attention to where they get stuck. A rep who recommends the same products to every account may need help understanding retailer fit. A vague demonstration points to a need for more time with the product. Difficulty finding an answer tells you to revisit your supporting materials.
Build the next training around the gap you actually found, then have the rep try again. Before you add more slides, make sure they can turn what you’ve already taught them into a recommendation they’d be comfortable putting in front of a buyer.
Lisent to the entire epsiode Between the drops here, or on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.