Getting A Foot In The Door

When recalling a plaything that made a name for itself at the time—like Tickle Me Elmo and Cabbage Patch Kids, to note a few recent entrees—people often tell of the surrounding media hype, the shoppers who waited in line for hours (even overnight) and the kids who carried the toys around as though they were made of gold.

What's often left out of the story is how those toys got there in the first place. No, we're not talking about the manufacturing or production process, but rather the people who help get product onto the store shelves and inevitably, into consumers' hands: the toy reps themselves.

It's no secret that manufacturers' reps play a vital role in the toy business and will continue in the future. But as competition between retailers becomes increasingly stiff, these professionals find that they must rely on their own tricks of the trade to drive sales now more than ever.

For toys to earn that space on end caps and shelves at big boxes is no easy feat for reps. Sometimes, just getting an appointment is a victory in and of itself, since some of these powerhouses may not want to work with an independent source. According to one East Coast sales rep, “Places like Wal-Mart often insist on dealing with a top executive from each of the toy companies.”

But for those salespeople who are able to develop and secure relationships with mass buyers, they must make a point of getting to know the industry like the back of their hand, what selling techniques work and how to tweak them according to their customer.

Take Wayne Greenstein, for instance. A seasoned veteran in the toy and juvenile business, he has more than 30 years of experience—and not just as a rep. For more than 20 years, Greenstein was a retailer himself, running the juvenile-products store Coronet in Westbury, N.Y.

Eight years ago, Greenstein moved to the other side of the business and began serving as an independent rep, focusing on infant/preschool toys and games. Today, he covers the New York/New Jersey territories with accounts like Babies “R” Us, Toys “R” Us, Buy Buy Baby, Burlington Coat Factory and Bed, Bath & Beyond.

When calling upon mass retailers, Greenstein says it can take him anywhere from one to six telephone calls to get an appointment, with the meetings themselves lasting anywhere from 15 minutes to one hour. “When I go alone, I usually will show more than one line,” he tells Playthings.

However, if a vendor accompanies Greenstein to a meeting with a mass buyer, he will adjust his agenda. “I feel the vendor is making an effort, many times traveling a distance to my territory, and is entitled to an exclusive appointment with that account,” he says.

Because Greenstein is an industry veteran, he's been able to observe whether mass buyers have a “revolving door.”

“I find that if a buyer is good, they tend to stay at their company for a while,” says Greenstein. However, he notes that the categories they purchase tend to change. “That's why it helps to be a diversified rep with different types of products. Many times, good buyers go up the corporate ladder. That also helps you build relationships throughout the company,” Greenstein advises.

Maintaining those relationships is important to sustaining his business, especially in the mass sector. As compared with specialty—which he dubs “instant gratification” since the store owner usually makes all of the buying decisions on the spot—Greenstein says it can take at least six months or more to get an order after presenting a line to a mass marketer. “To add a product, they usually have to drop [another] one and clear it out chain-wide,” he explains.

Multiple visits are often necessary with mass outlets, as final decisions typically need to be approved by buyers' supervisors. But this may pay for itself, says Greenstein, as the volume of the sale is much larger than it is with specialty stores.

He adds that opportunities with mass retailers are now “bigger than ever, but it takes a lot of old fashioned 'roll up your sleeves' work to succeed.”

Les Friedland knows all about old-fashioned hard work. A toy rep since 1978, he set up his own company—Les Friedland Associates Ltd.—in 1982 and has been handling a diverse number of accounts and territories ever since. His customers hail from Maine to Virginia (and west), to upstate New York and include mass toy outlets like Kay Bee and Toys “R” Us. Because his firm also specializes in sporting goods, other retail accounts include Dick's Sporting Goods and Boater World.

Friedland says he doesn't have a lot of trouble securing appointments with buyers unless they are under the gun with another project. An average meeting can last anywhere from 20 minutes to three hours, depending on whether or not he is showing new programs. “I have found that with an appointment over two to three hours, you start to lose the buyers and the meeting starts to go downhill fast,” he tells Playthings.

When on sales calls, Friedland says he may work all the lines in the particular category he is pitching. However, he is careful to allot equal time for each manufacturer. “I try not to sell more than three lines at one meeting,” he adds.

Like Greenstein, he does not see a tremendous turnover with mass buyers, so he is usually able to cement a strong relationship with his customers from the get-go. Once that relationship is made, Friedland prides himself on sticking with it through thick and thin.

“We have a company policy that if you put an item on a customer's shelf, you must be there for the good times as well as the bad. Not everything sells the way we all hope it will,” he says.

Perhaps fostering that kind of work ethic enables Friedland to tackle the challenge of working with new vendors. Today, he notes, it is often the rep's job to line up the details of an order, including working with factories. He says it helps to assume the burden of that added paperwork because it's not something the buyer wants to deal with.

Like Les Friedland, T.O. Epps entered the manufacturers' toy rep business in 1978. But it wasn't until almost one decade later that he entered a new phase of his career, garnering a new kind of mass market client altogether.

In 1987, a close friend of Epps, who was handling electrical work for QVC's new corporate headquarters in West Chester, Pa.—just four miles from Epps' home—took him to see the company. “It was a dream come true,” he recalls. “We now had a resource for innovative products with the muscle of TV to tell the story and spread the word.”

Epps' firm began working with QVC that January, but it wasn't until 1996 that they decided to make it an exclusive arrangement. As a result, the company outsourced its other customer accounts and concentrated its effort on this new solo gig.

Epps explains how QVC's presence in approximately 85 million U.S. homes helps drive business to other mass toy retailers. “With that kind of household penetration, many more people are watching than buying,” he explains. “If they don't normally shop at QVC, or if they happen to be going to another retailer, it only makes sense that they will look for the TV products where it is most convenient.”

And while Epps is technically not vying for shelf space—but rather air time—he says it all comes down to productivity. “When a product or category is successful, more air time is allotted,” he explains.

Because selling for QVC is neither mass nor specialty-oriented per se, this business presents a unique set of challenges. “There are difficulties in selling electronic retailers…but there are some basic features we look for when searching out new products,” Epps tells Playthings. These include: fun factor, whether or not it is highly demonstrable, ease of use, non gender-specific, a “wow” factor that will translate on air and value.

These days, Epps finds that selling new accounts rests heavily upon a solid foundation of trust between the rep and buyer. However, because time has become such a precious commodity, he says it is essential that reps do their homework, and come armed with a sales pitch that is informative, yet succinct.

“It is much more about the content of your presentation than ever before,” he says. “You must make your point clearly and quickly and understand their business fully, so no one's time is wasted.”