How I convinced the big retailers to buy my product

Chris O’Brien came up with the idea for a machine that compacts polystyrene after he worked in an electronics store and viewed countless trucks taking bundles of the stuff away. Soon, he started Hungry Giant and began selling the machine to anyone he could.

It wasn’t an easy start, with just $300 in start up capital. But by targetting larger retailers straight away, O’Brien was able to grow his business quickly. In 2008-09 he recorded $350,000 in revenue, and since then has recorded monthly growth of 18%.

O’Brien says his turning point was simply showing up to these retailers and pitching his idea, and warns small businesses they can’t afford to be timid.

How have things gone over the past year?

We have boomed. We’ve invested heavily in marketing and getting our name out there, and won a couple of awards which we always follow up with marketing, and that strategy has proven successful. We are in the early stages of developing a recycling plant, we are expanding with more staff, have no debt, and are in a pretty strong position given the state of the economy. We’re going at a month-to-month rate of 18%.

You originally targeted the larger retailers first. Why?

Firstly, I saw the opportunity in the bulky goods retailers, the Good Guys and Harvey Norman especially. The machine I constructed was purely to compact polystyrene, and of course with that product I immediately thought of these kinds of retailers.

At first I think I did quite well moving into that market, and from that I’ve moved into the manufacturing industry, the education industry has moved up as a buyer, they’re buying lots of equipment, and we’ve really diversified the business. I’m selling to everyone, collection centres, SMEs.

But why those bigger retailers specifically? What was the rationale there?

It was the credibility. People know who the Good Guys are, people know who Harvey Norman are, and although we haven’t supplied to all of those stores in a particular chain, back in the day it certainly would have given us a boost. It was a good jumping point, a stepping stone.

We also had perception issues with our first product. It was slow and inefficient. I do believe we have a great product and a great range of services, but back in those early days, it was good to get our name out there straight away.

The big question is, how did you convince them when you were just starting out?

Well me being me, it wasn’t anything that was well prepared and planned. I just got out there and did it, and I doorknocked. There was no retail corporate strategy behind it, I was undercapitalised, and started with nothing.

The first customer I spoke to was at the Good Guys at Chatswood. I will remember it vividly forever. He barely looked up at me and I just got started talking and didn’t even give him the chance to say no. I just talked about it and pitched it to him straight away. He ended up saying that he wouldn’t buy it, but that he would give it a trial, and within a month or two that was my first bit of revenue.

Is it as simple as going up to these targets and pitching your idea straight away?

I really do think it is that simple, because at the end of the day, whether you’re a business owner or sales person, it’s just about going out there and selling your product, and when you’re starting off why not go straight to the source. You want to give them something they want. I think the days of cheesy salespeople are gone, you need to be upfront and direct and if you do it sincerely then you’ll do okay.

As you’ve grown as a business, has that process changed?

It’s always hard, but in hindsight I think I’ve gotten better at what I do as I get older. The lesson I’ve learned is seriously, always be genuine. It’s not about the fact that everyone needs your product, although you think that because you’re a biased business owner, but not everyone needs your product. And you have to be okay with that.

A potential buyer not taking your product isn’t a failure, it just means they may not need it. I do things differently now, because I think the more I try to make sales the more I look like a try-hard. People pick up on that desperation and it repels them.

Have you developed a process of selling now, or does it depend on the client?

Obviously, yes, there is a sales process purely by default of what you’re doing. You do need to emphasise the benefits of your product, but I also think it’s really important that you do need to listen, particularly because you have a limited time with certain people. Over time I have learned that it’s more about listening to someone’s needs, rather than you trying to flog a solution that they aren’t interested in, in the first place.

Any advice for those businesses having trouble pitching their idea to a bigger client?

Be cool, calm and collected. Be professional about finding out the needs of a client and then do a decent bit of analysis of what they actually need. Because if you can provide it, then they are going to be far, far more receptive, and you won’t be wasting your time.