Wholesale Buyer Sales Call Checklist

Visit the buyer's website, Faire shop, or physical store IG. Note their current price points, brand mix, and any white-space categories. A buyer can tell within 30 seconds whether you've actually looked at their store — leading with their assortment is the difference between a meeting and a brush-off.

Check prior emails, sample requests, abandoned line sheets, and any past orders. If they sampled six months ago and didn't open a PO, you need a hypothesis for why before the call — sizing, margins, MOQ, or timing.

Trim the master line sheet to 8–12 hero SKUs that fit this buyer's price band and category. Include wholesale cost, MSRP, MAP, case pack, MOQ, and lead time. Faire-style buyers expect keystone (50% off MSRP) — confirm the math holds before sending.

Test camera, mic, and screen share. Have the line sheet open in a tab and a backup phone-hotspot ready. If you plan to walk through Shopify or your B2B portal, log in ahead of time so you're not fumbling with 2FA on the call.

Skip the company-history slide. Lead with one observation about their assortment and one hypothesis about where you fit ("I noticed you carry X but nothing in the $32–48 ceramic band — that's our hero range"). Earns the next ten minutes.

Ask their typical opening order size, reorder cadence, and lead-time tolerance. A boutique that orders $400 per quarter is a Faire account, not a direct-wholesale account — qualify before quoting terms.

Three to five SKUs maximum. Talk sell-through, not features — "this SKU does 2.4 turns/quarter at our top 30 accounts." Show one piece of UGC or a retailer-display photo if you have it.

State MAP policy plainly — most boutiques will appreciate the price-protection. Cover freight (FOB origin vs. prepaid-and-add), payment terms (Net 30 with credit check, or card-on-file), and your damage / shortage policy. Vague terms create disputes after the PO.

Notes go in within the same day, while the conversation is fresh. Tag pain points, stated MOQ, and competitive brands they mentioned — these inform retargeting copy and the next conversation.

Within 24 hours: thank-you, three-bullet recap of agreed next steps, line sheet attached, and a one-click calendar link if a follow-up is needed. Recap emails sent same-day close at materially higher rates than emails sent on day 3+.

Move the deal to the correct pipeline stage and set a realistic close date. Stages tracked elsewhere ("considering") that don't match the CRM rot the forecast — be honest, even when honest means moving it back to nurture.

Open a sample-shipment ticket with SKUs, ship-to, and a deadline for the buyer's evaluation window. Free samples that arrive three weeks late kill deals — agree on a turnaround SLA with ops before promising a date.

Send wholesale agreement, credit-app form (if Net 30), and a draft PO worksheet. Set a 30-minute call to walk through terms — verbal yeses go cold fast if the paperwork lags by a week.