SAN ANTONIO -- How can supplier best sell their products to Valero Energy? Do more research than you think you need to, according to a report in Inc. magazine.
The magazine talked with Hal Adams, vice president for retail merchandising, to get some tips on getting products into the chain's 1,000-plus convenience stores.
"We operate in 22 different market areas, so we have to be aligned with and attuned to regional offerings that may not be coming from large manufacturers," Adams said. "A lot of times, we are dealing with a mom-and-pop operator that is only [image-nocss] selling in, say, San Antonio. But smaller suppliers should know that we have to hold them to the same minimum standards as we do the large corporations."
Those standards include "a minimum amount of liability insurance that any product has to carry" in case something goes wrong. A supplier must be able to meet those minimum requirements, which Adams said are available on the company Web site.
"When you come face to face with one of our buyers, it's usually a one-chance deal," he said, "so it adds some credibility when you've invested some time in researching Valero and learning what role you might play in it."
Adams admitted small, local suppliers are unlikely to "make it into our locations first." Usually, he told the magazine, a regional manufacturer will have to have done some footwork in smaller stores or chains as a test.
"If you believe in your product, get it into some smaller retailers and get some real-life market data," he said. "Sometimes that might even mean giving a retailer your product for free to see if it moves. In turn, you can then ask that retailer to give you the sales dataand use it as part of your sales pitch."
Adams also offered some things a supplier shouldn't do.
"Don't be overly aggressive with your sales budget. Entrepreneurs are very passionate. That's wonderful, but that passion sometimes leads them to be unrealistic," he told the magazine. "A potential supplier should be reasonable in its sales projections in terms of what will sell in our stores.
"Be aware of how many customers an average store sees per day. If you're coming in and saying that you are going to sell 500 units a day and I have an average of 900 customers, that's probably not very realistic."
Valero Energy is looking for convenience-store items such as beverages and snacks; transportation services; maintenance professionals; consulting; legal services; office supplies.
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