The pet peeve line made me chuckle………

when you call on my store, either with or without an appointment, bring the printed materials and have more information than ” duh I have this dog bed. They’re really nice. They sell well in Los Angeles”.

I need a printed price list.
I need good descriptions and photos of your product.
I need to see a swatch book.
I need to see samples that I can touch and feel.
I need to know who is selling this successfully.

In the best of all possible worlds, you wouldn’t have to waste your money and energy dragging paper around. But — I’m a retailer. I work on the go. I don’t have time to fire up my laptop and search for your pricelist, your website, and all the pretty little stuff that marketing created. That only works on the plane home from the trade show. I need hard copies. At least this year and probably next and perhaps beyond. I certainly don’t have time to figure out if the cute little mini disc is going to play in this computer or that computer. Hard copies. In my hand. That I can read while I am in line for coffee next door.

Don’t lie to me about shipping costs. If it’s $15/bed I need to know that upfront. I don’t get to set a price and then tack shipping on …. I need to know all my landed costs up front.

And don’t lie to me about display options. If you have a little cardboard stand, tell me it’s a little cardboard stand that only works for one size and style of bed — especially when I am buying a different style of bed from you. Don’t walk in my store, disparage my bed display, tell me that *your company supplies display stands” and then send me some brown cardboard box foldie thing and claim that’s a high end display stand.

This probably comes off as a bit of a rant, and it is. But everything in my rant is true — and it’s not just one rep that’s “selling” like this, and it’s not just dog beds.

And one more pet peeve — please please please don’t name your product after your dog. Come up with a creative name that makes sense. That’s memorable. That we’re not going to be calling “Crate and Barrel” when your real name is “Christa and Barney.”