What Are The Best Practices Of A Winning Line Sheet?

For wholesale businesses trying to push products into retail stores having a great line sheet is critical. No business can bring customers if it does not have something to show to the buyers. A line sheet is a sales tool that helps businesses present their products line to the buyers who are interested in your products. It gives brands a chance to make a great first impression. In today’s article, we will discuss how you can make a great line sheet that actually wins customers for you. Do not forget the fact that to-the-point information should be included in the line sheet.

A line sheet to create a great first impression:

Before getting into the details, let’s establish one thing, the line sheet should be at one glance, easy to read. Now let’s discuss what a line sheet is and how it can help you create a great first impression.

If your business model includes retail, then you have to present your products to the buyers for wholesale purposes. How would you showcase your collection? Your products are the first introduction of your brand to potential buyers, so it must be impressive.

A product line sheet is a document with your entire line information. It includes information about your products, their images, delivery dates, wholesale prices, shipping, and payment, etc. In short, it includes details about everything that makes the buying process easy.

So, you are sending a document (line sheet) to make buyers place an order. It is highly essential to understand that the visual appearance of the line sheet should be impressive. A line sheet that does not look visually pleasant can cost you sales. Your goal is to generate more wholesale orders from retail, and line sheets contain all the information needed to make that purchase decision.

3 tips for building great line sheets:

• Include basic information, no-nonsense:

Don’t mind that word, but sometimes we include irrelevant and unimportant details in our documents that leave a bad impression on potential clients. The purpose of creating a line sheet is to make the buying process super easy, and it can be done by providing to-the-point information in the document. There is no need to add frills to the document. There is no room for long descriptions and lengthy text in the sheet, so try to include details that help the buyer in making a decision.

Imagine what impression a line sheet would make if you include details about the employees you have or how you started the business. The buyer is interested in your products only. He does not have anything to do with your employees. Do not tell him the stories that are not going to help him ease the buying process. Include the basic information only.

• Customization helps:

Do you believe in a “one size fits all” approach? Different retailers have different needs and expectations form suppliers and their products, so this approach does not usually work. Customization really helps to personalize your inventory information. It leaves a great impression on clients as well. When you make a customize line sheet and send it to the retailer, he realizes that you can identify what is good in your collection for them. It helps you create a strong relationship with buyers. Customization really helps in a fashion or jewelry business.

Also, when you see a client who is looking for products to increase his collection, you should send him a customize line sheet. So, do not stick to one line sheet. Keep changing it from time to time as not all retailers have the same needs.

• Line sheets make buying easy:

A great line sheet has no frills. It is just a simple document containing the required information to place an order. Try to make it short and simple if you want to impress the client. It is necessary to understand that a line sheet that makes selling easy is actually a line sheet that makes buying easy.

You are making a line sheet with the aim of getting more customers to earn profits. In other words, your goal is to sell goods. But do you know that it helps buyers in making a buying decision? It contains all the information in a clear and organized manner.

Retailers like a line sheet that contains information in bullet form as it creates no mess. Bullets help you write information in an organized manner. You do not seem confused in a line sheet as it will affect the buyer’s decision.

The flow of the document should be easy to follow. Everything should be presented in an organized manner. You should not make buyers search for anything. Everything should be in front of him. For example, you include contact details in the line sheet. If the buyer needs it to place an order, do not make him search for it. The contact number should be at the top of the sheet below the brand logo.

Best practices for a winning line sheet:

Your line sheet must be short and precise. It should contain information needed to place an order. But it would not hurt if you try to get the most out of it. After all, it would be the first introduction of your product line to the buyer.

You included only the relevant information that will help the buyer make a buying decision. What about the visual appearance of the sheet? Is it appealing? Would it be able to grab the buyer’s attention? It is important to make a line sheet that is great from an aesthetic point of view. Simply, a line sheet that looks great at first glance will grab the attention of the buyer, and then he will read the information you have included in it.

• Your brand logo is central:

Many brand owners think, do I even need a brand logo. Well, you need it because it is your brand identity. Let’s understand the importance of a logo through an example. Whenever you see a Starbucks cup, even if you can’t read the word, you recognize that it is a Starbucks coffee cup. Why? Because you recognize its logo. Similarly, when you see someone carrying a Louis Viton bag, you recognize the brand by the word LV written on it. The brand logo is your identity, so you must place your logo at the top of the line sheet. It will help you gain brand recognition.

• Contact information should be easy to find:

We have already discussed it above that your contact information should be correct. If the buyer wants to place an order, he will contact you through the numbers or addresses you have given on the sheet. Do not make him search for your phone number. Add your contact information below the brand logo at the top of the line sheet so that the buyer can easily find it.

• Font size and color should be consistent:

You do not use long paragraphs in a line sheet, but it does not mean that you do not use text at all. You have to use minimum words to explain everything in a clear manner. Leave no ambiguity in the line sheet to avoid miscommunication, as it may affect your relationship with the customer.

You should choose a font size that looks great with the images. The color of the font should also be according to the images you have selected to include in the line sheet. Remember that the font size and color should be consistent on all pages. It should not be like you use a different font color for every product. Everything on the line sheet should be appropriately aligned.

• Do not overlook the image quality:

You may be thinking that a line sheet is a mere document that contains information about the product mix of a brand. As a matter of fact, a line sheet is a sales tool that can boost your earnings. But the key is to make a great line sheet that could impress the clients at a glance.

Images are an important part of a line sheet, and you should choose images carefully. Your product images would play an important role in making that buying decision. High-quality images should be included in the sheet, and they must be stylistically formatted in sync with each other.

Do not choose the images with a colored background as they may divert the buyer’s attention. Choose the images that have a white background. It could be a little expensive to shot high-resolution pictures, but low-quality images in the line sheet ruin the entire purpose.

• Show your best-selling items at the top:

Every wholesale brand has its best-selling or top items. You want to sell your products to potential buyers, so put your best items at the top. Discuss them first. There is no point in leaving your best-selling items in the last. If you have some special offers too showcase them at the top of the list.

Customization helps brands a lot. You should understand that every retailer has different needs so you can make a line sheet for a particular retailer. Put the products you think would be good for his store at the top of the list.

• Include or exclude items:

In a customize line sheet, you can make changes at any time. If a retailer has discounted buying a product, then exclude it from your line sheet. Similarly, if something new has arrived in your collection and you think it will be good for the buyer’s store, you should include it in the list.

If you are using the same line sheet for every client, then you may not be able to cater to the specific needs of the customers. So, it would be great if you make a customize line sheet keeping the specific needs of the customers in mind.

• Mention an expiry date:

You created a line sheet; it would not work for a lifetime. You may need to make changes in the information you have given in the line sheet. Over time you may include some new products in line or exclude some items. The prices of products also change frequently. So, mention the expiry date for the information in the line sheet. It would help you convey that the information in the line sheet would become invalid after a certain period. So, never forget to add the expiry date in the line sheet.

Are line sheet templates actually helpful?

It is not easy to create a line sheet from scratch, especially when you are doing it for the first time. You may think that everything is important, and it may lead to creating a line sheet that exceeds two pages. And there is no point in making a long text because the buyer does not have time to read it.

So be precise and include relevant information only. You can get the help of a graphic designer too, but it will simply increase your cost.  You will pay him every time you make any changes to the line sheets.

Let’s find a simple solution to these problems. Line sheet templates are available online that can help you create a great line sheet without wasting any time. There are free templates also, but they do not look that professional. Since line sheets are important for business, you can pay some bucks to buy them.

Once you download the line sheet templates, insert the information in the given categories, and you are ready to send it to the clients. But do not forget to review it before mailing it to the potential customers. The best part is that you can download the wholesale product catalog template without any difficulty.

Final verdict:

Every product-based wholesale business should make a great line sheet if it wants to stay ahead of the competition. Do not overlook the design of the line sheet and make it look aesthetically pleasing. Good line sheets provide just the right amount of information. They save the customer’s time as no irrelevant information is included in them.