Designing a wholesale line sheet can be more difficult than you may believe. It’s not just about cataloging all of your products to see what is selling well. It also involves marketing your brand and ensuring that potential buyers know what to expect when they purchase from you.
Designing a wholesale line sheet is an important part of your overall marketing strategy. A single design can go a long way in attracting and retaining clients; the wrong one can just as easily chase potential customers away. Here are some ways to avoid common mistakes that designers tend to make with line sheets.
Using a Standard Line Sheet Design for All Clients
Businesses often make the mistake of designing a single line sheet format and using it for all their clients. This approach fails to account for the different needs and styles of the clients. It also fails to account for the reality that most customers do not have the time to flip through irrelevant products and information to find what they want.
In the current market, buyers need to have their preferred products exclusively presented to them with all the relevant information easily displayed to make for convenient viewing. Therefore, you should make different line sheets with specific information relevant to the customer at hand.
Not Telling the Story Well
A line sheet can tell a story even in its concise, factual form. All too often, wholesale businesses struggle to offer a powerful yet brief introduction to their brand. What should be a highly engaging brief glimpse into its identity often comes as a lackluster description of the business.
Moreover, the story of the brand continues in how the line sheet is put together. Businesses can sometimes struggle to create a harmonious feel to their line sheet. Their document fails to show an easy flow and consistent vibe that can prove to be a jarring experience for the retailers and put them off from the business completely.
A line sheet should be the summary of the main points in your design. This will allow for an easy understanding of the product before having to look at every single detail. With this, you can control how much information goes into your line sheet and who should be receiving it.
Cluttered Design and Unclear Product Descriptions
Retailers want to see a line sheet as a straightforward, easy-to-read document. A cluttered design can make a line sheet appear difficult to navigate and confusing. Such experiences can prove to be a turnoff for most potential clients and can cost a business sales revenue as well as hurt their reputation.
Additionally, while the product descriptions need to be brief and to the point, they should also be simple and clear. Make sure to include all product details such as specifications, exact color, and a description of the material from which it’s made. This will go a long way in helping a client get a crystal clear picture of the product, enabling them to make the decision with greater certainty.
Failing to Account for Buyer Needs
The best way to design a line sheet for a buyer is to put yourself in the buyer’s shoes and imagine what they would want to see in this handout. Seeing it from their perspective helps create line sheets to meet their needs and preferences.
Including Poor Quality Images
Product images are key tools in helping a client get a clear idea of whether the product is suited to them or not. Poor quality pixelated images can leave the client uncertain of the value you offer. High-resolution images, on the other hand, show the quality you aim to provide.
Not Including an Order Form
Many businesses forget that line sheets are documents meant to facilitate the ordering of products. However, this primary purpose of a line sheet is defeated if an order form is not included. You should make sure you always include an order form in your line sheet or at the very least provide details on how to place the order and a contact email address.
Not Keeping It Short And Simple
Many times, in its eagerness to put as much information out there as possible, a business ends up making its line sheet long and frivolous, which is contrary to a line sheet’s purpose. Customers want concise, straightforward documents with minimal frills involved. Getting long, over-the-top line sheets with entirely too much information on them can render the line sheets useless as a marketing tool for your business because customers will find them tedious and overwhelming.
Additionally, the important information that matters such as how to order will get lost in all the mountain of unnecessary details, preventing the customer from being able to conveniently order the product.
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