advise to become a vendor with big companies?

**jrod31** · 09-03-2010 10:16 AM

I own a printing business, for several years ive been dealing with locals. Now i have closed shop and transition to strictly online. Now i want to start getting corporate acct. I have already called five guys burgers and i am trying to become a vendor with them..
but does anyone know another way of any experience?

thanks

**Lili Cruchelow** · 09-03-2010 03:13 PM

Do you have any executive friends that you can network with to try and get a foot in the door? It helps to have some name recognition as a newbie. Try and find a "back-door" way to talk with key people. If you try and work through the gatekeepers, the process will end up being longer than it needs to be. Also, think about what the customer needs and how you can help them uniquely. Speak to the customers pain. Printing is a tough business and you need to find a way to seperate yourself with a niche.

**generationy** · 09-04-2010 05:47 AM

Focus on your brand. Some of the largest companies today were some of the smallest companies yesterday. What does you brand stand for? Why would any business want to work with you as opposed to another competitor? Once you have that, go out and see if you can find some partners, advisors etc. so that you can begin to learn from people who are experienced and perhaps have expertise within your industry. Good luck!