Prepare for a meeting with a foodservice wholesaler.

Know what you can actually supply

Bring a short, accurate product sheet. For poultry, the commercial conversation may turn on whether the item is raw or cooked, chilled or frozen, coated or uncoated, the cut or dice size, case weight, pack format, origin, available volume and lead time. Have the current specification to hand for shelf life, storage, allergens and any required certifications. Check each point against the actual product rather than promising it from memory.

Prepare a landed price and minimum order quantity for the proposed route to market. Separate confirmed terms from options you still need to price. A buyer may need a depot-ready case and predictable replenishment as much as an attractive price per kilogram.

Practise the conversation before the meeting

Use the AI sales coach for foodservice and wholesale to build a category-specific brief and rehearse responses to price, existing-supplier and send-information objections.

Five questions for the buyer

1. Which customer groups or menus would this range serve, and what pack sizes work for them?
2. What are the must-have specification and documentation checks before you list a new supplier?
3. How do you assess availability across depots, and what order pattern would a trial need to support?
4. Which measures matter most in a comparison: margin, yield, consistency, service, or something else?
5. If the product fits, who would sign off a trial and what would they need to see?

These are discovery questions, not claims that the current supplier is failing. Adapt them to the buyer's role; a category buyer and a depot operations manager may judge the same product differently.

A realistic 30-minute call

First 5 minutes: confirm the buyer's remit, target category and what would make the conversation useful. Next 15: ask about the customer use case, specification, volumes, delivery route and decision criteria. Next 5: show only the product options that fit what they said, with the relevant evidence and open items marked clearly. Final 5: agree whether a sample, specification review or small trial is justified, who owns it and when to review it.

For example, a seller of frozen cooked chicken strips might ask about case size, portion use and depot demand before discussing price. If the buyer needs a different cut or a chilled format, capture that gap rather than presenting a poor match as a solution.

Make the next step measurable

A trial should have a product and specification, agreed quantity and destination, timing, a named reviewer and a short list of success measures. Confirm who will compare quality, availability and commercial performance. After the meeting, send a concise follow-up that separates what the buyer confirmed from your proposed action.

To turn these notes into an opening, discovery questions and a follow-up plan, enter the buyer role, your offer and your objective in the SalesPrep Pro brief builder. Review the output against your current specification before sending it to anyone.

A simple trial scorecard to agree before the first order

Ask the buyer which two or three measures would determine whether the trial worked. Write down the starting point and who will check the result. The measures below are examples; use only those relevant to the proposed product and agreed supply route.

• Product fit: confirm the exact specification, case and pack size, cooking or handling requirements, and who signs off a sample.
• Supply performance: agree the trial quantity, delivery site, date and how shortages or substitutions will be recorded.
• Commercial result: compare the agreed price basis, usable yield or customer feedback with the buyer's existing measure, where they are willing to share it.
• Decision: name the category, technical and depot stakeholders who need to review the result, plus a date for the decision.

For more targeted preparation, use the sales discovery question guide to explore the buyer's criteria and the objection handling guide to practise a response to price or supplier concerns.