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Building a customer base?

P

paulWTAMU

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I'm hoping to breed my kings next year. It'll be my first time breeding with intent to sell. Does anyone have any tips on building a customer base? I'm thinking maybe trying to go to a nearby show and renting a table? I'd assume that since I'm not established people'd want to see before they buy which is understandable but makes online selling harder. I could in theory sell to petstores, but I'd like to try to keep from selling everything out at wholesale pricing...and I'm not sure that selling to petstores is a great way to build a customer base of retail customers?
I guess I could use craigslist some too? It'd hit mostly locals which I don't know how good the local market is but it'd be something.
 
The problem with craigslist is that per their terms of use that you're not allowed to sell animals there, only adopt them out. People bend those rules all the time, but depending upon you are, people can and will flag your ads off craigslist.

I'm a small breeder myself, but I've found the best way to build up a good reputation is to participate in forums such as this. If you show that you care about your animals and your customers, that building a customer base isn't that hard. Now, I don't have a really reliable customer base, since the market kind of comes and goes, but building a solid reputation by being active here is a good start.

How big is your collection? If you're small like me, you can get away with selling your surplus on free classifieds. If not, you have to be a little more creative, and hopefully some of the bigger breeders can give you some hints there.
 
I've got 2 female kingsnakes that I think'll be breeding size, and 2-3 house snakes. So not that huge. There's another 2 kingsnakes I don't think'll be breedable in 2011 (they're not growing as fast and it's no skin off my nose to wait). But probably they will go 2012
 
I guess I could say I am in the same boat as Paul but will be at least two to three more years before I start breeding my boas. I purchased my boas as babies (the first 2 over a year ago)and wanted to raise them myself and not just get into breeding right away. Actually, I got the boas because I enjoy them and if breeding projects pan out, thats great. If not, thats fine too, I still have my babys to still enjoy.

Building a customer base has crossed my mind a good bit. So if any of the more popular and bigger breeders have any suggestions, please let us newbies know. Even if my breedings don't pan out, at least maybe I can come away with some new friends just to talk snakes with and to learn from. :D
 
Kevin's right about that. A website where you can showcase your animals certainly helps too, because customers can keep returning to see what's new with your collection and your business. Keeps continuity between breeding seasons.
 
Southern Wolf said:
You build your customer base like you build your rep. Slow and steady
Click to expand...

:iagree:


snowgyre said:
Kevin's right about that. A website where you can showcase your animals certainly helps too, because customers can keep returning to see what's new with your collection and your business. Keeps continuity between breeding seasons.
Click to expand...

Thats why I became a member of Fauna :D Plus to see what great reptiles were for sale. And also to get to know some great people that might pass me some of their knowledge...:yesnod:
 
You build your customer base like you build your rep. Slow and steady
Click to expand...
but I'm an American, I want it all now!:)
On a more serious note, I'm just looking for ways to get started. The suggestions to hang on forums seems good (and I already do) and I'll work on a website over the winter (I've been looking into hosting and web design software since I can't do any coding).
 
One of the things that will help you... is how you conduct yourself on forums. This one and others. Those will be your first customers.... then once you have a website up... you'll get some lucky hits and make sales.... then eventually word of mouth will get around and you'll get more sales. At some point... you may be where you want to be.
 
Paul, a free decent html editor is HTML Kit. I used Adobe Dreamweaver now (which is phenomenal... you certainly get what you pay for), but HTML Kit is a great starting point. I can't remember off hand if they have any templates you can work from, but the newest release is quite nice. It's not a WYSIWYG editor (What-you-see-is-what-you-get), so you'll need to have a skeleton HTML code to work off of, but it does have a preview window that will update whenever you click on it, so it's essentially the same thing.

As for hosting, I use GoDaddy.com and I haven't had any problems. I pay $40 a year for hosting and $10/yr for the domain renewal. Been with them for 5 years now. Their prices are competitive, and you actually get to talk to a human being if you have any technical issues.
 
One main thing about building a Customer Base is to be Level Headed and Mature! Just know that at some point in time Problems will arise and the way you handle problems is a HUGE Factor in how your business will succeed!! Just keep a level head.. know what you are selling and keep in constant contact with your customers and you should do well. Using the Forums on this site and others is a good start.. learning new information and giving out your own suggestions will help in the long run! Good Luck!
 
snowgyre said:
The problem with craigslist is that per their terms of use that you're not allowed to sell animals there, only adopt them out. People bend those rules all the time, but depending upon you are, people can and will flag your ads off craigslist.

I'm a small breeder myself, but I've found the best way to build up a good reputation is to participate in forums such as this. If you show that you care about your animals and your customers, that building a customer base isn't that hard. Now, I don't have a really reliable customer base, since the market kind of comes and goes, but building a solid reputation by being active here is a good start.

How big is your collection? If you're small like me, you can get away with selling your surplus on free classifieds. If not, you have to be a little more creative, and hopefully some of the bigger breeders can give you some hints there.
Click to expand...

Definitely agree :iagree:
 
chamgirl99471 said:
One main thing about building a Customer Base is to be Level Headed and Mature! Just know that at some point in time Problems will arise and the way you handle problems is a HUGE Factor in how your business will succeed!! Just keep a level head.. know what you are selling and keep in constant contact with your customers and you should do well. Using the Forums on this site and others is a good start.. learning new information and giving out your own suggestions will help in the long run! Good Luck!
Click to expand...

Agree! As both a buyer & a seller (though not of animals) I always try to keep in mind how I would want to be treated if I was on the other side of the deal. Also, at some point in time, something is going to happen or you will get the customer that is impossible to please. With that in mind you should be resolved not to take it personally if you ever get one of those customers. (hasn't happened to me yet, fingers crossed) And on the other side, I actually like to hear the feedback about transactions that had problems, a seller might be good at minimizing problems by being on top of things & having been lucky but I like to know how that person deals with issues.
 
chamgirl99471 said:
One main thing about building a Customer Base is to be Level Headed and Mature! Just know that at some point in time Problems will arise and the way you handle problems is a HUGE Factor in how your business will succeed!! Just keep a level head.. know what you are selling and keep in constant contact with your customers and you should do well. Using the Forums on this site and others is a good start.. learning new information and giving out your own suggestions will help in the long run! Good Luck!
Click to expand...

:iagree:

Word of mouth... Travels fast and with my experience with word of mouth you get customers based on your first few customers (their friends who share common intrests, likes) I treat everyone I met in person/Online as a potential customer. In Wal-Mart waiting in line or the Grocery Store Where ever spark a conversation with someone somehow I always end up talking about reptiles and the reptiles I keep (Burmese Pythons, Ball Pythons and Leopard Geckos) youd be suprised how many peoples attention you can grab by speaking what you know and about what you keep. Before you end the conversation or leave " Here's my card just incase your looking to get a_____(fill in blank) know someone that is or if you have any questions about about what to get for your first reptile their care or set-up"

Smaller Local Pet Store usually buy from Local Breeders, as well as Suppliers
( Keep in mind that Pet Shops wont want to pay retail price for them)

Craigslist Is A good tool to use it has its ups and downs Many Local People see the ads Yet your ad May sit for a while before getting a reply and theirs always the people who email you and ask for trades if thats what your looking for its ok and if your flagged (Happens alot at times) you have to repost the ad.

FAUNACLASSIFIEDS.... Great site You'll hit some locals as well as people in other states who share the same intrest ( USE THE BOI KNOW WHO YOUR DOING BUSINESS WITH) as well as many helpfull links and threads through Fauna (Which your using so GREAT FIRST STEP)

Selling at shows mean you have to get a table and vend the show (For many of us its an exciting experience) As long as you have enough to cover the cost of the table and make some $ for your pocket (Dont want to lose $)
If your a small breeder you could ask friends that may have a table if you could share a table with them or if they could display your product/animals

Your Animals reflect you, With Good Quality Animals and Great Customer Service where still going to have to work on comming up
Yet With Poor Quality Animals and or Poor Customer Serivce you'll get noticed quicker....
 
I agree; right here on fauna is a good place to advertise while you're still starting out. A website is also a good idea so that people can see what you have to offer.

Be aware though that it may take from 3-5 years to really start to get your name out there, so don't expect it to happen all at once. It takes time to build yourself a reputation. I started breeding in 2006-2007 and wound up selling most of my offspring that year to a local, privately owned pet store. The next year I sold about half to individuals, and then sold the other half to the previously mentioned pet store. The next year, I sold all of my animals to individuals, but I had to keep 2-3 of them until spring (it also helped that I got into breeding my own feeders so it wasn't costing me so much to maintain those animals). This year, I pre-sold a few of my babies once they hatched but before they were officially ready to go, so not everything even made it to my website, which made me happy. ;) I've still got some babies for sale, but I don't fear having to hang onto them as much as I did the first year when no one knew who I was. Now my name is getting out there, and as someone else already said, word of mouth can be the best form of advertising. But word of mouth can backfire, too; the way you conduct yourself on forums or with your customers will dictate whether or not those customers come back, and what type of word of mouth you receive.

If you're going to breed a particular species, know that species. Make sure your husbandry is spot on (granted, everyone has quirks that work for them, but make sure you know the basics like the back of your hand) and make sure that you can advise those who buy from you if need be--some will be experienced reptile keepers, but you'll also have some customers that are new to reptiles and will need assistance with cage setups, feeding, etc. If you can provide them with the correct information as well as a healthy animal, they will be much more likely to purchase from you again in the future or to recommend you to their friends.
 
There's also the old advertising adage that someone needs to see your name seven to ten times before they will take action. So posting in forums like this (I'm just now starting to poke around and see what's here. Big place. :) ) really helps a lot, too. Good luck!
 
There has been alot of good advice from all of you who have been in our shoes. I just wanted to say thanks for that. I have a word of advice, while starting here on Fauna you will make some mistakes, and they will be pointed out quite quickly. Some people on here will point it out with alittle more tact then others, but in the end even the ones who don't articulate themselves very well are helping you out. So gracefully take the advice and learn from your mistakes. These kind people ( some where kinder then others) recently helped me learn more about what a YB is, and isn't lol. So live and learn and good luck on your breeding.
 
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