1. Keep a list of open requests
A request you keep in your head is a request you forget. Write each customer request down the moment it arrives, with:
- The reference, as the customer writes it, and the manufacturer's reference if you know it;
- The quantity;
- The maximum price, or the price you expect to sell at;
- The customer and the date.
Keep the request open until you serve it, or the customer drops it. Once closed, it shouldn't come back: nothing's worse than calling a customer about a request already served.
A request without a maximum price can't tell you whether an offer is good. Ask the customer, or write down your own resale price.
2. Turn every offer into lines
An offer arrives as an Excel file, a PDF, a photo, or three lines on WhatsApp. Before comparing it with anything, turn it into lines: reference, quantity available, price, currency, incoterm, offer date.
Keep the written conditions next to the price: “available week 41”, “MOQ 100 pcs”, “valid this week”. An offer at the right price but delivered in a month won't serve an urgent request.
3. Recognise the same reference
This is where deals get lost. The supplier writes JBLT770NC, the customer writes Tune 770NC, your spreadsheet says JBL Tune 770NC BLK: three spellings of the same headphones that a search won't bring together. Three rules:
- A brand prefix stuck to the model gets spelt out. At JBL, T means Tune, L Live, C Charge, X Xtreme.
- The range is part of the identity. A Tune 770NC and a Live 770NC are two products.
- Packaging isn't. A Tune 670NC CN is the same product as a Tune 670NC; the price may change, the reference doesn't.
A barcode, when it's there and its check digit is right, settles it.
4. Check every offer against open requests
Every incoming offer gets read against your list of open requests, not just against your stock. For each match, three questions:
- Is the quantity enough? If not, do you top it up from another supplier?
- Is the price under the customer's maximum, once converted at your rate and with the incoterm counted?
- Does the offer still stand? Date, availability, how long it's valid.
The reverse matters just as much: a request that comes in gets read against the offers you've already received. The reference may be in last week's list.
5. Work out the margin
A match is only worth what it brings in. The calculation is simple:
Possible margin = (customer's maximum price − landed price of the offer) × quantity requested.
A supplier offers 200 headphones at €38 landed. A customer wants 150 at €45 at most. Possible margin: (45 − 38) × 150 = €1,050.
As an illustration, a €3,000 lot resold at a 5 to 10% margin brings in €150 to €300. That's the figure that tells you whether to pick up the phone straight away.
6. Move fast, and keep a record
A good offer doesn't stay available for long. Call the customer before confirming with the supplier, then confirm. Close the request you've served.
And keep every offer, even the ones that matched nothing today: tomorrow's request will make them useful, and the supplier's next offer will show who went up.