Sales & Merchandising Strategy

Have you dreamed of having your products picked up by prominent retailers, but not known where to begin? You’re not the only one. Figuring out which retail opportunities are a good fit for your business and negotiating new relationships with corporate partners can be difficult, but it doesn’t have to be. Learn how to position your brand in the market, assess your competition, refine your sales pitch, and more through this six session series.

While participation in all sessions is encouraged, members are welcome to participate in as many or as few of these sessions as you would like. The instructor will also offer office hours to offer individualized 1:1 support and answer questions.

Outcomes For Participants:
* Comprehensive product strategy
* Increased confidence when speaking to customers about prices
* New understanding of your competition
* Sales pitch that you can tailor to multiple customers

October
21
2023
11am – 1pm
November
4
2023
11am – 1pm
November
18
2023
11am – 1pm
January
13
2024
11am – 1pm
January
27
2024
11am – 1pm
February
10
2024
11am – 1pm

Marketing Collaborations

Forging relationships with bigger brands can be intimidating, and for smaller businesses it’s difficult to know where to start. These partnerships can be a game changer for up-and-coming brands looking to expand their distribution channels and sales opportunities. In this interactive workshop series, makers work together over three weeks to assess their business’ strengths and weaknesses and build a roadmap to create marketing opportunities through working with other brands. This is a deep dive opportunity to openly discuss, ideate, get feedback and strategize on collaboration strategies.

All sessions will take place virtually on Zoom on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Businesses must commit to all six sessions to participate.

Outcomes For Participants:

  • Identification of potential collaboration partners
  • Deep assessment of business strength and weaknesses
  • Custom strategies and action plan for identified collaboration partners, along with methods to replicate collaboration opportunities with other partners down-the-line
January
9
2024
8:30am – 10:30am
January
11
2024
8:30am – 10:30am
January
16
2024
8:30am – 10:30am
January
18
2024
8:30am – 10:30am
January
23
2024
8:30am – 10:30am
January
25
2024
8:30am – 10:30am

Boost Your Marketplace Sales

Is marketplace vending, trade shows or pop-up retail vital to your business? In this course, you’ll learn a framework to plan and improve your marketing and sales at physical markets. Collaborate, learn, and refine strategies from both experts and fellow participants, culminating in an array of tools to boost your pop-up sales. In addition to in-person sessions, virtual office hours will be available to provide personal attention and support for class participants.

This is an in-person workshop series and sessions will be held at Pratt Institute’s Manhattan campus. Participation in all sessions is required.

Outcomes For Participants:
* Discover streamlined processes and systems to make the vending process easier and more beneficial for your business.
* Learn key marketing and sales strategies to engage customers before, during and after your pop-up.
* Gain merchandising and customer service inspiration to help boost your sales.
* Develop a new perspective and confidence in your abilities to sell at marketplace events.

February
6
2024
5:30pm – 7:30pm
February
13
2024
5:30pm – 7:30pm
February
20
2024
5:30pm – 7:30pm

Marketing Collaborations: Strategic Advisory

In an ever-changing world, the significance of business collaborations has grown, enabling the establishment of networks, adaptability to market shifts, and diversification of innovations. This program is designed to propel business collaboration initiatives forward, offering 1:1 advisory sessions, collaborative group ideation, and focused work sessions.

Participation in the “Marketing Collaborations” workshop series is a prerequisite for joining this program, and commitment to the full 5-week duration is required. All sessions will take place over Zoom.

Week 1 | Group Workshop
Date: October 18, 2023
Time: 8:30am - 10:30am

Week 2 & 3 | 1:1 Consultations
Date: October 23 - November 3, 2023
Time: Available times to be shared in week 1

Week 4 | Group Workshop
Date: November 8, 2023
Time: 8:30am - 10:30am

Week 5 | 1:1 Consultations
Date: November 13-17, 2023
Time: Available times to be shared in week 3

Outcomes for Participants
* Enhanced strategic plan pinpointing tailor-made collaboration opportunities and devising solutions for areas requiring resolution
* Identify actionable business steps to propel collaboration endeavors
* Recognize strategic tactics within ongoing or potential collaborations

October
18
2023
8:30am – 10:30am
October
23
2023
8:30am – 10:30am
November
8
2023
8:30am – 10:30am
November
13
2023
8:30am – 10:30am