Example: a small artisanal sauce maker in the countryside of Minas Gerais sells well at the town market and in a few delis nearby. The owner wants to reach neighborhood grocery stores in other states, but has no sales team and no truck to serve shop after shop. He finds the website of a food distributor, emails the price list and waits. No answer comes. The sauce was not the problem: the distributor gets price lists every week and needs to know, in a few lines, how much it will earn, how fast the product sells and what support it will get to sell it. Those questions call for a proposal built for the channel, and the Sales Proposal Generator helps you put yours together in a few minutes. This guide shows how to find distributors, what they look at and how to run the first conversation.
A distributor is a specific kind of partner: it buys your product, keeps it in stock and resells it to the businesses that serve the end customer. If you are still choosing between referrals, a joint offer or resale, the guide on how to find business partners compares the formats. Here, the subject is the resale channel, from the first name on your list to the first order.
Define the kind of distributor you are looking for
Before thinking about how to find distributors, decide what kind of channel your product needs. People use these words loosely, but each model works in its own way, and the choice changes where you look and what you offer.
| Model | What it does | When it usually fits |
|---|---|---|
| Distributor | Buys in volume, holds stock and delivers to shops or businesses in a region | A product that must be in many points of sale, with frequent restocking |
| Reseller | Buys smaller amounts and sells to the end customer, sometimes with installation or service included | A product that needs explaining, assembly or close support |
| Wholesaler | Sells in volume to retailers who pick up the goods or order from a catalog | A fast-moving product with a competitive price and little explaining |
| Sales representative | Sells on your behalf for a commission, without buying the product | When you want to keep control of the price and of the end customer |
Once you pick the model, describe your ideal distributor the way you would describe a customer: the region it covers, the kind of shop or business it visits, the products it already carries and the size of its operation. The best candidate usually sells items that go well with yours, to the same buyer, without competing head on. If a representative turns out to be the natural path, the guide on sales representatives and how they find clients shows the side of those who sell for several brands.
Check that your price leaves room for the channel
When you sell directly, you keep the whole gap between cost and final price. When you sell through a distributor, you split that gap with it and often with the shop that comes after it. If your price was set only for direct sales, the math stops working once a middleman joins in. Before you look for any channel, redo the numbers in the Pricing Calculator and see how much is left for the reseller without you selling at a loss.
Example, with numbers for illustration only: if your sauce must leave the factory at R$ 15 (Brazilian reais) to cover cost, taxes and profit, and local shops sell similar products at R$ 20 on the shelf, there are R$ 5 left to pay both the distributor and the shop. That may be too little for the two of them. In that case, you either cut costs, change the product (packaging, size, line) or choose a shorter channel. There is no standard margin that works for every sector: each distributor does its own math, and that is what you need to understand in the conversation. The step-by-step process for setting a price is in the guide on how to calculate a selling price.
Find out where the distributors are
Distributors do not always show up in a generic online search. They sit along the path of the product, between the factory and the shelf, and the best clues come from the people who already buy from them.
At your end customer's points of sale
Visit shops that would sell your product and ask the manager who delivers the similar brands. Also look at the labels and boxes of goods in the same category. Soon the same names start to repeat, and that repetition tells you who serves the region. As a bonus, the manager tells you what they expect from a new supplier, which is already half a proposal.
By business activity code
Wholesale companies have their own activity codes in the registry of the Receita Federal, Brazil's federal tax authority. With the right code and the city, you can build a list of candidates, as the guide on B2B prospecting by CNAE, the Brazilian activity code explains. Before calling, check each one's registration status with the CNPJ Lookup (the CNPJ is the Brazilian company registration number).
At trade fairs and industry associations
Trade fairs bring together manufacturers and distributors from the same supply chain. Walk past the distributors' booths with one simple question: what kind of product they are looking for to round out their line. Local business associations and retail trade associations also know who distributes what in the region, and they often introduce members to one another.
At online business rounds
In an online business round, you describe in your profile what you offer and what you are looking for, and the platform suggests conversations with people looking for what you offer, without repeating a conversation. If you want a channel in another state, it is a way to talk with distributors from several cities without traveling. The guide on how a business round works shows the format from start to finish.
Understand what the distributor looks at
For a distributor, every new product takes up space in the warehouse, time from the sales team and money sitting still. It takes on your brand when your brand pays for that space. These are the points that usually weigh most:
- Turnover: does the product leave the shelf or sit there? If you already sell somewhere, bring the record.
- Earnings per unit: how much is left for the distributor after freight, payment terms and the salesperson's commission.
- Demand: does anyone already ask for your product, or will it have to convince each shop alone?
- Terms: minimum order, payment terms, freight and replacement of defective or expired goods.
- Support: sales material, samples, training for its team and activities at the point of sale.
- Territory: whether you sell directly in the same region, or whether another distributor already serves the same customers.
That last point deserves attention. If you sell directly to the same shops the distributor serves, at a lower price than its own, it loses interest fast. Decide beforehand which customers stay with you and which go to the channel, and say so in the first conversation.
Put together a proposal built for the channel
A proposal for a distributor is not your consumer price list with a discount. It answers the questions from the previous section in one page, two at most:
- Who you are, what you sell and for how long, in a few lines.
- Where the product already sells and what buyers say about it.
- Price for the distributor and suggested price for the shop.
- Terms: minimum order, payment terms, freight and return policy.
- The support you offer and what you expect in return (region, targets, sales information).
The general structure of a good proposal, with context, solution, price and next step, is in the guide on how to write a sales proposal. For the channel, add the math of what the distributor earns: show that you have already thought about the reseller's side, before it has to ask.
Run the first conversation
Before
Research the distributor: which brands it carries, which region it covers, what kind of customer it visits. Set aside a sample, the short version of your proposal and two or three questions about its operation. Be clear about what you can negotiate (payment terms, minimum order, support) and what you cannot (a price below cost, exclusivity without a target).
During
Start by asking, not by presenting. Which products sell best, what is missing from the line, what makes a new brand succeed or get sent back. Then show how your product fits what you just heard. If the distributor asks for exclusivity, discuss region, duration and a minimum target before you agree.
After
Send the proposal by the agreed date, using the words the distributor used in the conversation. If there is no decision right away, agree on a date to pick the subject up again. A no today can turn into a yes when its product line changes, so keep in touch and let it know when you have something new.
Start with a trial before you formalize
With a new distributor, it is common to start small: a first order, a single region or a single line, for an agreed period. Both sides see how the product sells, how delivery works and whether the promised support actually happens. At the end of the trial, you talk with data in hand and decide whether to expand, adjust or stop.
Before signing a long contract, especially one with exclusivity, take the draft to your accountant or lawyer. Duration, territory, targets and exit rules should be in writing, so that nobody depends on the memory of a conversation.
Where to start
Redo your price math with room for the channel. Choose the model (distributor, reseller or representative) and describe the ideal candidate. Visit a few points of sale and write down who delivers the brands that look like yours. Prepare a one-page proposal and book your first conversations, starting with the names that came up most often.
Your company's first online business round is on us: all you need is an active Brazilian CNPJ, once per CNPJ, and contact details are only shared when both sides mark interest. See the upcoming business rounds and write in your profile that you are looking for distributors in the region where you want to sell.