Step 13: TELEPHONE SOURCING ( Brand Pre-Call Research )

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Task Summary

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1. ​Evaluate the Brand Potential

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Brand Research

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When we identify a product that might be worth pursuing, the first step is to evaluate the potential of
the brand. To do that, we need to know:

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HubSpot Contact Record URL*

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1. Brand is located in a target state

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2. LinkedIn company page shows fewer than 150 employeess

3. We can locate a phone number (check website, FB page, Google Maps, Whitepages)
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4. We can identify a primary contact (VP sales, CMO, CEO, Director of eCommerce)
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Link to Brand Page on Amazon (click brand name link on any product detail page)*
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Screenshot of the JungleScout report for the brand page*

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1. ​Brand’s total estimated revenue > $50,000

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2. Brand’s products are Not sold by Amazon

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 3. Most of the brand’s products are sold by fewer than 10 sellers according to

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JungleScout

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4. Account Manager set Lead Status to In Progress in HubSpot

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5. Account Manager to create follow up task in HubSpot with Subject Pre-Call Research

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Assigned to VA

2. ​Product Analysis

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As a part of our pursuit, we need to determine which products we’d like to stock and how we believe we
can improve them.
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Ideally, we are looking for a product that has an initial product score of 75 or more. If the score is under
75 but only a few points, a judgement call can be made.

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Product Name

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ASIN URL*
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Product Score*
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Product Screenshot
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The goal of taking the screenshot of the product detail page is to highlight the good & bad parts of the
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product listing. The parts of the listing to highlight include Title, images and bullets. Use a green box
around each part if they are well optimized and a red box if they should be improved as shown in Figure
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Product Screenshot*
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Product Score Screenshot*

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KW Index Checker (Keyword) .csv File

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Screenshot of current sellers and inventory levels
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Once we have determined the product score, we need to evaluate the quality of the product listing.
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Here’s an example (​https://goo.gl/CrtQev​) of a product listing with a solid title, images and bullet points.

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Ideally, the product listing will have the following (check only those that apply):

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1. A product title that starts with their brand name and contains the primary keyword
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consumers would use to search for it (see Figure 1 below)

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2. Atleast 3 product images, all of which are very high quality relative to the competition
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3. 5 bullet points that are all well written and include a feature & a benefit
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4. A product description that contains Enhanced Brand Content (EBC)

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5. Responses are being posted to all negative product reviews (see Figure 2 below)
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Summary of Findings*
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Figure 1: This is how you identify the best keyword that should be in the product title.
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Figure 2: None of these negative reviews are being responded to.
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Figure 3: Product listing optimization screenshot
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3. ​Competitor Analysis
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Next, we need to determine if there are competitors with similar products that are winning simply due

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to better marketing.

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To begin this process, sort the keywords by IQ Score in ​Helium​.

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Once you have determined the top keywords, perform a search using this keyword and then record the

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URL of the search results below along with a JungleScout screenshot below. (see Figure 1 for
instructions)

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Products Primary Keyword*

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Keyword # 1 search results URL*

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Upload JungleScout screenshot of the search results
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Now record the URL for each of the top 3 products (by revenue) from the search results for this keyword.
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Once you open a tab for each competitor, ​leave that tab open ​because you are going to need to refer
back to it in the ​Advertising Analysis ​section.

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Competitor # 1 Product Name*

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Competitor # 1 URL*
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1. A product title that starts with their brand name and contains the primary keyword

consumers would use to search for it

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2. Atleast 3 product images, all of which are very high quality relative to the competition
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3. 5 bullet points that are all well written and include a feature & a benefit
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4. A product description that contains Enhanced Brand Content (EBC)

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5. Responses are being posted to all negative product reviews

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 6. Number of indexed keywords is greater than the product we are analyzing

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Competitor # 2 Product Name*

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Competitor # 2 URL*

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1. A product title that starts with their brand name and contains the primary keyword

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consumers would use to search for it
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2. Atleast 3 product images, all of which are very high quality relative to the competition

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3. 5 bullet points that are all well written and include a feature & a benefit
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4. A product description that contains Enhanced Brand Content (EBC)

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5. Responses are being posted to all negative product reviews

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6. Number of indexed keywords is greater than the product we are analyzing
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Competitor # 3 Product Name*

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Competitor # 3 URL*
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1. A product title that starts with their brand name and contains the primary keyword

consumers would use to search for it

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2. Atleast 3 product images, all of which are very high quality relative to the competition
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3. 5 bullet points that are all well written and include a feature & a benefit
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 4. A product description that contains Enhanced Brand Content (EBC)

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5. Responses are being posted to all negative product reviews

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6. Number of indexed keywords is greater than the product we are analyzing

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Competitive Analysis Conclusion*

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Figure 1: Top 3 products for the keyword: pioneer woman cookware

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4. ​Advertising Analysis

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Now that we’ve identified the top 3 competitors by the amount of revenue, we need to examine the
advertising footprint for the top three keywords.

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Perform a search on Amazon using each of these keywords and then use any ​URL shortener​ to copy the

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URL for that search into the fields below.

See Figure 1 for an example

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Figure 1

First Keyword
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Keyword # 1 search results URL

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 1. Brand we are evaluating appears in organic search results on page 1 for search term #

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1

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2. Brand we are evaluating appears in Sponsored Product search results on page 1 for

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search term # 1

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3. Brand we are evaluating appears in banner ad for search term # 1

Second Keyword

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Keyword # 2 search results URL
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1. Brand we are evaluating appears in organic search results on page 1 for search term #
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2. Brand we are evaluating appears in Sponsored Product search results on page 1 for

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search term # 1
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3. Brand we are evaluating appears in banner ad for search term # 1

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Third Keyword
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Keyword # 3 search results URL

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1. Brand we are evaluating appears in organic search results on page 1 for search term #
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 2. Brand we are evaluating appears in Sponsored Product search results on page 1 for

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search term # 1

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3. Brand we are evaluating appears in banner ad for search term # 1

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Advertising Analysis Conclusion*

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Advertising Analysis Instructions

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In Figure 2 below is the search engine results page (SERP) for the phrase ​pyrex penguin
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● Inside the blue box is a “banner ad”
● Inside the orange box are “sponsored” listings

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● Inside the green box is the first “organic” listing
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Figure 2

5. ​Evaluate the Brand Potential

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Call the Brand

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Once we have identified that the brand is one worth pursuing, we need to call them to find out if they
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have:
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1. Brand has a MAP policy that is actively enforced

2. Brand has an online reseller agreement

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3. Brand wants to set up Brand Registry to limit sellers

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Use the ​Calling a Brand ​checklist for guidance on your talking points

Once you get the contact information for the person who is responsible for approving online sellers,

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enter their information into the Existing HubSpot contact record (be sure to include their proper title)

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Contact Name*

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Contact Email
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Contact Phone

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1. Decision maker has been added to HubSpot*

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2. Decision maker has agreed to a 2nd call and call is scheduled in your and their
calender*
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To get ready for your first call with this person, you now assign the next step (Product Analysis) to a VA
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to complete on your behalf.

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