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Hire a fractional sales lead on commission before you announce wholesale — you gain speed and retailer credibility without fixed overhead.
30
specialty doors across the U
10-15
independent retailers in a single vertical where your product…
$500-$1,000
monthly retainer if needed
10-15%
of wholesale orders
Solbari, the Melbourne-based UPF 50+ apparel brand, entered U.S. wholesale this year by appointing a head of sales before it had a single retail account, according to Business Wire. The brand named Grayson Davis to the role and tasked him with building a retail distribution strategy from zero. Within six months, Solbari secured placement in 30 specialty doors across the U.S., targeting outdoor and resort retailers where certified sun-safe clothing was an adjacency, not a category.
The move reversed the usual sequence. Most direct-to-consumer physical-product brands test wholesale by fielding inbound inquiries from retailers, then hire a sales lead once volume justifies headcount. Solbari hired first. Davis spent the opening quarter mapping accounts, building pitch decks, and establishing terms before the brand formalized its wholesale program. The brand positioned UPF 50+ garments as a certified daily-wear category rather than a niche performance product, emphasizing dermatologist endorsements and fabric testing over activewear comparables.
The mechanism: hiring a dedicated sales lead signals commitment to retail buyers and creates a single point of contact who can move faster than a founder splitting time. Retailers prefer working with someone whose only job is their account. Davis could answer product questions, negotiate terms, and coordinate logistics without waiting for a DTC team to prioritize wholesale. That speed matters in specialty retail, where buyers often allocate shelf space on a first-credible-pitch basis during seasonal planning windows. Solbari also benefited from entering while the sun-protection category was gaining momentum but remained underpenetrated in U.S. retail. The brand avoided direct competition with established activewear labels by framing UPF clothing as dermatological prevention, not sport.
The steal: a small physical-product brand can copy this by hiring a fractional or commission-only sales lead before formally announcing wholesale availability. Start by identifying 10-15 independent retailers in a single vertical where your product solves an existing customer question. Draft a one-page wholesale brief: product specs, minimum order, terms, lead time, and the problem it solves for the retailer's customer. Hire a fractional sales rep with existing relationships in that vertical on a commission-only or low-retainer-plus-commission basis. Budget $500-$1,000 monthly retainer if needed, or structure pure commission at 10-15% of wholesale orders.
Give the rep 90 days to open 5 accounts. Provide samples, a digital line sheet, and a shared pitch deck they can customize. The rep's job: email introductions, follow-up calls, sample sends, and closing terms. You handle fulfillment and customer service. Track which objections recur and refine positioning. Once the first 5 accounts reorder, expand to a second vertical or region. The cost is contained — you pay only on closed business — and you gain market intelligence on pricing, packaging, and retailer concerns without diverting founder time from DTC operations.
Solbari's early hire gave it a six-month head start on brands waiting for wholesale to prove itself organically. For a physical-product brand with a defensible product claim and a retail-ready SKU, putting a sales lead in place first turns distribution from a reactive side channel into a proactive growth lever.
Commission-only sales rep costs nothing until they close — find one with retail relationships in your vertical and give them 90 days to open 5 accounts.
For the operator
Hire a wholesale lead a quarter before launch — they'll map accounts, build pitch materials, and secure terms while your DTC team stays focused.
For the house
Brands with dedicated sales contacts close faster and handle reorders cleanly — prioritize suppliers who assign you a single point person, not a shared inbox.
The branded-identity layer Chiefs of Staff and heritage CMOs route through — your name imprinted on real authorized stock, your pick of 200+ brands and 70,000 products, shipped from one accountable house. Nine editorial desks publish the intelligence those operators read before they sign.
200+authorized brands
70,000products · virtual proof on each
9 deskspublishing daily
1997one house, since
70,000 SKUs · virtual proof in 60 seconds · no platform fee · blind-shipped · ASI #217876
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