Dawn Serpa, vice president of marketing at Dermstore, suggests brands should calendar a phone call with their merchant at a retailer once a month. “Talk about what’s going on with the brand, with you, how is your story changing. Give the retailer fuel to fire [up] your brand,” she says. “With so many products, being top of mind at any moment helps.” Annie Jackson, COO and co-founder of Credo, mentions brand shouldn’t simply contact a retailer’s buyers. She says, “Know their marketing person, their merchant, their social media person and build out a plan together that you’re supporting as well as the retailer.”

There’s a fine line, however, between touching base and pestering, and brands must learn to walk it. Zack Zanders, manager of Two Rivers Salon & Spa, says, “It’s about building a relationship. Don’t just try to make a sale. We talk to people all day long. We don’t want to be pitched to. We want to be wined and dined.” And he warns brand founders to leave the negativity behind. Zanders says, “If you trash talk someone else, you will leave my facility and say the same things about me.”

Retailers are frustruated by brands that can’t supply effective visuals in an efficient manner. Jeannie Jarnot, founder of Beauty Heroes, recommends brands compile lifestyle and product photos in a Dropbox folder that they can update. “Just have one Dropbox link. Make it easy,” she says. “It can have your brand story and your founder image. We can forward it to the appropriate members on our team.” She adds, “If you’re doing a color line, make sure your swatches are really clean and beautiful.” Kristian Henderson, founder of BLK + GRN, notes good copy goes a long way for e-commerce customers. She says, “Two lines of a product description is not going to sell your product online. The longer, the better.”

Securing the first sale is terrific, but a retailer’s success with a brand is determined over time. If a brand can’t constantly draw customers, it will flop. Serpa says, “Create something that people use frequently. If you create something that people only use once a week or once a month, I think it’s very challenging to scale.” She also emphasizes brands should have a single strong hero stockkeeping unit. Serpa says, “It’s a tried-and-true strategy that has been around for decades, but it works.” Don’t skimp on releases, though. They should complement and fortify the hero SKU. Jackson says, “You have to show us what you have in the pipeline as it is all about newness. We are trying as retailers to continue to bring new customers to stores, and what brings them in stores? Something new and something interesting.” At Feelunique, commercial director Nigel Lawmon reveals new products fuel a third of annual sales.

Amazon is now the single biggest retailer on the planet. Other retailers can’t compete with its size—and they’d rather not. “When I was a spa director, I used to vet indie beauty brands, and the first thing I’d look at is, are they on Amazon? If they are on Amazon, I would say, ‘I’m not going to talk to you.’ If you’re in a spa, it should be special,” says Jarnot. At her former job as vice president of North America for Estée Lauder-owned GlamGlow, Serpa mentions that retailers would be evaluated by whether they were brand-building or brand-eroding. She pegged Amazon as often brand-eroding. Serpa elaborates, “Retailers will hesitate to onboard your brand if you are selling on Amazon. We are doing a lot of the work to build your brand and, if they snap up the conversion, it’s very challenging.”

Retailers and spas are looking to stand out today with unique events, services and merchandise. Aiding them in cultivating their points of difference can be a critical point of difference for a brand. Zanders says, “We do on average 6,000 facials a year. We are a very busy day spa. I had to have something I could order in large quantities that was really effective and delivered quality experiences for my clientele. Having something be custom made for me quickly was incredible. Circcell is our signature brand. They’ve done everything for me, and I’ve been exceptionally grateful to have such a wonderful partnership with the brand.”

Sustainability is in the beauty industry spotlight. A brand can get called out if they’re swimming in excess packaging or using virgin materials. Retailers are interested in their vendors making a sustainable effort, but they acknowledge going the extra mile for eco-friendly merchandise can be difficult for small companies. “Green-lite is sometimes a gateway to a deeper relationship with green beauty in the long run,” says Elena Severin, buyer and director of retail at The Detox Market, continuing, “[If] sustainability and sourcing and giving back to the community is where you want to plant your flag and what you’re passionate about, that’s just as important as an ingredients check list.”

Dixie Lincoln-Nichols, founder of Inside Outer Beauty Market, says gradual eco-conscious steps forward are superior to no steps. “If all you can do as an indie brand is have recyclable packaging, then do that. If all you can do is donate to causes that replant trees, then do that,” she counsels. “Indie brands don’t have access to as much cash as bigger brands, so be mindful of that, but do something if you want to claim green to showcase to retailers.”

Pursuing a luxury retailer with value-priced merchandise isn’t wise. Brands have to comprehend the price points at their desired retailers and cost their products appropriately. At Whole Foods Market, haircare products, body washes and lotions over $20 don’t fly. “In facial care and cosmetics, we can go higher,” says Amy Jargo, global category manager for beauty at Whole Foods. “The supplements category is north of that, too. In beauty, prestige skincare brands and higher price point cosmetics perform really well for us. So, in those areas that are a little bit more beauty in nature, we have the right to go a little bit higher…The prices in those commodity-driven categories do need to stay at that accessible price point.”

Jonathan Will, senior regional spa manager at Equinox, remembers being burned by an indie brand well. “They did a trunk show with us and were like, ‘Yes, we want to be exclusive or at least [an exclusive for] the luxury market.’ The trunk show was successful, and we were that close to bringing them on. Then, one of our employees found that they’d just launched a deal with Target,” he recounts. “They found the product in Target and didn’t tell us about it, and that killed the deal. So, think about your long-term strategy, who you want to be with.” It can’t be beneficial for any strategy to mislead potential allies. They’ll be OK if brands choose to go in another direction, but won’t take kindly to a cover-up.

To meet clean beauty standards, a growing group of retailers have drawn up lists of banned ingredients. Brands aiming to meet the standards have to be on top of their contract manufacturers to verify they’re delivering on their promises. “It is incredible how, if you don’t work with a trusted lab, they can sneak things in and slow down production. It’s all about due diligence and double, triple and quadruple checking to make sure that the lab is listening to what you are saying,” says Jackson. She shares, “We had a brand that came to our office. There was an ingredient that was [toxic], and she [the founder] didn’t know about that. You can’t just listen to your contract manufacturers.”

It’s difficult for a brand to understand where it stands with retailers if it isn’t aware of the ground rules. “Make sure you read the contract,” stresses Henderson. “We’ll send a contract. You’ll sign it and, then, you don’t know what’s in it.”