Stock investors say to get rich, buy low and sell high. Like most wisdom, while simple to understand, it’s hard to execute. Following this maxim takes courage and the intelligence to think and act like a business person.

For example, before the national real estate market tanked, we all complained about the high cost of real estate. Many of us wished that prices would come down so we could actually afford to buy our dream house. Prices have come down, but how many of us have bought our newly affordable dream house?

The same concept applies to reviewing niche product lines or new suppliers. During my career selling into the industrial channels, I’ve introduced several companies to MRO distribution and was successful with all of them. None were a conventional MRO product line. None were recognized brands at the time or in demand with the customer. All were niche—two- to five times more expensive than similar products. But every single one went on to make tens of millions of dollars in the MRO channel.

Magic? Nope. It just required a few smart and highly intelligent distributors to hear opportunity knocking and open the door.

In my experience, the concept most distributors don’t understand is that your customers are conditioned to buy from you after doing it since dinosaurs walked the earth. The rest are forced to buy from you because of a contract someone in their corporate office signed.

The fact is that if Bass Pro or Cabela’s or the Apple Store sold MRO supplies, 99 percent of the folks reading this article would go out of business in about a week. Open your minds and think about not just what your customers need to be productive, but what they want.

Here are three rules you should use the next time your company examines a new niche product line:

1. Can your customers use the product on the job? Can they eat it on the ride back to the plant after picking up rope, soap and dope at your place? Can they hide it in their lunch box and use it on the weekends at home? If the answer to any of these three questions is “yes,” add the line and put it on the counter by the register.
2. Does the manufacturer also offer attractive point-of-sale as part of taking on their line? If the answer is no, then don’t take the line on unless you want to build your own display or point-of-sale. Better yet, require the manufacturers to go to a display store company and pick up something suitable and have him give it to you for free. Make them put their money where their mouth is.
3. Will the manufacturer take the inventory back in the event that the product does not sell (see money/mouth comment above)? If the answer is no, don’t take on the line. It’s got to be a two-way street between you and the manufacturer.

Remember, if you think you’re getting 100 percent of your customers’ business, you’re wrong. Your customers always have money available for innovative products, services and discretionary spend with another distributor.

So think like a business person the next time a rep with a new niche line comes to visit. It’s the only way to truly buy low so you can sell high.