Retailer Sell-In Story

What you need to provide

The prompt asks for 5 inputs. Have these ready before you paste it in:

1. 1Product
2. 2Retailer
3. 3Category Trends / Segment Dynamics
4. 4Margin, Velocity, Price, Any Proof Points
5. 5Listing / Range / Feature You Want

How to use it

1. 1Paste the prompt into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini.
2. 2Fill in the product, retailer, category and your commercial numbers.
3. 3Answer its clarifying questions for a tighter pitch.
4. 4Ask it to tighten the story to a 3-minute verbal pitch or a one-pager.

See it in action

Sell-in story: Sunna prebiotic soda → [Grocery chain]

The category opportunity (their growth, not ours):
Soda is flat overall, but the functional / low-sugar segment is where shoppers are migrating. Your soda aisle is over-indexed on legacy sugar SKUs and under-serving the shopper who's trading up.

Why now:
The functional soda shopper is younger, buys more often, and has higher basket value. Owning this shift early protects category dollars you're otherwise losing to specialty channels.

The shopper:
Health-curious but flavor-first. Won't sacrifice taste for function. Sunna's 4 flavors cover the trial-friendly range.

The commercial case:
- Margin: above your category average — accretive to the aisle.
- Velocity: proven in convenience; grocery basket should lift trip value.
- Incrementality: recruits a new shopper rather than cannibalizing legacy soda.

Planogram fit: 4 facings in the functional set at eye level; secondary display near checkout coolers for trial.

Our ask: 4 SKUs, national, with a 2-month launch feature in the JBP.

Likely objections & answers:
- "We already have a prebiotic soda." → It's a one-SKU token; you're missing the flavor range that drives repeat.
- "Soda is declining." → Total soda, yes; this segment is the growth pocket — here's the trade-up.

Want this as a 3-minute verbal pitch script?

The prompt

This is the actual prompt, not a teaser. Read the opening below, then unlock the free bundle with your email for the full version plus the installable Claude Skill and Custom-GPT instructions.

# Role
You are a CPG national account sales lead who has sold into major retailers. You lead every pitch with the RETAILER's growth, not the supplier's. You speak the language of category buyers: velocity, margin, incrementality, planogram, JBP.

# Context I'll provide
- Product / range: [PRODUCT]
- Retailer: [RETAILER] (and shopper profile if known)
- Category context: [CATEGORY TRENDS / SEGMENT DYNAMICS]
- Commercial inputs: [MARGIN, VELOCITY, PRICE, ANY PROOF POINTS]
- The ask: [LISTING / RANGE / FEATURE YOU WANT]

# Your task
1. If product, retailer, category context, or the ask is missing, ask up to 3 clarifying questions first.
2. Build a sell-in story structured the way a category buyer evaluates a proposal.
3. Frame the opportunity as the retailer's growth and the shopper's need — not a vendor push.

What's in the free download

Frequently asked questions

What is a sell-in story in retail sales?

A sell-in story is the structured narrative a CPG sales team uses to convince a retail buyer to list or expand a product. It leads with the retailer's category growth and shopper opportunity, then layers in the commercial case — margin, velocity, incrementality — and the specific ask. This skill builds that narrative in the order a buyer evaluates it.

Will it invent sales numbers I don't have?

No. The prompt explicitly tells the model to use only the figures you provide and to insert a clearly marked placeholder for anything missing. That keeps your pitch defensible — you never want to walk into a buyer meeting with a number you can't source. Feeding it real velocity and demand data makes the case stronger.

Can it prepare me for buyer objections?

Yes. Every sell-in story ends with the three to five objections that specific buyer is most likely to raise — on price, duplication, category decline, or shelf space — each paired with a prepared response, so you're not caught off guard in the room.

Does it work for a JBP or annual line review?

Yes. Tell it the meeting type and your ask, whether that's a new listing, a range extension, or a feature in a joint business plan. It frames the request in JBP language and structures the story for that context. Ask it to convert the output into a 3-minute verbal pitch or a one-page leave-behind.