How Can Sourcing Agents Find New Brands and Orders?

One of the biggest challenges for sourcing agents and buying offices is consistently finding new brand clients and orders. Intermediary firms operating in the textile and apparel sector often become dependent on their existing client portfolio, with new business development activities taking a back seat. However, client loss, seasonal shifts, or market contractions can suddenly disrupt your workflow.

Traditional methods of finding new business — trade fairs, personal networks, and cold calling — are no longer as effective as they used to be. Fairs are held only a few times a year and are costly; personal networks are limited; cold calls yield low conversion rates and waste valuable time. In the digital age, how brands search for suppliers has fundamentally changed, with most now looking for solutions through online platforms.

Sustainable growth for a sourcing agency depends on building a predictable workflow. Instead of relying on randomly incoming orders, you need to establish systematic pipeline management. This means tracking potential clients, regularly updating your proposals, and clearly seeing what stage each opportunity is at.

Many agencies try to manage client relationships through email inboxes or Excel spreadsheets. While this approach may work at a small scale, it becomes unsustainable as you grow. Tracking when you sent a quote to which brand, which projects are in the approval stage, and which clients need a follow-up conversation becomes increasingly difficult.

A common trait among successful sourcing agencies is keeping client history and project data in a centralized system. Information about previous clients' preferences, budget ranges, and product categories provides a significant advantage when preparing new proposals. Additionally, regularly presenting new opportunities to existing clients is the most effective way to increase repeat order rates.

As digitalization accelerates across the industry, it has become essential for sourcing agents to equip themselves with digital tools. Agencies that can manage quotes, revisions, sample tracking, and client communication from a single platform both leave a more professional impression and gain an operational efficiency edge over competitors.

If you want to make your workflow more predictable, avoid missing opportunities with reminders and task management, and organize your client portfolio effectively, leave your email address and get in touch with us. Our team will inform you about solutions specifically designed for sourcing agencies.