The Distributor Channel

We have been talking about selling during this Corona-stuff for a couple of weeks. After several conversations with those on the front lines of all this, I thought it might be appropriate to share what we have learned. As one of my good friends recently commented, “If ever there is a time for sharing within our industry, now is the time.” Consider this sharing. First, a note from Frank's Assistant: We have written about sales calls for years and focused on Sometimes they're sweet. them in the recent past.  These unprecedented times call for revised techniques.  Frank is fortunate to have a secluded office with few non-work distractions.  Like many of you, I am working from home while trying to homeschool three noisy kids while also caring for a COVID-19 patient.  When I think about reaching out to others, I consider they might also have a house in chaos.  With that in mind, remember to be flexible.  Flexible with your work hours, flexible with your family and flexibl

A news flash just revealed over 2.8 Billion people currently live under some form of travel restriction. Here in Iowa, we are not under the same stringent guidelines as New York or California, but most sensible folks are limiting their exposure to others. Working from home, not traveling unless necessary and certainly curtailing all social interactions. Call it what you may, but for the sake of discussion, let’s say we’re quarantined. The readers of this group are still working; most from home and all working diligently to keep business flowing. But, the logistics of working from home creates extra time. For instance, we have no commute, no need to dress for work (some of you may even be reading this while donned in purple sweatpants) and no errands tied to daily work routines. Since our social life is limited to the spousal unit and maybe kiddos, we’re not required to attend networking events, parties, coach soccer practice or wait in line at our favorite restaurants, we’ve go

Words like Pandemic, Lock-down, Disrupter, Social Distancing, and Community Transmission wash over us like a tsunami in an ocean of hand sanitizer.   Whole countries are under lockdown.   Tradeshows and other events are going into cancel mode.   States are declaring health emergencies and closing all public gathering places and there are forecasts of even more stringent plans in development. Many of our customers are considering going into emergency mode.   Travel is curtailed, everyone who can do so is telecommuting and business is being conducted in non-traditional ways. As distributors I feel we have two options available to us: 1.       We can stand idly by and simply react to the situation.   2.       We can anticipate the situation, make some plans, and push forward. Anticipating the situation It might be safe to assume the following will accelerate: Increased number of customers working from home. Some customers will be closed for guests.

What happens when every distributor in town represents the same manufacturer?  Extending this thought, let’s assume at least a few of these distributors “sell” several of this manufacturer’s competitors. To better understand the situation, let’s change the scenario up a bit and take a trip to America’s number one retailer, Walmart.  Wandering through the megastore, we find ourselves in an aisle containing colas and other soft drinks.  Looking around we see Coke, Pepsi and over a half dozen other brands, including a “house brand” named after the iconic Sam Walton.  Walmart has them all. Does this giant retailer sell a lot of cola?  If you consider “selling” as a transaction, the answer is yes.  However, if you count “selling” as an activity where users are convinced to by one brand over another, the answer is a definitive no.  The truth is, Walmart doesn’t care which brand you buy as long as you conduct your transaction within their walls. What does this mean for a cola ma

We recently wrote an article where we asked the question, “Who’s doing the work?” By sheer coincidence, the last few days I have received several calls from distributors complaining about supply-partners who practice “saturation” distribution. To define the saturation approach, allow an explanation. Some manufacturers believe customers have a natural desire to buy their product and to hedge their bets, they decided to sign up every company willing to place a stock order and, maybe, place their products into inventory. Some distributors even say things like, “Acme Anvil allows everybody with an oversized garage and a business card to be one of their authorized distributors.” While the situation may not be anything like the previous (distributor provided) description, it does present a bit of an issue for distributors who are actively selling the products. Let’s break distribution down into two basic categories and do a bit of comparison. Introducing the Logistics Distributo