The Distributor Channel

Let’s review our current situation.  Just about the time we were  starting to get out and visit a few customers, the next wave, second wave, surge, or whatever they are calling it this week, has put salespeople back in their home office.  Is this discouraging?  You bet.  And, based on my conversations with many of your customers, they are getting weary of the situation as well.   Salespeople continue to push forward.   Based on dozens of ongoing coaching sessions with sellers in our industry, today’s activities appear to follow a pattern.  I have listed them in the order of reported time allocated: 1. Keeping in touch with our best customers by periodically calling them to see how things are going. 2. Follow-up on any incoming calls from customers. 3. Receiving calls from supplier sales types who are currently locked up and clamoring for information about specific customers and industry types. 4. Taking supplier calls about new products and attending yet another Zoom Meeting on

Since launching out in my journey as a consultant, writer, and speaker, I have been told at least a hundred times to not use sports analogies.  Sound advice and a good rule to follow?  Maybe, but if following the rules was my strong suit, I probably would not be a good consultant.  So, let the rule-breaking begin. We are well into November.  The Pandemic has been a tough opponent.  We’re behind and it’s time for what my old football coach called the “two-minute game.”  We need to score, and we need points right now.  Here are a few ideas you might want to consider. Do any of your customers have money they need to spend now?   Believe it or not, many larger companies and governmental organizations have funds that fall into the category of spend it this year or lose it forever.  Since some of the projects for 2020 were delayed due to the pandemic, they may need a place to spend this money.  Training funds, product recalibration, spare parts, tools, equipment, and tons of other stuff fall

Here is a good news/bad news kind of story.  Distributors across North America are investing to create webstores and an enhanced online presence – that’s the good news.  Conversely, the bad news is many of them have yet to establish any real level of expertise in the whole digital experience.  Simply put, they’re online but not good at it. Unlike traditional distributor selling where customer experience is based on local competitors and the guy on the other side of town, the customer compares their online experience to global options.  Customer experience with Amazon, Target, Costco, and others sets the bar for expectations.  We can’t have a schlocky webstore and expect great results.     To set the stage, one of the megatrends of the pandemic has been growth in web-based buying.  For instance, according to emarketer.com (Oct 12, 2020), e-commerce sales have grown by 32.4 percent while brick and mortar retailer sales have declined by 3.2 percent.  This trend extends into our industry.