The 2022 State of Distributor Sales Report: Emerging Positions in Distributor Sales

Emerging Positions in Distributor Sales

On June 1^st, I presented research titled 2022 State of Distributor Sales: Rewriting the Distributor Playbook for a New Era.  I like the moniker “playbook” because it exemplifies the sales effort of the best distributor teams.  This wasn’t always the case.  One of the biggest changes I have observed throughout the course of my career is a shift away from “Lone Ranger” sellers who were once the distributor’s only point of connection with customers.  Today the best distributors employ a team of people, each with at least one customer connection. 

 

Way back in 2007, we researched and explored the use of the term Specialist, which was a relatively new phenomenon in the repertoire of knowledge-based distributors.  One key point coming out of that research was this: Upper-quartile distributors used specialists differently.  They created a playbook carefully outlining key areas of the hand-offs between specialists and sellers.  

 

Since that time, distributors have continued to add new positions to their sales teams.  We have seen changes in inside sales and other customer service functions with each group taking on a bigger role in the sales process.  The 2022 State of Distributor Sales research indicates more changes quietly taking place in the process. 

 

Recessions, economic storms, and other cultural shifts serve to accelerate such changes.  The research provided solid evidence of this point.

 

Over the past two or so years of Covid junk, enough distributors have added two emerging positions for us to call it a real shift.  Distributors are adding to the team.

 

Sales Administrators – Used by nearly 33 percent of distributors

For years distributors have been talking about ways to increase the amount of active selling time provided by their teams.  About a half dozen years ago, we worked with several of our clients to measure the percentage of time salespeople spent engaged in selling.  Here was our plan.

 

Salespeople were asked to log their time over a two-week interval.  Armed with a beeper on their phone, at the end of each 15 minutes, salespeople checked a box containing the typical activities of a salesperson.   Below is a summarization of our clients’ responses.

 

Salesperson Time Log
Direct Sales Activity	Time Logged
Speaking Directly to Customers	16.3%
Providing Technical Assistance to Customers	9.4 %
Product Research	8.4%
Activities Potentially Impacted by Sales Administrator
Crib Management Paperwork	1%
Preparing Quotes	9.6%
Price, Delivery, Order Entry	2%
Expediting	3%
Fixing Order Issues with Customers	2.4%
Administrative Time	6.4%
Making Appointments and Planning	8%
Time to Consider for Future Improvement
Sales Meetings	3%
Travel Time	25.4%

 

Clearly, there are many tasks that could potentially be pushed to a properly trained administrative assistant.  With the escalating compensation tied to qualified technical salespeople, a sales administrator is essential as we move into the future.

 

Distributors were shocked by the travel time invested in getting to their customers.  Perhaps the next position could be a solution to the travel time issue.

 

Proactive Inside Sales – Used by nearly 29 percent of distributors in the study

Reports from distributors around the industry indicate many are asking their inside sales and customer service teams to make outgoing calls to customers.  Unfortunately, most of these situations have not worked well, if at all.  Inside salespeople tend to be mostly reactive in nature and, arguably, most do not feel comfortable making proactive calls to ask for additional opportunities. 

 

To create contrast against inside salespeople who occasionally made a call, we asked distributors if they had people on staff who devote more than 50 percent of their time to outgoing calls. 

 

During our in-depth conversations with distributors, we discovered that many of them were employing this strategy to
better serve customers whose business levels did not justify regular calls from a traditional outside salesperson.  In at least a couple of instances, the outgoing calls were made by traditional sellers who were reassigned to this role after demonstrating strong skills for selling remotely during the worst phases of the Pandemic. 

 

Further, one distributor described the role as doing “everything that a traditional sales guy would do except they use phone/Zoom tools rather than a company car.”  

 

In 100 percent of the cases explored in detail, the results have been positive.  Plus, the cost per sales call has been impacted greatly.

 

Our research indicates that more distributors are exploring the out-going call model in the future.  It’s a smart move when you consider the 25 percent of time spent traveling paired with spending $5.00 (or more) per gallon of gas.  This is a viable option in many selling situations.

 

Wrapping it all up

The Distributor Business Model is resilient and in a never-ending state of evolution.  Since my first recollection, there have been hordes of “experts” predicting the demise of the distribution industry.  One thing most of these pundits missed is the industry’s ability to quickly adapt to meet new challenges. 

 

The Covid Pandemic brought many changes, and I am happy to report distributors have responded quickly and analytically to the new set environment. 

 

The full 2022 State of Distributor Sales report is available for free and can be downloaded here.

Frank Hurtte, Founding Partner of River Heights Consulting, shares his personal experiences with 28 years of "in the trenches" training and 17 years as a consultant. He serves as a personal coach to industry leaders across many lines of distribution. He has authored 5.5 books (one is almost done) and has written hundreds of articles for national trade magazines.
Frank is also a sought-after copywriter of marketing materials for technology companies. His charismatic, yet laid-back, easy-to-follow manner makes him a favorite among public speakers.

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