Have you tried to call the office of some of your suppliers
lately? A few weeks ago we were asked to do a mini-research project for a
major distributor. We phoned the local sales offices of their major suppliers.
We got all varieties of automated voicemails systems and forwards to other
offices. What we didn’t get were real live people answering the phone. When
we left detailed messages (we were following up on real problems), we typically
got calls back three, four or a week and a half later. This doesn’t bode well
for supporting the front line sales efforts of distributors.
In some industries it’s getting darn difficult to keep track
of the players. Downsizing, right sizing, whatever you call it – distributors
are reporting major changes in the sales teams who support their efforts. If
the manufacturer had 5 guys in an office serving the market, today there are
three people working out of their houses. Suddenly distributors discovered
their old guy was gone (or had twice the territory).
This affected the combined sales efforts. Loss of continuity
within the territory meant everything had to be explained… again. Customer
connections were lost. History of applications - all gone.
Here are a few of the effects:
- Product quality issues were handled by the distributor –
if at all. - Expediting connections were lost.
- Special pricing agreements were offered to the wrong
distributor. - Field planning sessions were more difficult to
facilitate. - Vendor led training went away.
- In some instances, vendor sales people fouled distributor/customer
relationships by promoting direct sales opportunities at customers. This
happens mostly because they were worried about their own job security or
commission levels.
For the most part, distributors were asked to pick up more
of the slack. As the recession ends, distributors who know exactly how to
explain their value to supply partners will prosper. To do this right,
distributors need to understand exactly how to communicate this in a
non-threatening and scientific way.