"Selling through Distributors" : follow this course insights and boost sales

A strategic move for businesses aiming to broaden their market reach and improve operational efficiency. This partnership model offers several crucial advantages:

• Distributor networks enable companies to reach a wider customer base, including regions that might be otherwise challenging to access.
• Manufacturers can focus on their core competencies, such as product development and marketing, while distributors handle logistics.
• A collaboration with them can significantly reduce overhead costs, covering areas like warehousing, transportation, and staffing.
• They expedite market entry by leveraging their existing infrastructure and industry relationships.
• Local market insights they provide help in tailoring products and marketing strategies to specific regions.
• Their effective inventory management minimizes the risk of overstock or stockouts.
• They act as a buffer against market fluctuations and economic uncertainties, spreading risk.
• They often offer post-sales support and customer service, enhancing the overall customer experience.
• Navigating complex regulatory and compliance issues is made easier with their support.
• Partnering with distributors can elevate a company's brand visibility and reputation in specific markets.
• They can provide the flexibility to scale operations quickly to adapt to changing market conditions.

While these benefits are significant, careful selection of distributors and clear communication are essential for a successful partnership. The decision to use distributors should align with a company's broader strategic objectives and market entry strategy.

Unfortunately, some companies make mistakes that prevent them from taking advantage of this tremendous opportunity.

• The first is to believe that all it takes to get results is to sign a contract committing the distributor to a sales quota.
• The second, which is also very common, is to fall into the trap of doing most of the their customer visits, selling, and letting the distributor collect the sales and only take care of the logistics.

Don't smile  It's much more common than we like to admit.

Selling through a distributor is not just about signing a contract and a sales quota.This can only be the case if you have an internationally renowned product and all the distributors are fighting to represent your brand.But for the majority of companies looking to create a distributor network, things are quite different.

• You have to convince distributors to represent you.
• You have to convince them to invest. You have to convince them to invest time and resources to succeed
• And thirdly, you have to convince them to let us guide them, to agree to work with us on action plans for their sales reps, to train and coach them.
• In short, to become their part-time head of sales, without having the official title. And that, too, is quite a challenge. But it can be done

In all three cases, it's the distributor itself that needs convincing. We need to turn a number of lights green before we can get started.  We need to visualise these indicators in the form of a tool that I call the distributor quality meter. It will be the cornerstone of our distributor portfolio management. I'll tell you all about it - and every time we meet a distributor we'll know exactly what the relevant objectives of our discussions are.

Once we have turned on the lights that are essential to our success, we need to look after the activities of the distributor's sales staff.

First of all, motivate and train them. Then supervise them: . draw up good action plans with them . coach them . monitor their activity . reward their successes Yes, but. This only works if we have the authority. This implies that this authority is delegated to us by the distributor itself.  I'd rather repeat myself than contradict myself. This implies having obtained the distributor's agreement to do this.

Which brings us back to the starting point How to convince a distributor to sell our products and let us manage his team. I'll tell you how.

Lastly, a specific management style needs to be put in place. I'll say it again, even with delegation from the distributor, the manager doesn't have 100% authority over the distributor's salespeople To succeed, you need to have the qualities of a motivating manager. The ability to train, coach and advise appropriately. Knowing how to guide sales staff with relevant action plans that are accepted and implemented . Inspire, not dictate . Reward and recognise performance.

And I told you: the big mistake is to sell in place of the distributor's salesperson Some distributors expect you to sell in their place and that they only take care of the cash and logistics. This amounts to investing 100 to 200 visits a year to your distributor's customers, which takes up all your time.

That's not the way to go. Instead, invest your time so that the 1,000 to 2,000 visits by your distributor's salespeople are 80% effective rather than 30 or 50. You'll see: that's how you'll get your results to take off.

Once again, you need to be clear with the distributor from the outset that this is how you will work together. It's at the time of the first contact with the distributor that you need to get the distributor's agreement to co-manage his salespeople.

To sum up this introduction, here is the content of the course I'm going to present to you.

• How to choose the priorities for action to boost the performance of your distributors
• How to co-pilot the activities of your distributor's sales staff
• What are the two tools needed for VPD ? 
• How to convince a distributor to let you co-pilot their sales performance

Enjoy!