Can we all get along to sell along?

Moments after my last article was published on “throwing strikes in strategy,” I was discussing marketing plans with a distributor to comply with information we had received on their customer’s expectations, and where they might improve.

We discussed various issues where their existing services were not in synch with the expectations of their customers. One major issue was that their customers were not being exposed to new products. I learned that their salespeople were not traveling with factory people or reps to bring new products, labor and money saving solutions. While the distributor shared that they communicated this information via email to their customers, nevertheless the feedback was that information was not being received.

This then begs the question of “is email marketing sufficient?” But that’s a question for another article.

Back to my discussion.

The marketing VP stated their salespeople did not travel with manufacturers (or reps) because, in the past, most of the reps, and the manufacturers, would fail to properly support their efforts, in the eyes of the distributor. The reps / manufacturers would either by quote others to the specific customer at equal levels, returning with other distributors to the same customer (at the other distributor’s request) or, if a rep, themselves promoting other products. At other times, the rep / manufacturer would fail to provide follow up. I asked if he had examples where this had happened and asked if management confronted those specifically involved to communicate their displeasure or find the accuracy of the complaints. He was not aware as apparently the issues occurred prior to his employment.

This left three issues to discuss.

1. If the rep / manufacturer is being brought to the same customer by another distributor, that isn’t the rep / manufacturer’s fault as they need to support all of their distributors in the marketplace. It is the responsibility of the distributor to secure the support of the customer.
2. If the rep returned to the customer to promote other products that the distributor did or didn’t sell, that’s their job … to create demand for their manufacturers. They would be remiss if they did not inform the customer of other products that could benefit the customer. The customer chooses whom to do business with and the distributor should be promoting the “why them” continuously to the customer.
3. If the rep / manufacturer didn’t do the follow-up that they committed to, then the distributor had a legitimate issue with the rep / manufacturer that should be pursued if it is a repetitive behavior and/or it was a significant opportunity as this could represent a lost sale, as well as it represents poorly to the customer.

Getting Past the Past

I shared an example where, years ago, I had traveled with a distributor salespeople years prior after the salesperson was forced by management to travel with me to promote a product they stocked. He reported that not a single one of the customers we were assigned to call on used the product and it would be a waste of time. On the first call we were invited back to the buyer’s office where on his desk, a catalog of the manufacturer we were there to sell was on his shelf. I asked if he used it and his response was “often.”  He said he was purchasing the product from an industrial distributor (a company similar to Grainger) because he was not aware of anyone locally that stocked it. The other two calls were nearly identical with each stating they used the product. We were able to easily convert the business to this electrical distributor. Was he a poor salesperson? He continued in the business for many years and did fairly well. His emphasis was not on the specific product we were promoting as he preferred selling gear, lighting, and wire.

The morale of the story was two-fold:

• Distributor salespeople need to ask questions as well as be open-minded when thinking about their customers and exploring for new business.
• Many salespeople only sell the product offerings they are comfortable with, or, in this case, represent significant sales dollars. They want to avoid having to learn new products or want the marquee sales.

Another example was a large hospital group that purchased their electrical products almost exclusively with a national industrial distributor. Why? The buyer stated it was easy to place business with them as they were a “one-stop shop,” from electrical to HVAC to toilet paper all of which he was responsible. They were purchasing products from the same manufacturers our agency represented, but we were not being compensated. I went to maintenance and found the industrial distributor had a weakness. They could not provide necessary training that their insurance company required on electrical products. We were able to convert their electrical business with a commitment to provide the hours of training they needed to maintain. And, if I recall, the distributor who was awarded the business also saved them money.

Not all reps or distributors are the same!

Years ago, I arranged a day of joint sales calls with a distributor person. The first customer he had “been calling on for years” and they were 15 minutes from his office. He got lost getting us there. To make matters worse, it was a large industrial. He was unaware of how to get us past security. The next call he got us there, but neither the engineer nor buyer we were scheduled to see knew him. While the day started inauspiciously, it wasn’t a total failure as I was able to introduce him to some of the products my manufacturers represented.

It’s all about mindset. There are far more successful examples of joint sales calls than there are of negative ones, so I excuse examples like this as “delays” and not failures.

Are We Succeeding Distributing Product but Failing in Sales Effort?

Reviewing the research Channel Marketing Group has done for distributors contractors, industrials, utilities, and institutions clearly shows they see a lack of support from many electrical distributors (but not all, nor all salespeople), especially since COVID. Their complaint is with the lack of sales support, as their ability to receive material correctly and on a timely basis has actually improved. Where are we missing that “strike zone?”

While electrical distributors cannot possibly compete with other distribution channels in terms of breadth of products (we’re not Amazon, Grainger, Fastenal, Home Depot, Ferguson, or similar), it is interesting to note that Channel Marketing Group’s analysis of many customers nationally find improvement and few complaints regarding the quality of receiving product, rather most issues are in sales support, which likely should be our key advantage over other forms of distribution. Do our outside salespeople bring specialists even from their own companies to their customers? It should be a team approach as no one can possibly be an expert on all of the products and nuances of our industry, yet if we do have that support, let customers know it by seeing it and not just telling them we have it available.

In regard to concerns over loyalty and expectations of the manufacturer or rep, I believe they can be easily mitigated if discussed as part of the business plan with the selected people involved through communication, cooperation, and a mutual benefit to each party. Should there not be these very basic understandings between managing people, the obvious repercussions should be enough and recognized by all.

More importantly, from a distributor perspective, the “quality” of a rep should be a component of a distributor’s supplier decision-making process, and their supplier evaluation process. Today’s rep needs to do more than be a quotation engine and order follow-up vehicle. They need to drive demand in a marketplace to support their manufacturer and their distributors. Further, if they are not doing the “basic” of following up on their commitments, this should be a red flag for a distributor. Channel Marketing Group recently solicited input from over 50 manufacturers and reps to develop NEMRA’s 2025 Rep of the Future, Vision 2030 report. This should become the minimum expectations of distributors and manufacturers, and a benchmark for reps (reps and manufacturers can download a copy of the report by logging into their NEMRA portal or emailing Sue Todd. Distributors can email us for an executive summary, can purchase a copy of the report, or maybe ask your rep to share the insights with you.)

After all, we all have the same objective … to sell something.

Looking for more insights?

• If you’re a rep or lighting agent and want to gain insights into what your distributors think of you, give us a call.
• If you’re a distributor seeking insights on evaluating reps, or suppliers, give us a call.