INCENTIVES TO GET DISTRIBUTORS TO SELL PRODUCTS

1. How to land a distributor for your productrnThere are three basic ways to sell your product: Sell directly to customers via your websiternSell to retail stores, which then sell to customersrnSell to a distributor, which sells to retail stores that then sell to customersrnA distributor is mostly concerned about: The level of profit they can make on your productrnThe cost of stocking and fulfilling your productrnWhether your product is scalablernWhether you sell multiple productsrnThe reasoning behind the first two points is obvious. Retailer or distributor, profits and costs are paramount. rn2. The 10 most common mistakes manufacturers make when dealing with distributors & how to avoid themrnYou need to view your distributor not as your customer, but as your “channel partner”rnwho is, in effect, your teammate in making sure the needs and expectations of the “true” customer are met You need to structure the relationship you maintain with your distributorsrnin a way that will enable you to best meet the customer’s needs and expectations in a way that’s profitable for both you and your distributors. You need to work closely with your distributorsrnto clearly identify what you expect of them and what they can expect from you. By carefully defining each other’s specific roles and responsibilities together, you can maximize your respective profitability by avoiding costly duplication of effort and preventing the problems that frequently arise from unreasonable expectations Distributors frequently respond byrnoffering their customers more and more services from which to choose. But in today’s highly competitive, fast-paced marketplace, more choices may be one of the last things that customers want Real value for customers comes fromrnhelping them reduce their overall costs and/or improving their own performance. Therefore, before you and your distributors can truly begin to add value for your mutual customers, you need to gain a clear understanding of the customers’ businesses — especially those activities that they perform as they acquire, store, use, and dispose of the products they purchase. Then you and your distributors can tailor your service offerings accordingly. Most distributor salespeople understand the importance ofrnlearning about a product and how to sell it. But if you take into account how many different products the average distributor carries and how much training would be required to effectively prepare them to sell all these different items, you’ll see that your distributors’ ability to effectively sell your products may be minimal at best. Too often, a distributor salesperson’s approach to sales is tornwait for the phone to ring and ask, “How many do you need?” When it’s a customer on the line. That method may work very well for a distributor with a lot of products that tend to sell themselves. But if your product involves considerable pre-sale work or a complex sell, you need more than a bunch of order-takers. The key is to build distributors’ commitment to your companyrnAnd you can do that by taking steps to make your products more important to the financial success of the distributor while at the same time reducing the costs and “hassles” incurred by the distributor when selling them. Incentive programs are a staple of many manufacturer-distributor arrangementsrnAnd a well-crafted incentive program can be instrumental in helping a manufacturer boost sales, expand its market share, and increase its leverage with its distributors. Programs offering discounts, junkets, merchandise, and other spiffsrnto distributors should be structured so that they encourage distributors to continually sell your products rather than simply build their inventories when they can get a better price. Another important element of a good incentive program is to reward distributors for improving their sales proficiency It’s also important that any incentive programs be tied directly to your company’s goals and the strategy being employed to realize those goals. And even more importantly, remember that spiffs alone aren’t enough. They have to be supported with customer-oriented marketing efforts, training programs, and other support. Google+ Loyaltyworksrn2299 Perimeter Park DrivernSuite 150rnAtlanta, GA 30341rnLoyaltyworks