How to motivate your distributors?
- 17 December 2019
Cooperation with distributors involves challenging them to achieve greater efficiency. The benefits of having an effective network of distributors are obvious. Motivated customers generate more turnover than uninvolved dealers, increasing brand coverage, sales-driven production and innovation, and value to consumers.
What can be done to make the brand’s cooperation with the distributor efficient and satisfying for both parties?
We recommend:
Goal awareness, training, and tools
1. Product training.
Customers should have a clearly defined goal and should be provided with products they know well, and understand the purpose of. As soon as distributors learn more about your product, they will be more confident in selling it, and therefore also more effective in dealing with retailers or consumers.
2. Marketing materials.
The product itself (although a great one) is not enough to build a business on it. Take care of a well-thought-out marketing strategy, including materials such as POSs, product samples, as well as promotional campaigns and competitions that can stimulate consumers to buy and support the sales activities of your clients.
3. A rebate system.
It allows the distributor to earn more by selling your product. The opportunity to earn more money in exchange for a slightly larger sales effort is a “win-win” relationship. Implementing a secure rebate system is one of the simplest, automated tactics.
Awards system and development prospects
1. Award for the best.
The proverbial “carrot” is the most effective motivational strategy. If sales goals remain ambitious but realistic to achieve, clients can’t resist additional gratification for their efforts.
2. The propaganda of success.
Regularly informing distributors about the expansion of the brand and the possibility of participating in its success is a highly motivating factor. Greater exposure of a given distributor in brand activities can be not only a reward but also a factor stimulating its sale.
Monitoring of e-commerce channels
If the brand has its e-commerce but also works with a network of distributors, it must be very careful. To avoid the effect of “stealing” traffic and consumers from the resellers, the overall picture of the market is very important, especially the knowledge of the products’ position in a given category and its value. Dealavo’s price and shelf monitoring are very helpful here.
Price monitoring will also be very important for brands that work on the most effective pricing strategy and do not have their online store. The more profits and brand image depend on the sales network, the more important it is to observe the market, including competition between resellers. In such a situation, data from price monitoring may be the first impulse for preventive actions or the revision of your strategy.
After reading our post are you sure that you are doing everything in your power to have the best relationship with distributors? Try to evaluate your activities by the above points, and you will easily find areas that require additional attention.