Marketing and the small distributor
Getting the word out on your company is the key to competing in today's marketplace
By Paul Gunn -- Industrial Distribution, 10/1/1998
International conglomerates, national conglomerates, mergers, acquisitions, catalog houses, consortiums and integrated supply: in an era of transitional markets and vendor reduction, the smaller, independent distributor finds gorillas everywhere. More and more manufacturers are fighting for a share of the traditional industrial market. The demands placed on small distributors to keep pace are daunting.What can you do? The supply of experienced salesmen is being stretched by the growing number of competitors, while the average cost of a sales call is skyrocketing. Service industries and consumer products companies have faced the challenges of worldwide competition for years using marketing techniques and programs to help develop and maintain business. Industrial distributors can do the same.
Telemarketing programs, mailings, advertising, public relations, lead qualification and market analysis can all be components of a successful marketing program. Consider these examples:
* I go through a pile of promotional mailings every day. Most end up in the circular file, but once in a while something catches my eye. A five percent return on a thousand-piece mailer is a lot less expensive than 50 sales calls.
* Industrial distributors are experienced when it comes to advertising in the right trade journals -- but press releases picked up by the same journals are free and have a certain sense of validity.
* Sending unqualified sales leads to an over-worked sales force is an exercise in futility. Qualifying leads first cuts down on false trails your sales force ends up chasing.
* Who is your sales force calling on -- the same old shrinking base of accounts that you and they are familiar with? What are they selling -- new products developed and promoted by manufacturers in response to competitive forces that have no application in your region? Or, are your sales efforts market driven? Are you showing customers what they really want and need?
Marketing campaigns and programs can be expensive, especially if you go to an outside source. Our experience shows that most marketing companies are focused on service industries and consumer goods, not industrial distribution. Paying $75 to $100 an hour to educate someone on your industry so they can do work for you gets old quickly. There are options, however.
Try having your inside sales team make two or three outbound calls a day to new or smaller customers who have just made a purchase. The majority of responses will likely be positive, which in turn will boost morale and at least solidify a customer relationship, if not increase sales. Three calls a day equals 15 a week and 60 a month. Sixty positive outbound calls per month times three, four or five inside sales reps equals an effective telemarketing campaign.
Mailings need not be mammoth, artful promotions to be successful. Try selecting a small, measurable market segment in one sales territory and do an individualized campaign -- postcard-style mailers promoting specific items work fine. Qualified leads on new customers usually is the result.
Press releases can be short and to the point, and editors and writers of all types are usually looking for filler for all sorts of publications. Start with someone you advertise with. It can be a new product announcement, a new hire, expansion or promotion -- just keep your name in print and improve your visibility with your customers.
Our sales manager of many years couldn't stand full retirement, so he runs our sales lead qualification program on a part-time basis. A retired economist looking to keep busy researches business journals, newspapers and the Internet for regional business activity and provides us with brief reports twice a month. Who's growing and what's new in your region -- it helps to know.
Marketing is not a measurable science, but it can be cost-effective. The old adage that "knowledge is power" is at the base of achieving results through marketing programs -- you know who the customer is and what he needs and the customer knows who you are and what you can provide.
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