I have had the opportunity to work closely with members of the Specialty Tools & Fasteners Distributors Assn. as a territory manager, creating and maintaining displays, putting on sales training meetings, doing joint sales calls, open houses, job-site events—what I now call the fundamentals or the blocking and tackling of supporting a STAFDA distributor partner.

I still make over 100 personal visits to STAFDA customers every year, and through it all, one thing has remained constant. This business is still based on relationships, people working together who enjoy each other and have mutual respect and trust for one another.

That adage is still true today. I believe more strongly than ever that companies do not do business with companies, but rather people do business with people.

I know suppliers would like to think that we have solid relationships with distributors, and in many cases we do. But relationships between suppliers and distributors are not where they need to be.

Many suppliers, myself included, struggle with this harsh fact. The August issue of Industrial Distribution reported that a large number of distributors, 45 percent, believe their relationship with suppliers have worsened compared to 5 to 10 years ago; 25 percent said they had “improved significantly,” and 29 percent said they have “remained the same.”

I've spent a lot of time talking to people about this subject, and they've said things like: The national chains and Web retailers are taking away suppliers' time and focus; e-mail culture has reduced the personal touch; industry consolidation has resulted in the big distributors getting all the attention; and the list goes on.

I'm sure all these things have contributed to the deterioration in relationships, but when you peel the onion back and take a hard look at the situation, I believe the biggest reason for the tension is that suppliers and distributors pick partners and not everyone is going to be happy—especially when sales and profit dollars are negatively affected.

Due to the local market conflicts, suppliers and distributors choose partners that line up best with their product offering and business interests.

It all comes down to the principle that 80 percent of your business will come from 20 percent of your customers. I am sure we all try to drive our businesses the same way, by choosing partners who provide the most impact. This in itself creates conflict and can strain the relationship between a supplier and the distributor who is not considered a “partner.”

I believe this is where we all need to focus the most—improving the relationship with our partners. The supplier and distributor relationship is not unlike a marriage. For it to work well and last, it depends on communication. Infrequent, bad, or no communication equates to a poor relationship.

We can all do a better job at working together to achieve our ultimate goal, which is to win more share of the professional contractor business. All in all, there is no question in my mind, if we can keep maintaining and working hard to foster stronger relationships built on trust and mutual commitment, the future will indeed be bright for all of us.