Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/117069
The President���s Message Are you a good partner? etter yet, here���s an even better know that if you have the product in question to ponder:What is a good your warehouse or on a shelf, you have partner? As dealers, we are very a better chance of selling it when a cusgood at pointing out the areas where our tomer shows an interest; sometimes it���s vendors have ���done us wrong.��� We get the only chance. Salespeople want to anxious about open communication give great service and it is far easier and between our vendors and customers and less complex to give that service when often wonder are they selling direct or if you have the item. Our manufacturers we will lose our rebates.These issues are are being asked to do more and more drop shipping and very real and will be here many have not put for the foreseeable future, This question was together a model to but this article is not about posed to several execute the increasing whether our vendors are demands. As our vengood partners to us. industry manufacturer dors invest in better Instead, I thought today I leaders and the systems to handle would try to take a differanswers I received increasing small-order ent view and ask you, the volume (drop ships), dealer, are you a good part- ranged from the they will be forced to ner to your vendors? expected to the pass along these costs This question was posed surprising���and a few to us and at some point to several industry manufacturer leaders and the things I had never given their systems could make it too easy for answers I received ranged thought to. them to disintermedifrom the expected to the surprising���and a few things I had never ate the dealer. Vendors expect program loyalty and given thought to. The manufacturers of our industry, like dealers, have differing support through the dealer���s organizaopinions of what is important in a part- tion. Our vendors extend to us programs ner for many reasons. However, there and incentives so we will be driven to are several common threads and a few sell more of their product. Ideally, we focus on a few brands in a given categothat even overlap to some degree. The first may seem like common ry as our preferred brands. As we move sense: Vendors expect that a good dealer more of that brand���s volume, we are partner will invest in training programs, rewarded via our program and, thereboth for new hires and ongoing training fore, want to sell even more of that for veterans. The investment in training brand. It should then continue to cycle would then translate to a sales force that on itself. However, manufacturers goes beyond order taking and is worthy expressed to me that most dealers have of being called sales professionals. By programs with far too many brands in a professional, I mean being proficient in category, often confusing their sales selling based on features and benefits, force. Further, even when in a buying cost to operate, and solutions to the cus- group, manufacturers feel that their buytomer���s needs. The manufacturers I ing group program is often used against heard from are seeing too much selling a non-group program to leverage a better based on price, which is a margin losing price from the non-group manufacturer, continued on page 50 race to the bottom for us all. Carrying inventory is something that vendors see good partners doing. They B Brad Wasserstrom, President The Wasserstrom Co. BradW@wasserstrom.com See page 26 for more on being a good partner from Hatco's Vice President of Sales Mike Whiteley. 4 FEDA New s & View s