Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/42495
MAP & MRP continued draft of its MAP policy in September— before officially launching the program January 1, 2011. "Even before that, we had meetings with a variety of dealers and buying groups, where we explained the policy and answered questions," says Landeche. "So when January 1 came, we didn't have to worry as much about enforce- ment, because we had invested long periods of time and a lot of effort in making sure our distributors under- stood why we were adopting MAP. "The purpose of MAP is to create an environment where the end user can enjoy a purchasing experience support- ed by trained, professional and fully-sup- portive dealers in the identification, selection and purchase of equipment. As MAP equalizes the advertised price of items among dealers, it encourages and rewards dealers who differentiate them- selves and their businesses by providing a superior customer experience to the buyer. We believe that the buyer and "The purpose of MAP is to create an environment where the end user can enjoy a purchasing experience supported by trained, professional and fully-supportive dealers in the identification, selection and purchase of equipment." Dean Landeche, Senior Vice President of Marketing, Manitowoc Foodservice seller develop a unique relationship. MAP honors that relationship by giving flexibility at the point of transaction." According to proponents, MAP poli- cies also help level the competitive field by requiring those with an infrastruc- ture—and those with little or no infra- structure—to advertise product at or above a minimum price. It also protects the integrity of a manufacturer's brand and the competitiveness of its products by controlling the visibility of its price points, says Henderson of Frank Lynn & Associates. "Even so," he adds, "the truth of the matter is there aren't a lot of [foodser- vice equipment] transactions that occur over the Internet; it's low single digits as a percentage of sales. There are a few large Internet resellers who would disagree because their business is so big, but it's not a huge problem for most distributors from a transactions continued on page 33 September/October 201 1 31