Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/72524
Industry Insights continued us to earn business,operate efficiently,and remain profitable. It iswhywe are here at this convention.Wewant to improve our businesses,which leads me to yet another question I'd like our manufacturer partners to consider often: If the deal- er network disappeared,where would these services come from and where would the cost of providing these services shift to? These services and the costs associated with them aren't just going to disappear. This brings me to a second question I'd like our manufacturer partners to consider any time a situation comes up or any time there is a decision that has to bemade regarding a distribution policy or any decision that potentially strips compensation from the dealer. The question iswill this action"reinforce themessage"or"under- mine the value"of dealer based distribution? It is a very simple question you can ask and needs to be asked to keep our channel healthy and keep end users sat- isfied in the long run.Again, the question is will this action "reinforce the message"or "undermine the value"of dealer- based distribution? We desire better communication and collaboration on issues that could possibly"undermine the value"of dealer dis- tribution.And it is incumbent upon us to listen to your chal- lenges and needs in an understanding way and try to work through solutions together.We urge you to talk with your FEDA partners before making decisions that"undermine the value" we bring to you and to the end user every day. So before you sell direct or negotiatewith one of our customers, or open up another non-value-added form of distribution,or strip our compensation, talk to one of your FEDA partners to see if our interests can bemutually aligned. We know a lot of you understand this and are great sup- porters of dealer distribution.We thank those of you who are here in support of FEDA and its mission to keep dealer distribution the most professional, cost efficient and effec- tive way to get your quality products to market.We applaud those of you who have intentionally made decisions and have explored ways to support dealer distribution in your policies and day-to-day practices, and we encourage you to continue this. Lastly, this may look different for some of you (in regards to functional discounting and rebates,MAP and MRP policies,minimum order policies, and others) but we know who our partners are and we will not support those who"undermine our value. "u President's Message continued chain? If our industry manufacturers chase the short-term sales in front of them"because they are a part of the group, " will this end up being a long-term strategic blunder? Do these manufacturers believe that a FEDA member will con- tinue to support themif they are also selling the dealer's cus- tomers on a direct basis? Will end users be saddled with all of the hidden costs that they will have if they do find more direct paths to buy? Only time will tell how this plays out and we should all be watching carefully.u 32 FEDA News & Views