Are You Any Different?

Has anyone ever ask you the golden questions,

"Why do I need to buy from you?"

"How are you different from the rest of the distributors?"

"What value do you bring me?"

And how often have you heard replies to these questions coming back as ,

"We have global presence."

"Because we are big, we offer better discounts."

"We offer many portfolios of products."

"We have great service."

"We offer free training and support."

"We have rebates."

Oh really? Am I supposed to be impressed?

It is no wonder many organizations, not just distributors, end up away money by offering discounts as a way to "differentiate" in the margin. In a current research that we are conducting, eroding margin and getting the mind share of resellers rank in the top 3 concerns and challenges of a distributor.

As long as a distributor struggle to clearly define what really makes them stand out, they will continue to have issues relating to the below points :

"eroding margins and getting the mind share of resellers rank in the top 3 concerns and challenges of a distributor"

RESELLER MINDSET

Resellers will continue to work with you, only if you offer them great promotion bundles, bid price discounts, and a big credit line. Even if you do offer great bundles and discounts, there is no denying that they will check up and compare this offering with another distributor. Unless, you are the only one distributing that product.

Why are they behaving this way? First, they do not see an engagement difference between you and other distributors. Next, they are also struggling to find a difference themselves. Their transactions usually ended up in a price war against competitors.

In fact, eroding margin is the number 1 identified challenge by most resellers in the market.

SHOWING VALUE

"We are cheaper" is not a differentiation, but very often, we get such answers from distributor salesperson. If there is no clear answer of differentiation, we suggest speaking to those resellers who constantly come back to you for business. Some of the hints would likely come from there.

Managers could also play a part to help find the uniqueness question by brainstorming with the sales team. Which of the areas defines your organisation? What word triggers thoughts of your brand? What prompts these phrases :

https://twitter.com/Cherryp_B/status/740507345000660993 • “Our customers tell us we’re special because of …”

• “We are the first to …” • “We are the only ones that …”

• "When we think of XXX, we think of YYY (you)."

Lookout for our summary of a research that we are currently doing to help distributors find value and differentiation. The research seeks to uncover what the resellers really need from a distributor. If you want to have a say in this research, or a copy of the concluded detailed report, click HERE.

""We are cheaper" is not a differentiation"

Clarity of values and strengths that makes an organization stand out drives loyalty, repeat business and high margins, if executed well. More often, the answers to this golden questions lay within your resellers and your company core values.

Find them, propagate them and exercise them.

We welcome your views and opinions here. Do share what you think in the comments box below.

Cherry-O!

#Consideration