Close working relationships between distributors and manufacturers can improve sales for both.
Selling solutions involves more than just finding the right form in a catalog. These days, it often requires teamwork, with the distributor involving experts in software, production equipment and technology—all from a manufacturing partner.
But it doesn't have to stop there. Today, manufacturers also provide printed marketing collateral, product education, plant tours and joint sales calls to boost marketing efforts.
For instance, Highland Computer Forms, Hillsboro, Ohio, offers sample packs and welcomes distributors and their customers on plant tours. "It provides an additional level of comfort if they see the actual operation," said sales manager Rob Jones.
"I firmly believe it has secured business for us when we visit Highland Computer with a customer," said Chris McBride, vice president of corporate sales for the Paper Express and Ambrose divisions of Ambrose International, Detroit. He added that quality control is critical to many of his customers, so plant visits can make or break a deal.
"[Highland] brings technical aspects to the table—such as expertise with the equipment clients are using and why or why not a product would work with the equipment. They support our paper expertise; it's a good blend."
Technical support calls can blossom into full-fledged marketing efforts, according to Robert Fortner, an account rep with Powers Business Forms. A rep from CFC Print Solutions, Peachtree City, Ga., accompanied Fortner on a site visit when an end-user experienced a registration problem.
"Customers see that we have a direct connection with a manufacturer. Working toward one goal makes us appear bigger than we are," Fortner explained. "The manufacturer and distributor then become like one company in the end-user's eyes."
Teamwork has also helped another CFC distributor, Tri C Enterprises in Atlanta, land a major piece of business worth more than $500,000. President and CFO Bill Cole had been working with both CFC and the Chick-Fil-A restaurant chain for nearly 18 years. "My credibility with the customer was well-established and I could demonstrate a long history of working together with a manufacturer," Cole said.
After an initial meeting with Chick-Fil-A to discuss the customer's desire to streamline its ordering process for the company's 1000 restaurants and about 300 local marketing directors, Cole called CFC President Casey Campbell.
Campbell, along with CFC Vice President of Sales Bob Saunders, and Director of Information Technology Nick Greco, presented and answered technical questions at a meeting with decision makers from IT, purchasing, accounting, marketing and graphic standards.
An Internet-based business printing system and management tool was developed and marketing directors received a demo in October. The system, expected to go live in the second quarter this year, will provide secure round-the-clock order placement. Individual location information and order acknowledgments will be automatically generated and order numbers will be automatically entered into the corporate profit and loss system.
CFC has also put its MasterForm catalog on its Web site so distributors can find the appropriate form, download it, add logos and other personalization, and create a proof within hours. "It gives us a much more professional look," Fortner said.
In addition, Saunders said, CFC creates custom marketing pieces for vertical markets in alliance with the software distributor. "For instance, in the HVAC market, there may be 1,000 end-users who bought certain software and use our checks and invoices. We design a marketing piece with our distributor to target those customers," Saunders said.
Ward/Kraft, Fort Scott, Kan., provides sell sheets online for downloading and its extensive forms library, which is filed by product and industry, gives distributors "a lot of impact" in their marketing efforts, said Roger Buck, director of sales, Kansas forms division.
"We're also on the verge of launching a branded Web site so a distributor's online visitors can see Ward/Kraft's offerings and think they're still on the distributor's Web site," Buck said.
He also expects to eventually be able to offer downloadable Power Point presentations to distributors. "Look for a mix of printed and Internet marketing collateral in the future," he said.
The supplier often finds itself working hand in hand with distributors to devise solutions to end-users' problems, Buck said.
"We're seeing more team sales as relationships change because distributors are getting larger and want to single-source," Buck said. Ward/Kraft's near-constant stream of visiting distributors
is only the first level of the manufacturer's educational outreach.
"We get asked quite often to have a technical expert on call," Buck said. For instance, pressure-seal products are a hot item for many distributors, who need help marketing the product, solution and equipment.
Ward/Kraft provides a live demonstration of all three elements and will also do presentations for integrated labels or a large form/label prospect, Buck said.
To provide distributors with more in-depth product knowledge, Ward/Kraft just revamped its informal classes into formal quarterly classes known as Document Solutions University.
"We're moving very aggressively on training, especially since DMIA announced they're getting rid of their forms school," Buck said. Formerly, the manufacturer would occasionally offer one and a half days of instruction for up to 10 people.
In September, Ward/Kraft began offering three days of product, application and production instruction for up to 25 people. The sessions are free, with the exception of the last afternoon, which offers customer astonishment training for CSRs or specific product or sales technique training for salespeople.
"We've gotten a tremendous response," Buck said. "It's not just a distributor and vendor relationship; it's a partnership to win more and more penetration into an account base."
Cole, for one, thinks such partnerships are a great idea. While acknowledging that some distributors fear a loss of control, he said he's realized, "I don't know everything and I never will. I'm a dreamer, schemer and problem solver, and I was delighted when Casey Campbell called us [for joint projects]."
Having gladly shared financial information such as profit margins to enable the manufacturer to better structure a program which would help him, Cole said, "I trust them implicitly—and that's been built over the last 18 years. I know they'll keep information confidential because they've done exactly what they said they will do every time."
Fortner said he, too, wouldn't hesitate to bring a manufacturer in to "talk nuts and bolts" to equipment operators or technical staff. "That makes a world of difference to the customer. In the end, I think we'll find that a closer working relationship between manufacturers and distributors is not just a good thing, but a necessity."
By Janet R. Gross