Yes, your brand is excellent, with strong values and interesting products, and your marketing plan is on a par with your ambitions. However, the majority of your retailers aren’t really on board with this plan. Here are a few points to consider that might be useful to you.
The distributor or reseller will implement your marketing plan if it’s in their interest to do so! After all, their objective isn’t necessarily the same as your brand’s. The retailer thinks in terms of turnover, sales or leads. Generally speaking, they have little time to devote to marketing and communications, and in any case, their resources in this area are limited. Sometimes, marketing or communications functions are even handled by senior management or a sales representative.
The first thing to do, therefore, is to take this context and these constraints into account when tailoring your communications with the network. The best approach is to carry out a brief survey to identify the retailers’ actual marketing needs when it comes to selling your brand’s products. This will enable you, on the one hand, to demonstrate that you are interested in their challenges and, on the other hand, to scale the plan realistically.
This point is all the more crucial if you are not the leading brand at the retailer’s. If you are a brand of towed equipment, for example, you will always take second place to the tractor brand, which is the retailer’s flagship product. The key challenge is to convince dealers that they have a commercial interest in boosting sales of your brand in order to diversify and secure their business. That’s where your interests align!
Giving meaning to the marketing plan
If you want your retailers to buy into your plan, don’t rush straight into the action plan; try to explain to them your objectives, the markets in which you wish to grow, the products to be promoted, the target audiences… Whilst always bearing in mind your shared interest: turnover. The retailer must naturally see what they stand to gain. In other words, the brand’s marketing plan can become a business development plan for the retailer.
Making life easier for resellers with ready-to-use tools
Here, we’re talking about the practical side of things. Given the lack of time, the fact that resellers are ‘new to’ communication, and the issue of competition between brands, it’s in your best interests to offer them a bespoke service. In other words, take the work off their hands with ready-to-use tools that are easy to implement straight away. For example:
- social media posts ready to publish,
- local campaigns,
- sales pitches,
- emailing,
- POS,
- marketing materials,
- customisable content,
- kits for trade fairs / open days.
The more the content needs to be adapted, the less the system will be used.
Involve rather than impose
Another key factor for success in implementing your plan: try to get your team on board by creating momentum, or even a spirit of friendly competition. Ideally, you should set up a ‘marketing or communications’ group for the brand comprising members of the network, recognise their value in this role and, above all, involve them in shaping the direction. It is essential to feed back the needs from the front line. If they don’t feel they’re being listened to, they’ll move on to something else.
It’s also a good idea to trial campaigns with a few pilot retailers. Promoting best practice is also a good idea! Finally, regular meetings with the networks help to build momentum within the network. And why not organise an annual meeting in a friendly atmosphere with a ‘club-like’ spirit? In short, treat them as your colleagues and look after them!
Measuring, supporting and driving change
To monitor the use of the tools and the resulting sales figures as closely as possible, set up a dashboard. This will enable you to identify the top-performing resellers and those who need a little more support. This assessment will also enable you to streamline certain initiatives that are not working as well, or not at all. A marketing plan should be dynamic and adaptable; it is this very aspect that will appeal to the network.
If you can afford to do so, don’t hesitate to offer training to your distributors as well. Not everyone is comfortable with social media, for example, and it’s not just a generational issue. Once you’ve assessed their level, you could offer two-hour webinars on a specific topic to help them improve. Do avoid having too many people on the call, though, as this limits the time you can spend with each person.
The 5-question test
Before launching a campaign with your dealer network, here’s a quick test with five questions. If a campaign scores five ‘yes’ answers, it stands a good chance of being adopted!
The 5-question checklist before taking action via the network:
- Is this useful for my retailer?
- Does he understand the objective straight away?
- Can he use it without any particular marketing skills?
- Does it save him time?
- Can we measure the result?
In short, the best network marketing plan isn’t the one with the most actions, but the one that resellers actually want to use!
At Appaloosa, we work with a number of clients in the agricultural sector who find themselves in this situation. Shall we discuss it?