THE WHOLESALER® — FEBRUARY 2011• Throttle up now for 2011 (Continued from 8.)


week and one of the activities was to build and discuss a list of the charac- teristics of a good customer. As we began, one of the salesmen admitted that his customer screening approach was very simple: “Anyone with a pulse is an acceptable customer or prospective customer.” He admitted this had led to some marginal to un- acceptable customers over the years.


Trim unsalvageable customers Get rid of the “no good unethical


son’s of guns” that are not salvageable. I say this with some reservation be-


The wholesaler is solely responsible for making the [customer]


relationship interesting.


cause, in this economy, we are all look- ing for business. However, a small number of your customers are clearly over the line and you should look re- ally look hard at firing them.


Reform the rest Try to reform the ones that may


just need some coaching. Sometimes they just don’t know they are doing things that make them a problem cus- tomer; just asking them to change may get them on a better course. If that doesn’t work, make sure their pricing allows you to make good profit for the indignities you endure.


Added attention never hurts Target some customers for addi-


tional attention. When you sense that a contractor is going to be a winner in your market and that you can evolve him to a profitable primary supplier relationship, it might be worth some extra sales and executive effort.


Build that relationship Visit and tell your good customers


that you appreciate them and ask them what you can do to make the “marriage” even better. Also, while business is slow, plan activities that will make your relationship more in- teresting over the coming year. In a previous column, I described how boring most customer relationships have become and suggested that this is not a 50/50 situation — the whole- saler is solely responsible for making the relationship interesting. (For a reprint of that column, e-mail rich@go-spi.com.)


Commit to doing the basics better: • Create a plan to present interest-


ing counter displays that get rotated weekly or every two weeks. Displays


W See contact information on page 70 • Be sure to visit www.thewholesaler.com for web exclusive articles and videos! •


should, whenever possible, be “hands-on” where the customer can touch, try, inspect, disassemble and reassemble the product. Collateral materials should be available so the customer can take home information for reference or further research.


These displays can be: 1. Existing products as a reminder 2. New products being introduced 3. Specials designed to move prod-


uct or to establish price impressions. Finally, make sure your team can demonstrate the product and answer questions about it. When your team responds to any question with, “I don’t know what that is, the market- ing people left it there,” you can bet


your customers won’t be impressed. • Create a separate area for your


tired, your poor, your dinged, your damaged and your distressed —


products that is. A. The counter isn’t an area for


closeouts. B.Having a separate area for close-


SMART MANAGEMENT


outs and damaged products is a good practice. Train customers to check your “closeout” area for bargains. Consider placing these products in a clearly visible designated area in


small batches with really good prices. C. This creates one more reason for the customer to regularly stop at your


locations. D. Consider selling these products


at a WOW price — One of our clients does everything right, except, he prices the items at an OK-to-good price. So customers see it and may buy it if they need the product now. The wholesaler is missing the WOW factor of a great-to-really great price and the residual impact to counter


traffic that can be generated. E.While it may seem reasonable to


blow out all this product as quickly as possible, it may be more strategic to


pulse it out for its marketing value. • Try to use the same “hands on”


approach to sales calls when possible. A.A salesperson armed with prod-


ucts that the customer can handle is better than bringing just literature and better than having a salesperson


•67


doing shadow puppets on the wall. B. If you are forced to use litera-


ture, try to include lots of naked pic- tures — of products that is. While consumers like pretty air-brushed product photos, techs like pictures of products in all their glory. Since techs spend their time in the products’ guts,


why not show them the guts? C. Again, always leave something behind whenever possible. So that’s my list for this month. I


tried to make it short so you can pick a couple and make some real progress while business is slow. n


Rich Schmitt is president of Schmitt Consulting Group Inc., a manage- ment consulting firm focused on im- proving the profitability of distribution and manufacturing clients. www.go-scg.com


Rich is also the co-owner of Schmitt ProfitTools Inc. (SPI), a business pro- ducing print, CD-ROM, web and palm-based catalogs as well as pric- ing management and analysis soft- ware for wholesalers. www.go-spi.com


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