Strengthening relationships | FOCUS
HOW MANUFACTURERS RESPONDED TO COVID-19
If anything highlighted the importance of having a strong bond between retailer and supplier it’s the Covid situation. We shine a spotlight on just some of the many campaigns and initiatives implemented by suppliers during the height of the pandemic, to ensure their retail networks got the support they needed through the challenges of lockdown and beyond
desire to support dealers remains’ ‘Pressures change, but the
STEPHEN JOHNSON, MANAGING DIRECTOR, QUOOKER UK
always been a complex one. Covid has certainly heightened the need for this relationship to be explored and better understood, but there’s rarely a time where a supplier or retailer is not under some form of external pressure, be that a fi nancial crisis, Brexit or the pandemic.
T
While the relationship is complex, it is a crucial one to get right. Our business success or failure is determined by our ability to build and strengthen relationships with our dealers. As a supplier, we are absolutely committed to partnering with our dealers. We want to make sure they get a fi rst-class service, a quality product and ultimately, we want customers to purchase through them. The whole Quooker strategy is therefore based around engaging with our dealers to develop the business for our mutual benefi t. The challenge is that as everyone’s business is different, so too is each relationship. The complexity comes because you have to work with a host of different people and different business models. There is no magic formula – only by understanding each business individually can you deliver a bespoke approach that works for both parties. You have to be fl exible. This is what we pride ourselves on doing. This dealer-fi rst, fl exible approach is key, regardless of the pressure in question. Look at Brexit v Covid. The pressures have been different, but the desire to support the dealer at all costs remains the same. With the former, the primary issue was, and continues to be, around pricing.
Despite market uncertainty and movement in the exchange rate meaning our product was costing more, as a company we guaranteed our partners would not see that price increase at a huge personal
November 2020 · 43
he relationship bet - ween supplier and dealer is and has
cost to the business. With regards to the pandemic, it was clear that cash fl ow was going to become a very real problem for our retailers. So, we devised a scheme to fi nancially support our dealers. The scheme allowed them to defer debt for the length of the lockdown – so they were able to suspend their accounts with us from March to end of June. We also did not chase money for pre-ordered stock. So, basically it meant that our retailers didn’t have to pay for anything until their customers started spending again. We also recognised that face-to- face contact was going to be a big issue during lockdown. We wanted to fi nd a way that we could operate
through lockdown and maintain vital communication with our dealers. So, additionally to the fi nance package, we came up with a virtual install and service package. Using our augmented reality app, consumers could place an order with retailers nationwide, at a discounted rate. We then promised to ship the product within 72 hours, without a delivery charge. Consumers could then be guided through the installation process by a certifi ed Quooker installer within a two-hour window. This initiative not only gave consumers access to the
products, but it also helped retailers and kept as many independent installers as possible working. Another area that we were concerned with was
Our business success or failure is determined by our ability to build and strengthen the relationships we have with our dealers
the very real threat of redundancies across the KBB industry. So, alongside trying to devise a business strategy that enabled us, and our partners, to continue trading, we also wanted to invest in supporting those who’d lost their jobs because of the pandemic.
Kbbreview came up with the Save Our Skills cam - paign [aimed at helping anyone made redundant from the KBB sector to fi nd a new role], which I thought was absolutely amazing
and something that we decided to invest in. We’re so thrilled with the difference the campaign is making that we’ve agreed to support it until the end of the year. We feel that by supporting this, we are doing something to help the wider industry and we would encourage other manufacturers to take a similar view because, ultimately, our businesses need retailers.
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