Tag Archives: customer
Wholesale Distributors Meeting 21st Century Challenges
Expanding Services Margin Upside
Product margins vary for Wholesale Distributors, based on products, territories, and their own efficiencies. But clearly, service margins are usually much higher. Along with outsourcing, manufacturers are also closing branch offices and service depots. Businesses don’t want the head count or the challenges associated with the resource management of diverse and remote facilities, logistics, and people.
That represents the upside for the wholesale distributor! Local market knowledge, the strength and weakness of the product catalog, and insight can be provided into the types of services that customers need. Today, many brand companies clearly know that their channel partners are the ‘sales and service arms’ of their companies. And many have put large investments in place, from sales training to product installation, repair training and certification.
For call centre management, this capability can also be leveraged to support clients’ businesses. Again, instead of making the WD just a cost centre to manage customer interactions, it can become another service and a source of revenue.
Manufacturing services are playing a great part in the distributor’s business model. From light ‘kitting’ and assembly to custom value-added-reseller (VAR) services, the proximity to customer markets, again, allows the WD to open discussion on these higher margin activities. Once the WD is in the ‘manufacturing game,’ customer-specific services such as configuration management, pre-loaded software and installation can all be done.
Diversity and Multi-channel
A big challenge for the WD is managing diverse methods for customer sales and self-service options, often called multi-channel. This is the ability to provide a ‘single face to the customer’ regardless of their preferred shopping methoddirect sales, web, catalog, phone or showroom. Often, established customers use multiple channels. This is a huge issue if the processes, system and business tools can’t identify this customer and assure that all the appropriate services and agreements are instantly known. Does the sales person in the showroom know that this customer is entitled to a 30% discount? Does the system know that this customer, when ordering on-line, has higher priority when allocating scarce product? Can the 3rdparty warehouse have access to all the proper labeling and shipping information?
Foundationally, today’s WDs should be old pros at this type of challenge. Right?
Added to this are the complexity and diversity of the services, priorities, pricing, and ‘deals’ unique to each customer. In addition to providing transparency in sales and fulfillment, the WD’s business accounting software and billing system has to be precise, productive and transparent to the customer. Too often WDs are filled with paper tracking down pricing complaints, dealing with charge-back and settlements with customers, with no audit trail of transactions and service add-ons. Making the sale, only to lose margins in poor paperwork and ‘give backs’ to customers, who clearly did not really earn those discounts, is an all too familiar story. Diversity can cost. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
Wholesale Distributors Meeting 21st Century Challenges
Expanding Services Margin Upside
Product margins vary for Wholesale Distributors, based on products, territories, and their own efficiencies. But clearly, service margins are usually much higher. Along with outsourcing, manufacturers are also closing branch offices and service depots. Businesses don’t want the head count or the challenges associated with the resource management of diverse and remote facilities, logistics, and people.
That represents the upside for the wholesale distributor! Local market knowledge, the strength and weakness of the product catalog, and insight can be provided into the types of services that customers need. Today, many brand companies clearly know that their channel partners are the ‘sales and service arms’ of their companies. And many have put large investments in place, from sales training to product installation, repair training and certification.
For call centre management, this capability can also be leveraged to support clients’ businesses. Again, instead of making the WD just a cost centre to manage customer interactions, it can become another service and a source of revenue.
Manufacturing services are playing a great part in the distributor’s business model. From light ‘kitting’ and assembly to custom value-added-reseller (VAR) services, the proximity to customer markets, again, allows the WD to open discussion on these higher margin activities. Once the WD is in the ‘manufacturing game,’ customer-specific services such as configuration management, pre-loaded software and installation can all be done.
Diversity and Multi-channel
A big challenge for the WD is managing diverse methods for customer sales and self-service options, often called multi-channel. This is the ability to provide a ‘single face to the customer’ regardless of their preferred shopping methoddirect sales, web, catalog, phone or showroom. Often, established customers use multiple channels. This is a huge issue if the processes, system and business tools can’t identify this customer and assure that all the appropriate services and agreements are instantly known. Does the sales person in the showroom know that this customer is entitled to a 30% discount? Does the system know that this customer, when ordering on-line, has higher priority when allocating scarce product? Can the 3rdparty warehouse have access to all the proper labeling and shipping information?
Foundationally, today’s WDs should be old pros at this type of challenge. Right?
Added to this are the complexity and diversity of the services, priorities, pricing, and ‘deals’ unique to each customer. In addition to providing transparency in sales and fulfillment, the WD’s business accounting software and billing system has to be precise, productive and transparent to the customer. Too often WDs are filled with paper tracking down pricing complaints, dealing with charge-back and settlements with customers, with no audit trail of transactions and service add-ons. Making the sale, only to lose margins in poor paperwork and ‘give backs’ to customers, who clearly did not really earn those discounts, is an all too familiar story. Diversity can cost. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
Aspects of a Successful Search Engine Optimization Agency
What aspects should you seek in a search engine optimization agency? First, the agency should employ experts with up to date training and years of experience. While the term SEO agency may be only a few years old, many people in these agencies have been doing similar work for over a decade. As commercial enterprises began to take off on the internet, these experts had to learn how to keep these companies on top of the search engines. Expect your agency to have experts with years of experience as well as a great deal of training.
Second, the search engine optimization agency needs to keep their employees and experts up to date on all changes. One of the unwritten rules of search engines is that they will change their formulas at least every few months. These changes may have minor effects on rankings. However, what may sound like a simple change may actually shake the entire ranking systems at its core. That is why it’s important for an agency to keep experts up to date on all changes. These changes require analysis on impact and help them react and make changes to your campaign accordingly.
The third aspect to look for is a search engine optimization agency who can give you a campaign personalized to your business needs. Each business is unique. You want an agency that recognizes that fact. Some agencies want to get as many clients as possible. They develop a standard formula they try to sell to every customer. You want an agency that does not take that approach. You need an agency that recognizes that an Overland Park business needs a different approach than one based in Kansas City. That difference will tell when it comes to marketing activities.
The final aspect you want in a search engine optimization agency is personal customer service. You should expect that if you are local to the agency or using their services from a distance. For example if you lived in the Kansas City area working with an Overland Park agency, you would get the same treatment as a customer living in NY using the same agency. The salesperson needs to be easy to work with. That person should have the technical ability to answer your questions or have a technical expert available for those questions. You will see if the customer service is personal if you call and speak with a sales person.