GAINING MARKETSHARE through DISTRIBUTION

摘要

Over the last 10 years, industry experts and consultants have promoted the elimination of distributors when speaking to manufacturers, suggesting that "removing the middle man will lead to increased profits." However, many industrial firms are successful using channel partners to add value via on-hand inventory, specification fulfillment, and stronger local relationships. Many products are best suited for manufacturer-distributor throughput, so the question becomes: How does a company with say, 30 percent market share, lose seven out of 10 sales? Assuming that the distributor is devoted, properly staffed and liquid, what is his rationale for the lost business? More importantly, what are the manufacturer's steps for corrective action? We asked our distributors to give us their rationale for lost business. The feedback was extensive, but six themes emerged. By crystallizing these concepts into "buckets," we were able to tackle the necessary action steps to stimulate growth. These buckets contain generic themes with specific responses, making them useful to a broad spectrum of manufacturers.