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September, 2007 | ||||||||||||
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Channel Marketing Group Website | ||||||||||||
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Channel Marketing Group helps distributors and manufacturers build market share by focusing on target markets, developing the right marketing strategy and recommending performance-oriented marketing & sales programs.
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Now's The Time for Next Year's Marketing Plan Right about now, distributors are probably thinking about next year's marketing and sales plan. But they're also thinking about finishing this tougher than usual year, too, and feeling a bit disillusioned that planning can really work in this environment. So they procrastinate. Sound familiar? | ||||||||
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Planning is tough when your spirits are a bit down, the budget's squeezed, you're not sure anything will work, and you're not sure know how to go about it, either. Think about the upside of planning for next year now, however. Competitors are probably feeling the same way as you are. So, the smart thing to do is to take advantage of the prevailing tendency to "procrastinate and commiserate". Plan now to take market share next year and get the jump on competition. Why does this work? Involve your top suppliers now and you'll grab their mind share and focus on developing the market with YOU. Suppliers respect the distributor that works this way. Procrastinating? Many distributors know they should be planning now, but procrastinate because they're not sure how their plan should look, or how to go about it, since it involves suppliers, too. Another excuse is that they are waiting for this year's results. What if this were a war? Would you still wait? Now you see my point. War pays no attention to what month you're in unless weather is a problem. Nevertheless, it's October 3rd, and you've got less than 90 days to plan for 2003, so, for what it's worth, here's the "90 day wonder" distributor marketing plan. The 90 Day Wonder Distributor Marketing Plan: October: 1. Review projected sales performance for 2002 including projected sales, market size for 2002 and market share by branch and market segment. That's right, don't wait, FORECAST your annual results and plan based on that! Review the forecast for next year, too by using tools like DISC DataSearch and Quarterly sales Forecast (www.disccorp.com) 2. Get feedback from your top suppliers on this year's marketing programs and suggestions for next year, including hot new products, important supplier objectives and marketing campaign schedules for next year. Share your planning approach (this outline) and set a date for a meeting with them in step 6. 3. Set tentative share and sales goals by market segment and product line November 4. Develop your marketing strategy: product and service offering by market segment, promotional strategy by market segment. Include corporate communication campaigns, segment communication campaigns and product promotional campaigns. Leave room for supplier-generated product promotions during the year. 5. Develop next year's promotional strategy and media schedule, including expected funding and activity participation by supplier 6. Meet with your top manufacturers to discuss and edit the plan, including top end user targets, share and sales goals. December
7. Publish and implement your final
plan for next year... ahead of time! | |||||||||
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What's In A Name? We asked the participants at the North American Electrical Manufacturer's Conference to come up with 3 words they associated with each of 20 top manufacturers. See what this distributor and manufacturer audience came up with! Click Here | |||||||||
Article Highlights
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Contributing WriterGet connected and gain a competitive advantageEd Miller Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Wiremold Corporation
Distributor partners have an excellent opportunity to improve profitability and customer service by leveraging the productivity of “lean” manufacturers like The Wiremold Company. The Secret: Move from Batch to One-Piece flow manufacturing. Increased productivity has its roots in our manufacturing facilities. As an example, The “Wiremold Production System” is a fundamental shift from traditional "batch" manufacturing that involves making large lots of a particular part and then sending the entire batch to wait until the next operation in the production process. Manufacturers who still use this method are burdened with high inventory, which they must move to their distributors. Production Cycles Shrink From Weeks To Days In contrast, one-piece flow enables products to move – one complete product at a time – through various operations according to market demand. The Wiremold Production System has cut production cycles from up to six weeks to one or two days. This virtually eliminates the need for large mountains of inventory. Reduce Distributor Inventory Dramatically With such dramatic gains in lead time, the Wiremold Production System enables distributors to “pull” product from the supplier, rather than carrying large inventories and the risks associated with basing inventory on long-range sales projections. You place an order and receive a shipment when you need it - you replenish your inventory as you sell it. | |||||||||
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