Distributor Dialogue

Midwest's Recipe for Successful Distributor Relationships

Steve King, CAE

By Steve King, CAE
Executive Vice President, Pet Industry Distributors Association

Each year, the Pet Industry Distributors Association presents its supplier awards to recognize manufacturers for policies and procedures that are distributor friendly. PIDA-member distributors evaluate their suppliers on a variety of criteria in four categories:

Sales staff and field support
Retail support at independent pet outlets
Order fulfillment and customer service
Overall distributor relationship

One of the top performers this year is Midwest Homes for Pets. The company’s president, Jim Wingate, recently spent some time with us talking about the things that place his company among distributors’ favorite trading partners.

Sales Staff and Field Support

Sales support starts with regular sales calls. Distributors see Midwest sales representatives on a regular basis. The frequency of sales calls varies from one distributor to the next, but all distributors are contacted when important information becomes available such as product launches, updates or changes, or when new product information is released.

Midwest representatives will ride along with distributor sales representatives when the opportunity presents itself. They are cognizant of the demands ride-alongs can place on a distributor’s time, but feel this tactic can help in areas where sales are lagging or where distributors may have new people in the field.

“The big benefit from ride-alongs is that we’re able to show the distributor salesperson all the features of our products, how to sell them and how to get all of the necessary information to dealers,” Wingate says. “After a ride-along, that salesperson is much better versed in our products and we see better sales results.”

Midwest will also come to a distributor’s facility to provide training.

“Whenever distributors have sales meetings, we want to be there,” Wingate continues. “When distributor salespeople gather in one place, we can get the word to many people at one time. We do as many sales meetings as we can. It’s a good time to get our message to the people who will take it to the dealers.”

Wingate added that his representatives in the field are easily accessible to distributors and available for personal attention when distributors need it. They maintain a database of distributor e-mail addresses so information can be disseminated as quickly as possible and, when new products are available, they’ll provide samples to distributor salespeople to take to the dealers.

Retail Support at Independent Pet Outlets

Midwest sets up each of its distributors with a program to promote its products. They like to have Midwest products promoted each month to keep the company’s name in the forefront of dealers’ minds.

“We provide the programs and the items that can be promoted,” Wingate says. “We give some direction on how to formulate promotions, but the ultimate decision of when and the frequency is up to the distributor.”

Midwest supports distributor sales efforts with regular advertising in the trade press. They meet with trade press editors each year to determine which issues will have editorial content relevant to Midwest products and plan their advertising accordingly.

“We also go to all of the trade shows and distributor open houses,” Wingate adds. “That affords us the opportunity to reinforce information about current products as well as introduce new products. No matter how good a job we think we’re doing, we’ll find several dealers who will say, ‘Oh, I didn’t know you have a line of rabbit cages or grooming tables.’ The fact is, we’ve had them for years.”

The point of sale is another area where Midwest supports retailers.

“Our salesforce is among the best in the industry at presenting dealers with POP options,” Wingate says. “They go into the stores and present several POP merchandising racks that display a variety of products using a minimum of space.”

Midwest displays can display all three lines of Live Stage crates, as well as soft-sided carriers and exercise pens. They include headers for all of the products. Dealers can access the Midwest web site to download this signage. Midwest salespeople show the dealers how to download the signs, customize them with the dealer’s prices, laminate them and put them onto the display rack.

“Crates definitely sell better when they’re displayed,” Wingate continues. “Stacking them in a stair-step fashion also works. We’ve designed our cartons to help sell the product. The biggest decision for a consumer is what size to get. Our packaging is very breed specific. It contains recommendations for specific breeds.”

Midwest also has displays for accessories and beds, all making it easier for dealers to move their products. They are happy to come to retail locations and provide additional sales training. There is also an 800 help line available to retailers for any questions they may have. This line is also available to consumers to answer questions about assembly so they don’t have to take products back to the store and possibly return them.

Order Fulfillment and Customer Service

In addition to being vibrant and helpful at the retail level, Midwest’s packaging is distributor-friendly as well. Each surface of the package has a bar code so, no matter how it moves through a distributor’s facility, it’s easily scanned and identified. All packaging is EDI compatible and it’s easy to tell from the outside what’s on the inside.

Fill rates and on-time delivery are also important to Midwest. Wingate says the company’s fill rate has improved considerably this year and they are constantly looking for faster ways to deliver products. The 800 help line is also available to distributors for service and order information.

Overall Distributor Relationship

“We are 100 percent committed to using wholesaler-distributors to bring our products to the marketplace,” Wingate says. “If we can’t convince the distributor to place our products, we lose. So we do everything we can to serve the distributors and make sure that relationship is as good as it possibly can be.”

“If we spend the time and effort to research our products and make sure they’re the best possible quality and available at the best possible price, that is the value that consumers will react to and purchase,” he concludes. “When we work with distributors to communicate that value to retailers, everyone wins.”

Steve King, CAE, is executive vice president of the Pet Industry Distributors Association. PIDA was founded in 1968 to provide support for pet product wholesaler-distributors and to enhance distributors’ value to their suppliers and customers.