This four-step approach can put more zing into joint manufacturer-distributor sales calls.

by Richard Vurva

Two heads are better than one, or so the saying goes. If that’s true, then sending a distributor salesperson and a manufacturer’s rep on joint sales calls should generate more sales and earn more business from customers, right? Not so fast, say distributors, manufacturers and sales experts. If done properly, joint calls can spawn new sales opportunities. But if all you’re doing is letting a supplier tag along while a distributor salesperson visits his or her favorite customers, you’re wasting time.

Consider the typical joint sales call. Distributor salespeople take a manufacturer’s rep to see someone they have a good relationship with, says Robert Nadeau, a partner in Industrial Performance Group, a Northfield, Ill., company specializing in helping manufacturers boost distributor sales performance, improve manufacturer-distributor communications and reduce manufacturer-distributor conflict.

“Typically, a distributor salesman takes the manufacturer’s rep to his best buddies,” Nadeau says. “He goes to the path of least resistance. You’re probably not going to get more business that way. If it’s not a training tool or a monitoring device, a joint call is a waste of time and money.”

Progressive distributors agree that, if done correctly, joint sales calls can be an effective sales and marketing tool.

“The only reason to make a joint sales call is with a real purpose in mind, not just to go out and glad-hand people,” says James Teat, vice president of operations for Martin Industrial Supply, Sheffield, Ala.

Defining joint market objectives is the first step in a process that can put more zing into joint manufacturer-distributor sales calls. If you’re not following this four-step approach, your calls probably aren’t as effective as they could be.

Step 1: Define joint market objectives (What companies will you visit?)

Step 2: Develop clear goals (People to see, problems to solve, products to discuss)

Step 3: Establish post-call measurement system (Did you do what you said you’d do? Did you accomplish your goals?)

Step 4: Follow through (What should the manufacturer do next? What should the distributor do next?)

Step 1: Define joint market objectives
It seems like an obvious first step, but manufacturers often fail to define a clear market objective for their products.

Even basic information, like the type and size of end-user facility where a product line sells best, can help distributors better plan joint calls before leaving the office.

“To a large extent, manufacturers don’t have as detailed information about their best customers as I would like to see,” says Teat.

Suppliers inundate distributors with information about product features and benefits but very few provide information about what types of customers buy specific product lines.

“I’d much rather find out from a manufacturer the top five SIC codes that use their products,” Teat says. Such information can help distributors devise better marketing plans.

Teat describes a system to make joint calls more effective that requires homework by both the distributor and the manufacturer before anyone walks through the customer’s door.

“If a manufacturer has developed a new product targeted at the cabinet-making industry, for example, we’ll get our outbound telephone people to check how many cabinet makers they have,” Teat says. “They’ll run a cross-check by SIC to see how many customers in the database match that SIC.

“Then we’ll put together some sort of direct-mail piece to those customers announcing the new product and include a response card that instructs people to call for more information or send for a free sample.”

After receiving all of the responses from the mailing, Teat schedules his telephone salespeople to make calls to any customer who responded. He invites a manufacturer’s representative to Martin Industrial to participate in those sales calls. One telephone salesperson calls customers between 10 o’clock and 12, the next makes calls between noon and 2, and so on.

“The factory guy can make as many as 30 or 40 qualified calls in a day,” says Teat. “I think that’s a real good use of their time. They can be on the phone to answer questions or make appointments to schedule product demonstrations.”

Step 2: Develop clear goals
“We try to get our people and distributor people to coordinate where they’re going and the logical product offering to talk about,” says Larry Dineen, vice president of sales for tool storage maker Kennedy Manufacturing, Van Wert, Ohio. “Our people drive display vans and they’ll change the product offering in the van to make a sales call. Pre-planning is critical.”

If you show up at a plant with the wrong products in tow, the trip is wasted.

For best results, the distributor salesperson should analyze the end-user’s needs prior to meeting with the manufacturer’s rep.

“They need to be on a fact-finding mission to find out what the customer is currently using, uncover as much information as they can on pricing, determine any problems the customer may have with supply or with the products themselves, and then sit down with the factory guy to learn what the supplier offers that may solve the customer’s problems,” says Teat.

Mack Sorrells, whose multi-line independent rep firm in Dallas specializes in cutting tools, tooling and abrasives, adds that pre-call planning is the key to successful joint calling.

“Everybody is pressed for time these days. When you get somebody who just wants to ride along with you for the day, I find that very unproductive. I’d rather go on one productive call to solve a specific problem for a customer than spend all day making unproductive sales calls,” Sorrells says.

Some manufacturers and distributors make the mistake, he adds, of paying an incentive to salespeople just for going on joint calls.

“That’s the wrong approach,” Sorrells says. “It’s rewarding activity, not results. You can make three calls, five calls or 10 calls. There’s nothing that says you have to sell anything. There’s nothing to say that the customers you call on are even potential customers of that product line. If joint sales calls are purely done to spur activity, then I think you’re wasting time.”

Most distributors welcome a more focused approach to joint calls. Jim Borrow, president of BESCO Inc., a bearings and power transmission distributor in Seattle, gives as an example one manufacturer-sponsored sales training program in which his company has participated. The entire outside sales force attended an all-day meeting of classroom instruction with videos and overheads, plus hands-on applications training. For two days after that, the sales force went out with local factory reps and product specialists to call on customers.

“This was unique for us,” Borrow says. “We’ve done some sales blitzes where we had a kickoff meeting and then everybody goes out to make calls. This is the first time we had training first and then went out. I thought it was very effective. It helped us penetrate some customers, get exposure with new accounts and make some sales.”

Step 3: Establish post-call measurement system
The third step in a successful joint call program is to develop a post-call measurement process. It might include something as simple as a note sent to the customer, thanking him or her for spending time with you. Or, it could be a questionnaire to determine if you answered all of the customer’s questions.

What does Borrow hope to accomplish on joint sales calls? “To bring in someone with specific product expertise and to reinforce the tie between that manufacturer and ourselves,” he says. “We’re trying to position ourselves in the customer’s mind as the place to buy a certain line.”

A post-call measuring device can help determine if BESCO achieved its goal.

In addition to measuring the customer’s satisfaction, you may also want to develop a document for internal use to rate the quality of the joint call. What worked well? What didn’t? Jot down notes that can be shared with other salespeople. Do you have a method for measuring sales trends as a result of the call? Did the distributor salesperson learn more about the product so that he or she can answer questions next time without a manufacturer’s rep present? What tools are available to help the salesperson learn more?

“Manufacturers need to set specific, measurable sales goals for their distributors and let those distributors know the yardstick against which their performance will be measured,” says Nadeau. He adds that many manufacturers do a poor job of managing their distributor relationships.

“It’s unfair for a manufacturer to criticize a distributor for poor sales performance if that distributor hasn’t been told what’s expected,” he says.

According to a survey by the Industrial Performance Group, a majority of manufacturers believe distributors are doing a good job of meeting the customer’s needs and expectations, yet only about 20 percent of manufacturers formally evaluate customer satisfaction. That same group of manufacturers never sets formal, written objectives concerning sales goals, territories or customer service levels for distributors.

“What it boils down to is manufacturers are taking a very informal approach to the management of their distribution channels,” Nadeau says.

Step 4: Follow through
The final step in the four-step process is just as crucial as the first. It’s follow through. What should the manufacturer do next? What should the distributor do next?

If the purpose of the joint call was to initiate a test of a new product, then someone needs to monitor the test results.

“Whether it’s us, the manufacturer or both, someone has to be there, because otherwise things get lost, results aren’t recorded,” says Teat. “If two or three weeks go by and you come in to say, ‘How did it go?,’ the customer might not know what you’re talking about. There has to be some structure to follow.”

If the joint call was designed to train a new salesperson, there needs to be follow-up between the manufacturer and the salesperson’s manager to determine if more training is needed.

Sometimes, it might be necessary for manufacturers to better prepare their own sales forces before signing on for the next joint call. BESCO’s Borrow says he’d like his salespeople to do more joint sales calls with select suppliers, “but unfortunately, some of the lines either have inexperienced people or they’re using independent reps that aren’t very knowledgeable about their products.”

Adds Teat, “A lot of factory people feel obligated to come to a distributor at least once a year to hold an obligatory sales meeting. If the purpose of the meeting is just to go over the catalog or talk about adjustable wrenches, we don’t need it. Our time is more valuable and so is theirs.”

In today’s manufacturing environment — where customers are pressed for time and everyone is clamoring for support from vendors — well-conceived joint calls are a good way to show how manufacturers and suppliers are combining to support the customer.

“The distributor is there to make the service commitments and the factory guy is there to give technical support. It’s a more rounded call,” says Sorrells.

This article originally appeared in the May/June 1999 issue of Progressive Distributor. Copyright 1999.