Playing the Price Game: It’s a Choice. Choose Wisely

Know Your Competition

Many distributors try hard to create a compelling Web presence so their clients will buy off of the Web. However, it rarely happens unless you are prepared to spend a significant amount of money. The competition on this area owns this channel, and there are few who do it well, but those who do, make significant profits, but it’s all they do. They’re focused and that’s why they are successful. Then you have the product pushers, the discounters, the hobbyists, the catalog ploppers, the scoopers, and the adult trick-or-treaters and then the real sales professionals. All of these folks are your competition so you need to do something to differentiate yourself from these types. Given the industry has this low barrier to entry many salespeople are driven by competing solely on price, they say they are creative and innovative but at the end of the day, it comes down to price and many acquiesces just to get the business. This practice erodes profits and casts and very heavy cloud of unprofessionalism. So choose to be different.

Know What You Do

I have coached hundreds of distributor companies and their salespeople that say they want to be different; they want to be perceived different aand truly desire to maximize their profitability. When I ask, “What is it that you do?” the vast majority stumble and grope for a good answer. When asked, “What makes you different?” and “Why should I buy from you” I get the same puzzled response. For whatever reason, many feel that they need to be everything to everyone. That’s not the case. In the medical field, you have general practioners and specialists, such as neurosurgeons, I encourage all of whom I coach to become specialists, doing so your profits will explode.

Forget the Economy

The economy still is being used as a crutch. However, much of the literature states that the economy is on a major uptick, don’t let what happened in the past hold you back, think positive and be proactive about going for business. It will make a marketable difference and the results will be amazing.