As a Manufacturer, when it comes to dealer and retailer relationships you are not selling them your products you are selling them time.

Because you are a manufacturer you have unique problems. This is very true if you do not sell direct. You need to create products consumers demand.  And, you need to provide time-saving assistance to dealers and retailers so they sell your products over the competition.

Yes, your products are important to your customer. Your customer being dealers and retailers. But, a quality product that is hard to sell and wastes your customer’s time is not going to get the shelf space you want on merit alone.

If saving your customer time is the game then you need to think of ways to help them do just that. However, while there are many tactics for doing this, simply executing tactics will diminish your impact, relationship, and growth. You need to work a plan to focus your efforts and deliver a powerful bang.

So, what does working a dealer and retailer time-saving plan look like?

At the simplest level, a plan is a set or group of tactics that are scheduled, measurable, and executable and lead you to the desired result. The desired result is to save time for your dealers and retailers. A set of tactics to get you there might be planned out like this:

  1. One: Craft digital PDFs that clearly communicate how your product solves the consumer’s problem and adds more value to their life than they spend and still produce a profit for your dealer and your business. Saving the dealer and retailer time on explaining what your product does and how to use it.
  2. Two: Program a Digital pricing guide that can be accessed through a wizard on a phone for the large number of customizations your products have. Saving dealers and retailers the cumbersome process of making a quote.
  3. Three: Invest in quality product images that engage and connect with consumer’s emotional and irrational behaviors so that dealers and retailers have the resources to demonstrate the glamor of your product and save time explaining what it might be like to own.
  4. Four: Create videos that explain how to maximize the consumer’s enjoyment of your products. These can be on topics like support or glamor. This will further maximize the easy of the sale and speed along the sales process for dealers and retailers.

If the design of your product is reliable and customers do not have to deal with needless returns you will be well on your way. However, this plan will not work if it does not align with your Vision. When Vision is missing the plan will ultimately fail because the plan lacks direction.

To make a solid plan you need to understand the importance of Vision, Message, and Strategy:

  1. Your Vision and Mission, the north star toward which your company is aiming, and how to get there.
  2. Your Message, the story you are trying to tell.
  3. Your Strategy, the way you are different than other companies.

When you understand what these components are and can write them out you can execute a plan that works. The formula works like this:

  1. Vision and Mission direct your Message.
  2. Message directs Strategy.
  3. Strategy directs Planning.
  4. Planning directs Tactics.
  5. Tactics create Results.

Too many times we do the reverse. We have all started with tactics and wondered why the results stopped coming in. And, when the results stop coming it’s easy to worry and feel lost.

At Robojuice we have found this formula to work time and time again. It is our mission to take the worry out of the web by making and working plans that start with vision and end with results. Making a great plan requires critical thinking and an understanding of the digital landscape. If you need help making and working a digital plan contact us. We want to help you win online.