Let’s Make the Dealer the Hero of Your Brand
Your dealers should be catalysts that propel your brand forward. Marketing and brand directors will likely nod along and say, “Absolutely, they should be. But they aren’t.” I’ve witnessed frustration on both sides of the fence between dealers and the manufacturers they represent. Like any relationship it requires effort from both parties. But dealers are required to serve many masters, so for better or worse the lion’s share of the effort in this relationship belongs to the manufacturer. Of course, the manufacturers also reap most of the rewards.
Five Steps to Better Sales Support
Five Steps to Better Sales Support: Brand Marketing Shouldn’t Get in the Way of Sales Although we write and talk a lot about the idea that long term marketing objectives are important and often overlooked, we have to point out an exception to this philosophy: Sales support materials should be about what’s happening here and […]
Marketing ROI: Look Beyond Current Sales
Marketing ROI: Look Beyond Current Sales We asked marketers who sell through dealer channels about their concerns. Measuring marketing ROI, or return on investment, was number one by a wide margin. We feel your pain. Sales are the only metric that ultimately matters. But in a long sales cycle, how do you know you’re pointed […]
5 Social Media Tactics to Build Dealer Loyalty
5 Social Media Tactics to Build Dealer Loyalty Effective social media tactics demand more than just selfies and news articles. For the B2B relationship, it can be a powerful tool. Specifically, social media can be utilized to improve dealer loyalty and help your brand better connect with its customers. So we’ve put together five social […]
3 Things Your Hero Dealer Can do for Your Brand
3 Things Your Hero Dealer Can do for Your Brand (That You Can’t do for Yourself) You love your brand. You live and breathe your brand. You’d do almost anything for your brand. But the truth of the matter is, while you may do anything, you simply can’t do everything. It’s easy to think of the brand-dealer […]
5 Things That Will Get Your Dealer to Commit to your Brand
5 Things That Will Get Your Dealer to Commit to your Brand Loyalty. It’s something all brands aspire to from their dealers. A loyal dealer is one who has enough belief in your product to carry your brand and your brand alone. It’s a dealer you want on your side. But not many brands are […]
Actionable Tips for Bridging the Communication Gap With Dealers
Actionable Tips for Bridging the Communication Gap With Dealers Your dealers are on the front lines. They’re the ones closing the sales with potential customers. In many cases, it’s the dealers who dictate which brands and products customers hear about — the good, the bad and the ugly. They offer intelligence about products or services. And […]
Five Steps for Managing Problem Dealers
Five Steps for Managing Problem Dealers Let’s talk about managing problem dealers. We’ve mentioned them before. Several times. Because if you’re a typical brand you’re spending as much or more than 20 percent of your time managing them, and it’s critical that you get this under control and focus your energy on the rising dealers and […]
Your Dealer is the One Person Who Can Undo All Your Marketing
Your Dealer is the One Person Who Can Undo All Your Marketing If you aren’t giving your dealers the support they need to sell your brand, then all the brand marketing in the world won’t save you. With very few exceptions, getting a consumer to specify your brand in the custom kitchen and bath category […]
Building Dealer Loyalty to Your Brand
Building Dealer Loyalty to Your Brand Dealers have no loyalty to brands. Those aren’t my words, and that’s not my sentiment. But representatives of the two dozen manufacturer brands I met with at the National Kitchen & Bath Show (KBIS) in Las Vegas believe it. Strongly believe it. But before we accept this as an […]
A Common Sense Guide to Evaluating Your Dealers: Part I
A Common Sense Guide to Evaluating Your Dealers: Part I (This article is adapted from a webinar presentation by Gary Thompson, president of Ten Pound Hammer. He’s an advocate for turning dealers into brand heroes.) Let’s start with the notion that this is a “common sense” guide to evaluating dealers. For us, this means understanding: why we […]
A Common Sense Guide to Evaluating Your Dealers: Part II
A Common Sense Guide to Evaluating Your Dealers: Part II Questions & Answers (During our webinar on dealer evaluations, which we adapted for our last article, we got a lot of good questions. This time, we’re giving brands the floor and offering our answers to their burning questions.) “How many people should be on the review […]
