Many distribution sales reps are focused on price, and they assume that their service contractor customers are, too. They are, but not to the exclusion of other factors that are critical to getting their jobs done. The product must be compatible with the application, so they can finish the job without running to the store for a replacement part. It must be easy to install so they can get the job done quickly and move on to the next. And the product must be reliable to minimize the risk of call-backs.

If a product can do all that, it doesn’t have to be the lowest price, especially since the cost can easily be passed along to the contractor’s customer.

Service contractors make money by maximizing the number of jobs they perform. This means getting jobs done quickly, and getting them done well to encourage repeat business. It also means investing any surplus resources in the things that can help them complete even more jobs: more parts, trucks and employees.

Distributor sales reps know that they can’t just show up and ask for more business without providing something in return (beyond price). Unfortunately, donuts are a poor pathway to customer loyalty. They may get you in the door, but they won’t get you deeper into your customer’s wallet.

What will get you there? A focus on price creates a dangerous illusion that what’s good for the customer isn’t good for the distributor. But it can be. If distributors can use data to help their customers do their jobs more efficiently and effectively, they can both increase wallet share for themselves and help their customers reduce spot buys and get more done on the job, creating a true partnership.

When distributors invest in the necessary tools to uncover these insights, they can start to take a proactive approach to growth. Consider these metrics that our new platform, Advanced Insights, can provide:

1. Monthly customer spend: When you notice a decline, you can reach out to identify why and help to resolve any issues before you lose that customer entirely. If you notice a sudden jump, you can reach out to find out whether your customer is about to experience sudden growth.
2. Number of returns: Tracking returns can help you quickly identify trends that may represent products that are defective or being used in the wrong applications. This prevents future returns and unhappy customers, and also provides an opportunity for your salespeople to proactively offer the right solutions.
3. Percentage of partial/late deliveries: It doesn’t matter if you think you have timely deliveries if that’s not what your customers are experiencing. When you use advanced software tools to view shipment and delivery data from the customer’s perspective, you can identify problems before they cost you customers or sales.
4. Fastest-moving items: When you have visibility into what’s moving quickly, you can avoid future stock-outs, helping your customers focus on what matters most – growing sales.
5. Spend with competitors: Advanced Insights provides distributors with real-time visibility on the inventory they supply, as well as inventory from their customers’ other suppliers, regardless of where it is stored. That allows distributors to track customer spending and spot buys from other distributors, helping to uncover sales opportunities and spot competitor threats before they grow.

In this highly competitive industry, one mistake can be enough to cost you a customer. A reactive approach to managing your business simply isn’t good enough anymore. The most powerful conversations between a sales rep and a customer should start with data, not donuts.

Learn more about Advanced Insights.