Are you in the middle of creating a dealer/distributor network or looking for ways to improve your existing network? This network is an important part of your B2B sales process, but it decays if it’s not actively managed. Here are five ways you can maintain healthy relationships with all the dealers and distributors you work with.

  1. Continual Engagement: Are you nurturing the connection between you and your dealers/distributors? Stay on their radar through frequent engagement. You can send them useful content, update them on your latest inventory or talk about future projects and plans.
  2. Consistent Communication:
    Your communication should also happen at a steady pace. If you send them a once a week newsletter, you don’t want to suddenly switch to emails every three days or three months. Find an appropriate time frame for your messaging or ask the dealers or distributors what they prefer.
  3. Incentives: Bring some exciting incentives to the table to keep dealer and distributor interest. Whether you offer better pricing for your long-term partners or you want to encourage more orders from your new distributors, send out those specials.
  4. Responsive Creation of Sales Tools: Give your sales team exactly what they need to bring in new distributors and dealers. Try to anticipate the needs of your sales team before they put in a request for tools. When you empower them with proactive support, they can focus on what they do best.
  5. Targeted Marketing Collateral: You also need a way to fill your pipeline with interested distributors and dealers. Marketing collateral that’s targeted to your ideal partners builds awareness of your company and can lead them to you for their manufacturing needs. A lot of this collateral is also useful for the sales team and can add to the total number of tools they have available.

Your dealer and distributor network is an essential part of growing as a manufacturer. Stop your relationships from decaying by using these tactics to improve your engagement and communication. You’ll see the results in the number of purchase orders made by loyal partners.