Distributor's update 2011: Paddling hard
“How can distributors keep their heads above water during this flood of bad economic news?” asks Stevie Knight. Surprisingly, there are still some sensible answers from those determined to keep paddling.
One recurring theme is that of responsiveness to what’s needed, but this cuts in both directions as the manufacturers need to be told what’s working. “Market feedback is crucial,” says Lindsay Ross of Fischer Panda. “The distributor needs to work closely with the manufacturer to give them a heavy steer on what will improve sales.”
He adds, “Manufacturers really need to be paying attention to where the market is going, and to what the customer wants. The distributors in turn really need to know what advantages there are for the products over its competitors.”
Martin Bizzell of Golden Arrow says, from his point of view you need to keep your profile up. “It’s a matter of keeping active and in front of customers,” he says, “We have spent a great deal more time on the road this year visiting existing and new customers. We believe the best marketing in face to face, it builds better relationships which pays off in the end.”
Mr Ross agrees that a large part of it is relationships – but there’s precious little room for slip-ups. “Distributors and dealers need to be upping the service aspect of their game, you can’t make mistakes in this climate, they cost money." He adds that one way of mitigating against these errors is a recognisable quality system. "We made the ISO 9001 investment in 2008 and we’ve never looked back,” says Mr Ross.
However, there’s a feeling in the industry that the private leisure market might have further pain inflicted on it. Mr Ross says, “Certainly this recession has been one where the private boat owner has ducked his head beneath the parapet.” However he goes on to say that the trade side seems quite busy, and concluldes, “it always pays to exceed trade customer’s expectations, in both good times and bad”.
Faced with this kind of economic climate, Mr Ross points out that it’s useful to look for other markets: there will always be something out there you can do. Fischer Panda for example has diversified into military applications, but it takes the effort to do the research, and this must act as a basis for all of the moves into a new arena.
Mr Bizzell concurs: “You have to be active and seek out new markets, an example of this is Baudouin engines which gives us entry into fishing, tug and ferry markets that our existing engine range does not specifically cater for.”
So the message seems to be, even if you are doggy paddling to save your life – you’d better still consider that extra bit of effort that could make a difference.
