For jan/san distributors, expanding operations into areas outside traditional jan/san products can be intimidating. Thankfully, industry wholesalers can help distributors test the waters of expansion with as little investment of time, money and effort as possible. In fact, because many wholesalers carry a full spectrum of product categories and have a broader understanding of end users' needs, they can help distributors properly assess which new product categories best fit their current operations.

Most often, wholesalers offer distributors product lines that are somewhat related to jan/san and are already being purchased by their established customer base. These items include foodservice items, safety equipment and maintenance products.

To determine which new products distributors may want to test, wholesalers suggest having their sales reps conduct surveys of current customers. Wholesalers then can offer the products and the insight to help make distributors a one-stop shop for customers.


posted on 8/9/2011