As a distributor rep, it is important that you have a clear understanding of the challenges facing your end user customers. Although you may not sell solutions to all their issues, you should be able to refer them to a resource that can address it.

Following are just a few of the challenges Building Service Contractors are facing in the industry today:

1. How to get more quality accounts? Although this seems obvious to you, it is not so obvious to new companies who may have a small base and looking to grow. Note that I use the term quality accounts since some business is either a bad fit or simply does not make enough money to justify the effort and resources to keep them happy.

When just starting up we all would bid anything that came our way. Over time, we became a little more careful and if we did not have any excitement about the account for many reasons, we may have bid it higher in hopes that if we got it we could make it work. Remember that as they grow, they will consume; therefore buy more from their vendor of choice.

2. How to hang onto accounts that are already on board? This is a challenge since some companies tend to bid low and get a lot of poor business that brings in very little profit. If you can assist your end user with developing a strategy for addressing this issue, you will probably have little trouble in keeping their business.

Your comments and questions are important. I hope to hear from you soon. Until then, keep it clean...

Mickey Crowe has been involved in the industry for over 35 years. He is a trainer, speaker and consultant. You can reach Mickey at 678-314-2171 or CTCG50@comcast.net


posted on 4/8/2016