A Training and Consulting Relationship

As happens occasionally, I was contacted by a distributor who had seen my website. In our initial conversation, he mentioned that his company needed a renewed focus on day-to-day operations. In subsequent follow-up phone calls and emails, he elaborated.

There was an immediate concern that needed to be addressed. From a purchasing standpoint, sales performance on new items was disappointing, and many items that had been brought in, were now showing up on the slow moving or obsolete list. As months had progressed, the overall inventory investment had increased significantly.

Not having worked with a distributor in his industry, I asked him to send me a product catalog, examples of past promotions, and typical point of sale material from manufacturers. I also asked him what training he had done in the past, and what were the quantifiable results of that training. Within days, I received this information plus current sales numbers by rep.

We scheduled a one day workshop, for a full Saturday, from 8 AM to 5 PM. I arrived at their location shortly after lunch on the Friday prior to, and met in separate sessions, with the owner, the sales manager, and the director of purchasing. These meetings helped me to learn more about the specifics of their business, and to customize the following day's content.

In attendance at the workshop, besides the sales force, were the owner, the sales management team, the director of purchasing and his three buyers, the operations manager, the head of customer service, the national accounts manager, and the controller. Roughly 35 people.

The customized content of the workshop, which not only covered the purchasing issue, but long term considerations as well, included the following key topics:

• Establishing an overall strategic game plan to help the company, by thoroughly discussing how a distribution company works, how we look at profitability issues, and how the four ways that we can enhance pretax performance all fit together.

• Day to day time management tips for reps, to set them up for aggressive growth within their territories.

• Territory management tools were introduced, to help with the productivity of the existing territories, and to act as a plan for newer reps to build their territories quickly and professionally.

• Account penetration tools to increase the profitability of existing accounts.

• Cold calling skills to help the newer reps to open accounts, and the older reps to upgrade the quality of their account base.

• Dovetailing off of the penetration tools, templates for designing more effective promotions, and to better manage new item introductions through redesigned flyer and manufacturing support.

• Components of internal training programs, including the quality of sales meetings and product knowledge expectations for reps in the street.

Once, just prior to lunch, and again at the end of the day, I stopped and allowed the participants to bring their notes up-to-speed on material we had covered, and to start developing an action plan on how they would take this material and implement it into their respective areas of responsibility.

I asked the management team to collect them from their direct reports, and forward copies of them, including theirs, to the owner. I asked for copies to be provided to me, and upon receipt and review, I spent some time talking with the owner about content and direction.

Shortly after the workshop, I forwarded to the owner, a letter recapping the major tools and implementation issues from the program for his files.

At the client's request, we then scheduled a follow-up consulting day, to zero in on implementation details. Periodic follow-up calls indicate that all is going well.

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Management consulting, time and territory management training, territory sales training, sales management training, purchasing and marketing training, and broker and sales agent training, in the wholesale distribution, foodservice distribution, and manufacturing communities