“Disties are starting to listen to us”

This month our anonymous retail columnist talks about how tech distributors are building better relationships with retailers by engaging with them more at industry events.

Are disties finally starting to listen to what retailers are saying?

As a retailer we all know the importance of engaging with our customers across all the platforms that will make our voices heard. So why should it be any different further up the supply chain?

Recently, I visited a number of events, which I left with the encouraging signs that the tables are finally turning for different tech distributors.

How many of us receive a call from a random distie that still have you on their books, proclaiming they have an awesome deal, but you choose not to believe it because you don’t know the account manager very well? I’m sure many of us have account managers we trust and would take that deal from them, but why? It’s simple. You have a relationship with them.

For me, some of the distributors who don’t attend these events won’t be here in a few years’ time.

These events provide a store front where a distributor must engage and deliver their promise; it’s not just about showcasing products or gathering orders, it’s about your image and relationships that you strike up that will bring you the business.

Once a retailer’s confidence in you grows, they want to know you and they don’t want you insulting them with monotone cold calls about how you have a rep in the area or, worse still, changing their account manager just when they were starting to get to know them.

Let’s hope the disties demonstrate an ability to embrace change in the marketplace and start to engage their customer bases.

Got a gripe you’d like to share with the industry? Email Jade Burke at pcr-online-staff@transfer.pcr-online.biz