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Business SMART: |
What I
Hope Happens at CHA |
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By:
Dennis A. Conforto
A-Z Media Group |
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Like many people, I have begun the
New Year with a set of goals, both personal and business
oriented. However, I am not one of those people who spends the
last few days of the year pondering what I would like for the
next year. Instead, I spend moments throughout the year making
observations then jotting a note (sometimes just in my mind)
about something I think needs to change or improve.
One of the items that frequently crept onto my list in 2006 was
trade shows. In preparation for each show, at each show, and
then in returning from each show, I saw that the industry really
needed to make changes so I created a list of goals. This week I
would like to share with you the lists of change I created in
2006.
I have compiled two lists, one for retailers and one for
manufacturers, with 5 bullet points each which combined make my
own “Top Ten List.” So, David Letterman can step aside on this
one, I bring you the top ten changes I would like to see at CHA
this year.
Top Five Things Manufacturers should do at CHA:
1. If a manufacturer chooses to sell to all three retail market
channels (independents, national chains and online retailers),
they need to protect those channels by creating products that
are only for each of those market channels thus protecting the
retail flow of each respective group.
2. Have three different plan-o-grams to hand out showing how
their products should be displayed within a store. The three
versions should be based on minimal display, primary format and
a maximum display showing of their line.
3. Show what their partnership program looks like to double or
triple the sales of retailers who carry their products and use
their advertising and display ideas. Also, offer volume
discounts based on performance and co-op funds to grow their own
brand locally.
4. Create quick ship programs to keep retailers in stock but not
over-stocked on products – this will help retailers maintain at
least a four time turn rate on their products.
5. Place more effort on finding new consumers and less on
introducing too many new products.
Top Five Things Retailers should do at CHA:
1. Stop cherry picking a manufacturer’s line and learn instead
how to cherry pick who you want to have a partnership with.
2. Ask the manufacturer to give you plan-o-grams of how they
want you to display their products. Keep asking show after show
until the manufacturers finally understand what you need and
that you want their input.
3. Don’t ask manufacturers for free this or that, rather ask
them to explain how doing business with them is going to help
you double your sales. If they can’t tell and show you, find
someone who can. You are seeking manufacturers who are serious
about growing your business.
4. Understand how long it takes for you to get product, avoid
items that you cannot turn and avoid manufacturers who can’t
help you speed up your inventory flow process.
5. Find out from the manufacturer what they are doing to bring
new scrapbooking consumers into the marketplace.
In today’s world of business it’s all about partnerships. You
must demand a win-win relationship at every level and to do that
successfully you must know everything about your business. For
example, if you are a manufacturer and I ask you how much square
footage of retail space you have nationwide displaying your
product, you ought to know. Otherwise, I know that you are not
controlling your brand.
Manufacturers who don’t control their brands at the retail store
level don’t have a brand at all. They are just selling to
whomever and whenever. They are then subjected to the whims of
the marketplace.
If you are a retailer who loves one particular manufacturer and
your customers love them too but they can’t keep you in stock,
you need to find another manufacturer who knows how to help you
become more profitable and work on shifting the consumer’s
loyalty to this new brand. No one can afford to keep a supplier
who is helping you win and lose at the same time.
Partnerships are hard work. They require time and trust. They
require honest feedback and access to the head of the company.
Without honest feedback and constant fine tuning you cannot
sustain growth and profits.
Remember, fast buying and fast selling is fun in the moment but
it is never a good long term practice. In the end it is the
long, hard fight for partnerships that stands the tests of time.
If you are a manufacturer you need to fight hard for those
relationships with each and every retailer. And if you are a
retailer you need to fight hard to do more business with fewer
and greater partners. Those partners over time will learn to
trust you and brag about how every partnership should be just
like the one they have with you. Great partners can freely talk
about what is working and not working and fix what is broken to
improve overall.
At CHA, we will all win when manufacturers work on the profits
of their retail partners and retailers work on the profits of
the manufacturers. When we only think of our profits we cannot
have a solid partnership based on mutual sales and mutual
profits. And that is what being business SMART is all about. |
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