Are You Managing Your Distributor’s Lifecycle?
A common scenario is for Medical Manufacturers to rush into signing contracts with international Distributors only to find out afterwards that problems have just started. Many deals are signed then what?
Initial sales may be generated but do not progress. This approach is problematic in that you have not completed beforehand all the background research and market study required for long term success.
Like products, relationship with Distributors has a lifecycle that Principals have to manage carefully.
Companies have to change their partners amid built relationships if Distributors/agents do not have the capabilities to follow the sales growth. If Principals carry on with unproductive relationships, they put their products at risk and damage their reputations in the marketplace. It is going to be very difficult to find alternative solutions.
If you are a manufacturer, here some tips to avoid yourself getting in such situations:
Find the right representative no matter how long it takes. There is no fixed rules about the timeframe for getting the right partner. Remember that finding a Distributor could be easy but getting results is much harder.
Do your market research. Try to know local customers and channels. This facilitates the shift to another distributor if needed.
Involve to a certain extent your distributor in the market study/evaluation. This gives you insights on how much your distributor knows about the market, customers and channels.
Discuss with your distributor if and what resources he is willing to allocate to cope with sales growth and new market challenges.
Legalize the above in an appropriate contract
Manage relationships on a regular basis
Maximize performance
TBMedex can assist medical manufacturers in finding and managing appropriate distributors in the MEA region. Learn what you need to know about how successfully expanding your business in the region by working with the team of TBMedex.
