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Industrial distributors and distributors in general are a much maligned group. Going along with this is the under appreciation of salespeople. Death Of A Salesman is required reading for many students, but there isn't a popular book titled Death of An English Teacher. This article explains the value delivered by distribution, and why distributors truly are captains of industry. Here then is the list of why distributors are needed.
Manufacturers are good at making things. Manufacturing is very difficult, and the very best manufacturers focus on making products. Bringing those products to market is the realm of distributors.Users can't possibly stock all the parts that may be required for maintenance and repairs. Distributors can because they are stocking for not just one company, but for thousands of potential customers. What a distributor can turn six to eight times per year, any specific customer may never need at all.
Distributors bring product knowledge to customers
Large distributors can even set up shop within a company's property. A big industrial customer can go to his distributor's parts window in his plant for parts and equipment. This form a symbiotic relationship
Dealers and distributors are your neighbors. Is the local little league sponsored by the BMW factory, or the local BMW dealership.
Distributors provide information online, in catalogs, and with trained salespeople. When a customer wants to know about a product, it is the labor of a distributor that brings the information.
Distributors bring scale to suppliers. A large dealer can bring thousands of customers to a specific product line. Suppliers reward and encourage this volume with better pricing. This preferential pricing is passed to some extent to the customers. So, distributors save customers money.
There is capitalist purity to distribution. An item is purchased for a manufacturer, a profit margin is added to that item, and an end user find the item to be worth the selling price, and the transaction happens. The distributor makes a profit with which a commission goes to the salesperson, a portion goes to overhead, a portion goes to taxes, and the balance is capital that can be employed productively in the economy.
The efficiency in modern distribution speeds items to the market resulting in less inventory system wide.
Although sales people are typically respectful and are flatterers, the author disagrees with Dante in that sales people do NOT belong in the eighth circle of hell in The Inferno
Hopefully this humorous little article may convince some folks that "cutting out the middleman" makes as much sense as "cutting out the school teacher". Go find an employe at a distribution firm and give him a big hug and than him for keeping the wheels of commerce rolling.
About Ed Stairman
Ed Stairman is CEO at A Plus Warehouse Equipment & Supply
Email Ed Stairman with any questions or comments
A Plus Warehouse is a nationwide distributor for Storage cabinets
As well as Lockers
A Plus Warehouse is your right source right now.
Calling is perfectly fine also at 800-209-8798