Create a Partnership With Your Distributors for Continued Success

RCS Influencer Kendall Ekerson from Simply Affordable Roofing says treating your distributor like a partner will create a healthy relationship.

Your company will find great success if you are able to work with your distributor as if it were a partnership. A true partnership is a two-way street where both parties are accountable and have responsibility in maintaining a healthy relationship. You, as the contractor, should make sure there is a certain amount of loyalty to the distributor you want to work with. That doesn’t mean you aren’t getting other bids but it means paying your invoices promptly, following through with the agreements you make and letting them be the first call you make. In return, you should be getting a dedicated salesperson that is going to be easy to get a hold of, responsive and knowledgeable. This person should be looking out for your company, helping you prevent problems and a resource for troubleshooting when you get stuck. They should also be someone who regularly checks in on you and your business.

Perhaps the most important indication of a successful partnership between the contractor and distributor is how mistakes are handled. No one is perfect and mistakes are inevitable but the strength of your relationship will show when a problem occurs. We recently experienced this with our primary distributor. One of our deliveries was canceled and we were never told. This job site was well out of town from our office and therefore caused even more logistical issues. We were standing at the job site waiting for the truck and it never came. The distributor made an error and we were left scrambling to get our job started.

We ran all over to get the materials we could and started the job a day late. It wasn’t an ideal situation however, our distributor was right in the thick of it with us fighting to get everything corrected as best they could. Not only did our salesperson, and our salesperson’s boss, call and apologize, our salesperson was also physically driving around trying to help locate materials for us and even said, “What do you want me to do to make this right for you?” They also gave us a significant discount on a Laddervator so that we could get the job loaded by hand much easier. This effort was a partnership and we were so thankful to have them there with us during this time.

The human and customer service aspect of having a personalized salesperson to work with at the distributor is something our company values. If our distributor ever decides to automate and remove the salesperson, we will need to have a pointed discussion about how our relationship would be continuing. This partnership and dedicated account support is part of why we are so successful. We highly recommend your distributor is a part of your company's team.

Simply Affordable Roofing is owned and operated by Chris & Kendall Ekerson and Brandon & Nalani Smith. See their full bios here.