Essential Elements of a Distributor Handbook-Channel Partner Tools

Do handbooks seem like an antiquated business term?   Let’s call it the base of a supplier information portal. Maybe a different moniker would be better marketing, but hey that’s not my forte-neither are colors as any family member of mine could attest.

A lot of our consulting practice is focused on working with manufacturers on gaining channel partner mind share.  Many manufacturers develop programs  for marketing, sales and product training, sales metrics  (both leading and lagging indicators) https://www.jimthomasintl.com/blog/archives/07-2016 and management review.  A client recently asked me to revamp their distributor handbook.  They wanted to put their distributor handbook on their distributor only web portal and have it regularly updated.  They realized that there were many personnel changes inside their channel partner organizations and channel partners relied on “tribal knowledge” to train new employees.   Having a manufacturer training document online was a great channel partner training tool, standardized onboarding and accelerated the learning process.   It also gave the manufacturer a leading edge to getting up to competitive speed within the complementary distributor line cards.

The key components of a distributor handbook would include:

1. A greeting from ownership outlining the reason for the relationship and a statement of mutual expectations and responsibilities.  This demonstrates that this manufacturer/channel partner relationship is important and sets the tone for mutual respect.
   
2. The standard products that are offered and how they are packaged and configured.  It should also state if products are modified or customized and further policies on these items.  It can also provide a forum for new product requests from the field.
   
3. The standard process of operating business and orders, the mundane issues of:
   1. Pricing and discounting
   2. Order placement and confirmation
   3. Product returns policies
   4. Warranty
   5. Shipping terms
   6. Lead times/Stocking requirements
   7. Financial terms and banking details
   8. Access to quality and product safety documentation
4. Sales support
   1. Samples policy
   2. Literature requests
   3. Leads handling
   4. Trade show support
   5. Co-op programs
   6. Branding/logo usage
   7. Product and technical training
5. Incentives
   1. Distributor awards
   2. Distributor councils
6. Contact information
   1. Contact policy
   2. Web site contact information
   3. Organization chart (regular updates)
7. Reporting requirements
   1. Annual planning
   2. Joint reviews and visits
   3. End customer and competitive data
   4. Price and product change notifications

Realize that the handbook is non-contractual. It is the basic nuts and bolts of the way the manufacturer wants to conduct business.   It will differentiate your products from the many line cards the channel partner carries.  The tone be as that of a partner: friendly, communicative, easy to do business with and non-litigious.

Do you want to have a free fifteen minute discussion so we can discuss creating or updating your channel partner information portal? Sign up on my web site http://www.jimthomasintl.com/ or contact me directly by phone.
 
Good Selling!