Size isn’t everything when it comes to vendor support, says independent retailers
A survey of 20 retailers commissioned by award-winning antimalware and mobile security company BullGuard revealed what small businesses value the most.
According to the results of the survey, structured reward schemes and close support are vital to many independent retailers. Nineteen of the 20 surveyed retailers deal with vendors who offer some form of reward. In some cases retailers were quite happy with how these were structured, listing a personal approach, marketing support and achievable and significant targets as the most important considerations.
For many others, rewards seemed to be more an afterthought than a genuine advantage. When asked to rate rewards out of 10, the average score was just 6.2. The most common complaint was that rewards weren’t substantial enough, or that achieving worthwhile rewards is too challenging.
When asked to judge overall support, including attention, resources provided and personal care from vendors, votes from the independents were mixed, with an overall score of 6.4 out of 10.
A recurring issue was a lack of communication, and specifically a “more personal touch.” Requests included offering a better range of products at cheaper prices, better marketing opportunities, and more effective POS materials to help drive customers to stores and websites.
Retailers were asked what advice they’d give to vendors to offer better support, and the overall message was clear: “Don’t forget the little guy.”
Vendors need to offer better support and more dedicated personal time for smaller organisations to help even the playing field. This could include showcasing independent retailers on their website to drive business to stores, increased involvement in joint ventures, co-branding and marketing, and direct line support.
BullGuard said that while the number of vendors offering reward programmes is impressive, more can be done to deliver the right support and incentives to smaller independents.
“The message here seems to be that while independent retailers appreciate rewards, they can feel undervalued if they are not properly structured. More is needed on a personal level to support and nurture partnerships,” said Steve Hicks, Head of Global Sales for BullGuard.
“We’re always listening to our customers and trying to improve our own service, so it’s good to see that many of the most important factors highlighted here are fundamental parts of our Advantage Partner programme.”
BullGuard Advantage: In 2014, BullGuard re-launched its partnership programme, “BullGuard Advantage”, a unique revenue share scheme that has seen over €12 million paid back to partners since 2010. Partners qualify for revenue share once they purchase 10 units of BullGuard product. Advantage Partners benefit from regular and personal support, a dedicated local point of contact, as well as free Point of Sale materials for their retail presence, and everything can be seamlessly managed online through the BullGuard Reseller Lounge.
BullGuard Advantage+, an enhanced tier in the partnership offering was added in January 2015. This offers partners generating in excess of 500 customer activations per annum even stronger benefits, such as an additional 5% increase in revenue share, bespoke marketing campaigns, regular account visits, dedicated training, the ability to feed into product development and an annual partner event.
Top tips for vendors
The personal touch. Many independents feel they have not been given sufficient support or had enough personal, face to face contact with their vendor, leaving them unable to compete for rewards and realise the potential of the partnership. Vendors need to spend more time and allocate more resources to visiting independents to ensure strong and long lasting relationships can be built.
Achievable and significant. Rewards are intended to provide motivation, but if they are unachievable at lower sales volumes, or barely significant enough to strive for, they will have little or no effect.
Resources to succeed. Better marketing and POS materials was a common issue for independents, with many relying far more on these resources to help drive sales than larger nationals. Ensuring that smaller partners have all of the tools necessary to succeed should be a priority, as are suggestions like showcasing local independent partners on websites.
“Don’t forget the little guy!” The feeling from many retailers was a sense that vendors favour larger volume sellers. Setting a manageable reward structure that includes smaller volumes, finding the time for personal visits and providing useful marketing and POS materials and advice are vital ways to get independents on board.
