Nurturing and sustaining robust relationships with distributors is among the most important cornerstones of success when growing an HVAC business year to year or when planning for expansion. In terms of inventory costs – these relationships are key, allowing for negotiating and monitoring if you have courted these partnerships well. 

Nurturing Distributor Relationships are the Cornerstone of Any HVAC Business

Essentially, your distributor partnerships become some of your most strategic alliances to sustain a strong foundation and a better bottom line. Additionally, these relationships will provide an array of resources and support – vital for amplifying growth trajectories.  At Eco Plumbers, Electricians, and HVAC Technicians, we work hard to build strong and trusting relationships with our distribution partners. 

Here is some advice on how to ensure these relationships are reviewed and nurtured well as part of your regular business growth.

Effective Communication for Successful Distributor Partnerships

Pick up the phone. At their core, successful distributor relationships depend upon effective communication. This exchange fosters a partnership that goes beyond transactional interactions. When communication begins to break down, operational functions start to crumble. Regularly checking and evaluating these relationships is important. If and when communication breaks down, it causes problems throughout the partnership, affecting different aspects of operations and how things work. But no partnership runs smoothly all the time. Have a list of contacts to whom you can reach out. Trusting a dependable point of contact at each supplier is crucial for quickly solving any issues that arise. When there is a problem, it’s wise to avoid going back and forth via email as things can get misread for tone. Pick up the phone and deal directly with your contact.

The importance of a dedicated point of contact within the supplier's company can’t be stressed enough. Whether it is an inside or outside sales representative, consistency is instrumental in addressing issues surrounding inventory management, pricing discrepancies, and logistical challenges. 

Who Are Your Distributors and Why?

Reduce the number of distributors. Our inventory team has more time to build the relationship since moving the bulk of our inventory needs to the fewest number of distributors possible from negotiations held early in the year. We work closely with our supplier representatives to exchange information daily about product updates, orders, supply chain issues, and delivery confirmations. These are regularly scheduled updates on certain days and are adhered to by all parties.

Regularly Scheduled Review

Schedule Meetings. Contrary to what people often think, checking in on distributor relationships doesn't only have to be about fixing problems. Scheduled engagements and planned meetings, like talking to outside sales representatives every week as well as monthly discussions with distributor management, provide an organized and structured time for multifaceted conversations. Your distributor needs contractors like you to help grow their business. Make sure to hold their feet to the fire when it comes to meetings. If they are not willing, perhaps you need to seek a different distributor. Eco meets with our regular distributors every week as well as other partners as needed.

During these meetings, we pay close attention to the always-changing market trends. The demand for products is influenced by how the market is shifting, so it's important to talk about it proactively to ensure a synchronized supply chain. Also, we have discussions about how well we're doing, pointing out what's good and where we can get better. This can help create a positive environment for working together and growing together.

Review contracts. As a regular practice for our team – we check our contracts consistently to make sure that agreed-upon prices, discounts, and rebates support both of our goals to grow together. This strategic alignment often results in better and longer-lasting partnerships and mutual growth.

Work with flexible distributors. Being able to adapt quickly is very important as a business grows and changes. When our way of doing things inside the company changes, our suppliers need to adjust too. As we grow at Eco, our operational needs continue to change, so we are appreciative to have suppliers who work closely with our ever-evolving business. A specific example from our experience shows how logistical constraints triggered a shift towards overnight deliveries. The responsive and accommodating approach from our supplier showed their adaptability by making this happen within a week, allowing us to increase our operational efficiency almost immediately.

Training Demos & Well-Equipped Facilities

Training. Training. Training. The true essence of these partnerships goes beyond pricing and availability. Distributors have a wealth of resources capable of boosting a business's capabilities. Distributors that are committed to helping their nurtured list of business rosters grow, will have well-equipped training facilities. When leveraging good rapport with suppliers and vendors, your partners should be more than willing to extend support in various ways. This can include anything from offering technician training as mentioned – and you should expect at least this or moving on to another partner – and they may also offer specialized promotional offers like helping to coordinate events for the team. For instance, Eco’s Employee Appreciation Day was organized by our distributors and it showcased their important role in helping coordinate multiple vendors for the event. Their participation in creating the event from organized raffles, and giveaways, down to securing a food truck for our team – was a clear example of why these relationships are so important. This exemplified their commitment to enhancing our workplace culture! We value our partnerships, but we have also worked hard to nurture and consistently review our list of distributors, so it continues to be mutually beneficial for all.

Aim for a Shared Vision

Our successful distributor relationships rely heavily on consistent communication and a shared vision of what we expect from the partnership. These are not merely transactional relationships; rather, they are collaborative relationships aimed at mutual growth. A commitment to transparency when it comes to expressing needs and objectives, creates a good collaborative relationship.

In conclusion, the significance of nurturing and sustaining distributor relationships in business is crucial for providing substantial support and mutual growth. The continual development and reassessment of these partnerships remain key in navigating the ever-evolving landscape of business expansion. Eco Plumbers, Electricians, and HVAC Technicians have learned it firsthand as we have grown. Whether you are just starting or have been in business for decades, solid, nurtured, and regularly reviewed distributor relationships are some of the most important pillars of your business foundation!

From starting out in distributor warehouses back in 2012 pulling and receiving orders, then moving onto counter sales selling Plumbing and HVAC, to managing his own location, Jacob Halter has been in the trades for over 10 years. Now on the contractor side, Jacob is the Director of Inventory at Eco Plumbers, Electricians, and HVAC Technicians. jacob@geteco.com