A door manufacturer was looking to engage and drive marketing downstream in their channel. Their traditional two-step distribution meant they had little knowledge of the end dealer network. We used a multi-phased learning agenda, tackled disparate data sources, leveraged numerous advance data analytics, to segment the end-dealer universe, creating the roadmap fueling their dealer program.
The Solution
Winning at the last point of sale was a key strategic imperative for our door manufacturing client. Their two-step distribution model kept them engaged with their distributor customers, but they has little first-hand knowledge of the end dealer network. To make advocates at the dealer level (over 17,000 in the US), we would need to understand who to go after and who to ignore.
First, we leveraged numerous data sources to create a predictive sales model that was applied to the entire dealer universe:
- Dealer sales data from a client-owned distributor
- Client’s distributor customer sales data
- Client CRM database
- S+R primary research
- 3rd party industry data
- US Census data
- D&B firmographic data
- NHBA home remodel data
- New housing start data
In phase two, we surveyed the customer dealer population to define their relationship with our client. This provided our initial segmentation framework, a meaningful schema that would inform and guide the sales team:
- Decorate (dealers we should reward and incentive for being good partners)
- Drive (opportunity dealers where we are not capturing our fair share)
- Defend (dealers we need to protect from competitors)
- Divest (less upside potential dealers)
This was followed-up by phase three, on-site validation visits of dealers in key markets. This enabled us to understand the business characteristics that would define the specific actions and programs the marketing team could take to build engagement with their dealer partners. This allowed us to further classify dealers:
- Displayer (door specialists with showrooms)
- Wannabe (door specialists with limited display room)
- Minimalist (dealers lacking door displays)
- Trader (ordering centers catering to professionals only)
The Outcome
Coming out of this work, the marketing team defined a new showrooming strategy. The plans range from updating marketing materials to full on new activations, and include mixes of POP packages, modular fixture displays and enhanced showroom experience.