A major plumbing products manufacturer has two channels of distribution with two distinct product lines. One line is sold through hardware stores and big box retailers like Home Depot. The upscale specialty line is sold through a network of manufacturer’s representatives who sell to distributors. Builders and their tradesmen/installers purchase from the distributors based upon selections made by the building/property owner/developer. There are hundreds of products and configuration options such as color available to the property owner/developer. Distributors often have showrooms but ultimately depend upon paper catalogs for the majority of their sales. Coordination of builder or tradesmen and owner/developer is time consuming. The inefficiencies that exist through multiple intermediaries handling paper ordering and/or specialized system ordering are high.

The Challenge

The challenge is to provide the end user (owner/developer) with a convenient venue to browse, select, specify and purchase plumbing products without requiring a visit to a Distributor showroom and coordination with builders or tradesmen. The secondary challenge is to greatly reduce order errors and increase efficiencies in the order taking process.

The Solution

The solution we developed uses our Patented Distribution Relationship Management® software. Owners/developers are able to go to the manufacturer website and specify the exact products they wish to purchase and are then prompted to provide information as to who their builder and/or tradesman is. The product purchased and shipped directly from the manufacturer to the tradesman who coordinates and completes installation. Whichever builder and/or tradesman is chosen is then credited for the sale and the net profit they would have received by virtue of an offline sale is forwarded to them. Their relationship with their customer remains completely in tact. Paperwork and/or computer time attributable to the traditional ordering process is cut by over 300% resulting in substantial operational savings to all parties. Sales process and reordering time is dramatically cut and channel partners are afforded more time to focus on selling features and benefits instead of filling out sales orders.