Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/183375
Distributor Showcase FOCUS PSB 26 • October 7, 2013 • Powersports Business www.PowersportsBusiness.com Preseason snow sales strong for Marshall Following summertime sales meeting, Marshall Distributing bets on seasonal weather patterns BY TOM KAISER SENIOR EDITOR Nestled within the old world European charm of the Bavarian Inn, Michigan-based Marshall Distributing gathered more than 40 of its vendors and its 50-plus-member sales team for the company's annual summer sales meeting that company officials said was its highest rated meeting in recent memory. Aside from the popular topics of the weather's impact on business, popular new products in the catalog and expectations for the coming Adam Wood from Starting Line Products presents Marshall's Greg Simms with the top salesman award. P20x27-PSB13-Focus.indd 26 season, the national distributor used its annual meeting as a chance to give its vendors and inhouse salespeople a structured opportunity for some mutually beneficial face time. Marshall Distributing assembled its partners in a new format that paired two like-minded salespeople to meet with each of the 43 vendors in attendance over the three-day event held every year in mid July. The point of the event, according to CEO Roger Marshall is "to educate our salesmen and give the salesmen and vendors some time together, and the vendors therefore can teach the salesmen, [who] can take that on the job with them the next day when they're calling on their dealers." "We set up a schedule with the sales force, with the vendor, that says in groups of two you will be with this vendor from this time to this time, and that allows the vendors, if they offer multiple product lines, to know that this is a snow guy … a northern salesmen with a northern salesmen so that the vendor can customize their presentation to get the most out of that time," said Joe Mooney, president and chief operating officer of Marshall Distributing. Another change, added to this year's program based on last year's feedback, was scheduled break times for vendor attendees, allowing them periodic times to focus on running their businesses remotely. "A lot of these vendors are sending the president or the owner, and their time is valuable," Mooney said. "If we try to jam every- thing in where they just keep giving the same speech in an eight-hour day, they'd give it 16 times, and wouldn't have any time to run their company — we were putting them at a disadvantage." ww M T Fr Un do Wi fir lin evi LOOKING AHEAD Aside from laying out the coming year's strategy, Marshall's team also discussed new additions to the catalog and an updated sales strategy. After a tough sea- Andrew Hepburn from Ontario-based Outside Distributing tends his booth at son that included a winter the Marshall Distributing show in Frankenmuth, Mich. that started late and lasted long enough to impact the cycle side of the mer season, Marshall ramped up its sales and business, the company is hoping for more sea- incentivized its dealer base to clear out seasonal, snowy conditions ahead. sonal inventory. The company's UTV accessory sales have Looking ahead to the coming year, Mooney increased approximately 10 percent within the said he was encouraged that several snowmolast year, exceeding in-house forecasts. bile OEMs reported increased preseason sales. "We're greedy," Marshall said. "We want While last winter was difficult in most parts of more, but these days that's a pretty good figure." the country, Mooney added that most dealers After adding Vee Rubber to its catalog, tire were able to clear enough of their parts and sales have increased across the board in all accessories inventory, which bodes well for the of the company's wheeled categories. Other coming months as dealers stock up for snownewer additions that sales personnel got to see mobile season. included Wide Open Company's side-by-side "Our preseason orders are, at this point, cabs, Lear Chemical's Corrosion Block and slightly stronger than last year, and we believe Nelson-Rigg's newest dry bags. they will be stronger over the next two Reacting to the softness of the early sum- months," he said. PSB 9/25/13 11:27 AM ye cyc wo rep ing for Mu sai lan as the com var Th mo To off wi ate dea Bo ma