Make Your Dealers Your Partners

An old Harvard Business Review article talks about how Caterpillar survived the fierce competition from Japan through their relationship with their dealer (or distributor) network. I think this article still gives a lot of good ideas about how to work together with your distributor network.

 This quote from the article summarized the essence of the article.

"The quality of the relationship between a company and its dealers is much more important than the contractual agreements or the techniques and tactics that make the relationship work on the surface. What matters is mutual trust, and that is fostered by observing a few simple rules: Share gain as well as pain; strive for continuity in relationships and consistency in policies; and communicate constantly. For a company that relies on independent dealers to present one face to its customers around the world, it must have uniform practices and performance standards for dealers and treat them all with equal consideration while recognizing that they are independent and unique in many ways."