With the first half of 2010 already in the books, some of us have seen a glimmer of the recovery while others are still waiting. It has become clear that the new "normal" is different from what most of us have ever seen before, at least in the last 15-20 years.
With the reduced levels of business opportunity, it has forced many companies to make significant changes in how they approach and conduct business every day. While this new environment has caused many changes, it has also reinforced the importance of leveraging and strengthening the strongest business relationships we have.
As for Windsor, our success over the years has, most notably, been as a result of the outstanding, long-term, relationships we have enjoyed with you, our distributors. We have also experienced many long-lasting relationships with our vendor partners as well. These distributor partnerships are more important than ever in this tough economic climate. In order to fully leverage these key relationships, it is important to work closely together to develop comprehensive plans for sales and market growth.
Your Windsor Regional Sales Manager has worked with your key sales and/or management personnel to develop a 2010 account plan specific to your business and your market. Account planning allows the distributor and Windsor to develop a strategy for achieving joint sales and marketing objectives and ultimately sales growth for both parties.
To get the most of your Windsor relationship, account plans should detail specific criteria and key objectives that need to be implemented in order to achieve joint goals. It is important to take many factors into account and have specific plans for your various market segments. Developing specific strategies for each of these segments will help assure a certain level of success, despite market conditions. The other key is to hold each other accountable for implementation of the planned strategies.
Leverage your Windsor relationship to the fullest by making sure you utilize your Regional Sales Manager. Their job is to help you plan for continued growth, develop sales in the various markets you serve, convert business and gain market share. You should expect nothing less.
Thank you for your business, your efforts and your faith in our partnership. By working together, we can accomplish great things.