Why a new dealer sells nothing in the first three months, and what to do

Picture a new dealer in Kozhikode who, three months after appointment, has sold two buckets of your product and says the market is slow. Your regional manager wants a replacement. Before you agree, look at what the dealer was given. A dealer who sells nothing may have been set up to fail in one of three ways: wrong stock, nothing to show a buyer, or nobody sending a first customer. Close those on your side, then judge the dealer.

The first twelve weeks, as an invented walk-through

Walk through the dealer's calendar, because the gaps appear in order.

In week one the dealer received a carton order agreed over the phone. The quantity was chosen from what could be afforded, and you suggested a range from your catalogue. Nobody asked what the town buys.

By week three the cartons were on the shelf, and no sample was out of the box. Customers asked what was different from the brand they already used, and the dealer had no sentence to say.

By week six the dealer had phoned a few old customers. None had heard of you. There was no reference, and the plumber on the main road had not been told the brand now existed locally.

By week twelve the dealer had stopped pushing, with stock in the back, no cash to reorder fast sellers, and a rival's range on the counter that sold itself. That is the picture behind "the market is slow".

Questions that show which gap it is

Ask in the dealer's shop, as a visit, not an inquiry. Listen for the answers the dealer cannot give.

What stock do you hold today? A set-up dealer reads out a list with numbers. A stuck one says "what you sent". Which pieces do buyers ask for? One names two or three, the other says "all of them". Who have you shown it to? The dealer should name people. If the answer is "everyone knows us", nobody has been shown anything. What did they say about it? A price, a rival, a delay are all useful answers. Nothing specific means nobody was asked.

If the answers sound like the second kind, begin repairs that afternoon.

Gap one: the stock that arrived was not the stock that sells

Write the starter range with the dealer, not for the dealer. Choose the handful of items your other dealers sell first, size quantities to one or two cycles of likely sales and agree how reorders work. The note on onboarding a new dealer or distributor goes through the whole onboarding. The stock plan is one part of it.

Do not push more stock to a dealer who has not sold the first lot. It looks like support, and it is a loan the dealer may not be able to repay.

Gap two: nothing to put in a buyer's hand

You cannot sell a brand you cannot demonstrate. Check what the dealer holds. A working sample of each starter item, a price sheet that shows the selling price rather than the margin, a card or page a buyer can keep, and two or three lines on why a buyer should change from the current brand.

That last item is the one nobody writes. "Ours is also good" gives no reason to switch. Give the dealer a difference that can be said aloud and a buyer can check: a longer warranty on one part, a quicker replacement, a better finish where it shows.

Gap three: nobody introduced the dealer to a first customer

Pick two or three buyers you already know in the dealer's area, such as an earlier website enquirer or a contractor who bought direct. Send each a short message.

"Hello [name], this is Asha from the factory. We have appointed Kamath Traders on your side. They will call with the samples you asked about. Please tell me what you think of the finish."

That gives the dealer a warm first call and tells the buyer you stand behind the dealer. Do it for the first few, then stop. The dealer's own sales should take over.

An invented example: a cookware brand and a dealer in Kozhikode

Take an invented stainless-steel cookware brand from Jamnagar that appointed a dealer in Kozhikode. At three months the dealer had sold a handful of sets. The area manager's note said "not motivated".

A visit showed a full range of cartons, no opened sample on the shelf, and an older brand's pressure pans in the best spot. The dealer had stocked everything because the maker suggested it. The dealer did not know which sets the town's households buy first, and had no answer to "why this over what I have".

The manager cut the range to the fast sets and sent one opened display piece of each. The manager wrote a single sentence about the thicker base and also introduced the dealer to two caterers who had enquired through the website. The first reorder came from one of the caterers. Household sales stayed slow, though, and the older brand kept its place on the counter until the dealer chose to move it.

Deciding the dealer is the problem

Once the gaps are closed, set a first-sale milestone in writing. Say what you will look at: calls made, samples shown, quotations sent. If the dealer keeps the samples in a cupboard or pushes a rival range from your counter, the appointment was a mistake. Plan an exit kindly, with stock bought back or moved. One weak appointment should not hold a district for another year. For stock bought but not sold, see following up with a distributor who took stock and is not selling.

Be slow to blame where the product itself is the issue. If three dealers in three towns show the same blank, the range, price or brand awareness is wrong, and no dealer can fix that.

Visit your quietest dealer with the four questions

Take the four questions, ask them and write down what you hear. Partner onboarding is the service for setting a dealer up properly, and the rest of our sales work sits under sales. If you suspect a dealer was never set up, tell us what you need.