Sales material preferences of retail seed dealers

Kathy Brostrom

Situation

Investigate preferences of dealers selling multiple seed brands

Target retail dealers (co-ops) Gather input on effectiveness of sales

materials Compare materials from the

companies they distribute

The Seed Dealer

The Company’s link to the customer

Guides customer to make most important purchase decision of the year

Represents the brand at personal level

Sales Support Materials

Any item designed to help a dealer sell product catalogs & brochures mailers & posters incentive or promotion items

Company spending in linewith industry – 18% ofmarketing communication dollars

The Question

Do retail seed dealers express a preference for specific types of sales support materials?

Mail Survey

Sent to 350 retail dealers in company database

Eight key Corn Belt states Blind survey (student)62% response rate

Results

Retail dealers do have strong preferences for specific types of sales support materials

3.8

3.9

4.3

0 1 2 3 4 5

General Product Catalog

Product Datasheets

Tokens of Customer Appreciation

Average Ranking of Sales Support Materials -- Top 3 Items

Most Useful

Least Useful

Average Ranking of Sales Support Materials -- Bottom 3 Items

2.1

2.2

2.3

0 1 2 3 4 5

Counter Card with Literature “Pocket”

In-Store Display Items

Counter “Mat” with Product Message

Product Catalog

Type 89% prefer smaller

“localized” 5% prefer larger

“comprehensive”Format

72% prefer 8.5” x 11” 15% prefer pocket-

size

How Much Agree/Disagree?

“Sales materials provided by seed companies have a direct influence on which brand of seed I’m most likely to promote.”

11

34

27

1412

0

10

20

30

40

StronglyAgree

SomewhatAgree

Neutral SomewhatDisagree

StronglyDisagree

Per

cen

tInfluence of Sales Materials

Influence of Sales Materials on Promotion of Brand by Dealers

Other Information

21% ranked the company as doing the “best” job of providing sales support materials

72% prefer to receive materials from seed company representative

73% have designated space for display

Summary

YES, retail dealers DO have strong preferences for specific types of sales support materials

Seed catalog is most important itemPromotion of brand is influenced by

sales support materials provided by seed companies

Recommendations

Discontinue production of least useful items

The next catalog should be “localized”

vs. “comprehensive”Conduct follow-up study on product

catalog effectiveness at both dealer & customer level