Through a special arrangement, presented here for discussion is a summary of a current article from Frozen & Dairy Buyer magazine.
Consumer insights, logistics efficiencies and pricing are all critical trade relation issues. But what both retailers and manufacturers seem to thirst for the most is candor and trust. This isn't new.
Candor is the simplest of these two to understand and the hardest to implement. It has risks. Tell an unpleasant truth to a trading partner and you stand to lose the business or get fired. You'll need, simultaneously, an understanding boss and a forgiving partner. So it's easy to see why little lies permeate all business so thoroughly, generally without much consequence. But lack of candor can also scuttle a good business relationship forever. Who among us can say we've never stretched the truth?
Trust involves more than just candor; it includes shared, useful expertise. Sharing business knowledge that proves consistently reliable and useful to your partner is of great value. But the other complaint I hear from retailers time and time again over the years is that vendors continue to make pitches based on decks of data they've barely even read themselves.
The number of left-handed single women over 40 in Peoria who buy frozen pizza on Tuesdays is of no use. The average promotional lift of specific items at specific discounts on endcaps? Well, that's something that might be worth knowing.
Yes, the big manufacturers with the deepest pockets have an advantage here. They can afford more data as well as the analysts who can parse it. But as one retailer told me, many vendors don't share information throughout their sales forces very well. A key consumer insight or a new merchandising idea that is selling lots of product is often kept — deliberately or not — under wraps. A formalized communication program, perhaps with checklists, wouldn't hurt.
You don't necessarily have to be the one with the deepest pockets, however. I've had the good fortune over the years to close a bar or two while listening to veteran retailers, brokers and reps hold forth on why some merchandising ideas work well and others fail. These were the guys in the trenches who'd been doing pretty much the same thing for decades. They knew their stuff cold, like combat-hardened old sergeants. If you were ever going into battle — in business or in war — those were the people you knew could be trusted.
But as I've also found over the years, these same people are the least consulted by the young business school graduates in the corner offices. The misuse (or non-use) of this incredible resource is responsible for more business failures than I can count.