3 reflections on working as a distributor

Today, I would like to share my 3 reflections on working as a distributor. My job connects the manufacturer to the buyer, and today's post would show my raw reflection on what it is about working as a middleman.

The article might be helpful for those who are also working in the distribution industry to connect manufacturers and buyers. If you have any experience related to the distribution industry, it would be great for me if you let me know. 

Without further ado, let's get started.

1. Passing information is the key 

While working as a distributor, you may find that you don't have any authority to make decisions. These decisions could be about products, labelling, and co. that would be important for delivering products to your buyer.

When an issue arises, you should not first try to solve the issue by yourself as a distributor. The final decision lies with the buyer, not the distributor, to determine what kind of labels to use or what kind of transportation methods to use, etc. 

If you start to make decisions by yourself as a distributor, you may find that you are stuck in the middle. You would be in a stressful situation where things are not going well while you are dealing with all these problems by yourself. 

When a situation arises, your job as a distributor is to provide your feedback and information to the relevant parties as timely as possible. If you are not sure on how to proceed with product labelling that the buyer requested, you must contact the buyer to explain the situation.

You can give options to the buyer so that they would make one choice for you on how to proceed. You must not try to devise the solution by yourself since your action may not fit with the intention of your buyer.

Please put your buyer first when you proceed to do something to move products from your manufacturer to your buyer. If you start to become independent in making decisions, you may have to face responsibility for all the failures that happened. 

2. Try to proceed things in parallel 

In distributing goods, meeting deadlines is the key issue. Without meeting your deadlines, your buyer would be in serious trouble. 

They might have promised their delivery date to their buyers according to your deadline. If you can't keep your deadline, then they won't be able to keep their promise either. 

If you miss your deadline, the whole distribution channel from the manufacturer to your buyer's buyers would become ruined. So, you need to work fast to solve several issues in parallel so that you can save your time. 

Please don't wait to do something after solving something else first. If you need to know certain information to prepare for a process later, please be proactive now by asking for information in advance. 

If you wait to solve one issue first and try to tackle the next, then your work won't be complete on time. You would lose valuable time while ping-ponging your emails without generating meaningful progress. 

I seem to be in such a situation right now that the process is experiencing delays while moving information back and forth piece by piece. If you think that you need to get a list of information for the next step, you need to deal with that now.

Otherwise, you won't have much time, and the buyer would have to wait to get your goods for months despite their advance payment months before. So, you need to move fast or otherwise, you may lose your business. 

3. You are a buyer too 

You should also remember that you are a buyer of your manufacturer. It means that you have a right to request things on your terms so that they can fulfil those things according to your wish. 

Of course, your wish must come from your buyer so that your buyer's will must be visible in the final product. If you know your buyer's intention, you can make several requests without feeling any uncertainty or guilt.

It is your right as a buyer to make various requests to your supplier. They are there to make your wish come true since you are paying your money for their goods. 

So, please don't feel that you are an incompetent person if you are asking many questions or requests to your supplier. You have to do it or otherwise you are not working in this business. 

Be confident in yourself that you are capable of making this business successful. You have enough abilities and intelligence to get this thing done, and you need to talk with your manufacturer from this vantage point. 

4. Wrap-up 

I shared my reflection on what you need to think about when you want to make your distribution business a success. Remember you are a middleman with a responsibility to move information back and forth to get things done. 

If you withhold the information or try to solve things on your own, you may deviate from the wishes of your buyer, and it may lead them to cancel the deal. So, please communicate with your buyer as often as possible to know their wishes and intentions. 

Today's note would be a good reference for those who want to do well in the distribution business. It would serve well for me to remember the lessons that I learned this week. 

I hope you enjoyed my article today, and if so please put your thumb up and share the article with others who may also enjoy it. I thank you, and I will see you in my next article.