Why Work With Distributors?

Why would a business partner with a value-added product distributor instead of entering into their resale agreements directly with manufacturers?

Professional services businesses in the IoT and IIoT space have their work cut out for them. They meet with clients, assess their needs, develop comprehensive project plans, map out ongoing support services, and more. Handling the logistics associated with all those things can strain an operation needlessly.

Setting up new accounts with multiple manufacturers to expand your product lines or meet specific customer equipment requests can be challenging and time-consuming for businesses.

First, identifying the right manufacturers to partner with can take time, as businesses need to evaluate the quality of products, pricing, reliability, and other factors before deciding. Even if your client directly asks for a certain manufacturer's equipment, you won't know, without additional research, if that equipment is even right for their specific applications.

Once a list of potential manufacturers is identified, businesses need to establish new accounts with each one, which can involve completing applications, providing financial information, and meeting certain criteria such as minimum order quantities. This process can be time-consuming and take several weeks or months to complete.

Additionally, businesses need to be aware of each manufacturer's different requirements and procedures. They may have varying lead times, shipping and return policies, making it difficult to manage inventory and customer expectations.

Businesses must also ensure they have the necessary resources and infrastructure to expand their product lines. This may involve hiring new staff, training employees, investing in new technology or equipment, and adjusting their sales and marketing strategies.

Overall, expanding a product line to better meet your customers' needs by setting up new accounts with multiple manufacturers can be complex and challenging, requiring careful planning and execution to ensure success.

For professional services businesses specializing in commercial and enterprise cellular communications, partnering with a value-added distributor can offer many benefits that can help improve their operations and increase profitability.

Below we've outlined several ways partnering with a value-added product distributor is preferable to entering into your resale agreements directly with manufacturers:

Value-added distributors often provide additional value to their resellers by offering technical expertise, training, and support services. This can be particularly beneficial for businesses that may need more internal resources to provide this level of support themselves.

Technical expertise: Value-added distributors often have technical experts on staff who can help resellers with product selection, installation, and troubleshooting. These experts may also provide training and certification programs to help resellers become more knowledgeable about the products they are selling.

Pre-sales support: Pre-sales support helps resellers with product demonstrations, customer presentations, and proposal development. This can help resellers close more deals and win new business.

Post-sales support: Resellers can often enjoy post-sales support that help with product activation, configuration, and ongoing maintenance. This can help ensure customer satisfaction and reduce the likelihood of product returns or support issues.

Financing and credit: Financing and credit options may be available to help resellers manage their cash flow and increase their purchasing power. This can be particularly beneficial for smaller resellers who may need access to the same financing options as larger organizations.

A business can simplify its supply chain and logistics processes by working with a value-added distributor. Instead of dealing with multiple manufacturers and managing separate orders and shipments, the distributor can consolidate orders and provide a single point of contact for the business.

Centralized ordering: Centralized ordering systems allow resale partners to place orders for multiple products and vendors in one place. This saves time and reduces errors that can occur when using multiple vendors.

Consolidated shipping: Value-added distributors can consolidate multiple products from different vendors into a single shipment, simplifying the logistics of product delivery. This can reduce shipping costs and make the delivery process more efficient.

Inventory management: By managing inventory on behalf of their resale partners, value-added distributors can help to ensure that the right products are in stock and available for delivery. This reduces the risk of stock-outs and ensures timely delivery to the end customer.

Drop-shipping: When the distributor ships products directly to the end customer on behalf of the resale partner, it's called "drop-shipping." This simplifies product delivery logistics and reduces the need for resale partners to hold inventory.

Order tracking: Order tracking and delivery confirmation services allow resale partners to track the status of their orders and communicate delivery updates to their customers.

Value-added distributors often have more negotiating power than individual businesses regarding pricing and terms with manufacturers. By partnering with a distributor, a business can leverage the distributor's purchasing power and potentially achieve better pricing and terms than they could negotiate on their own.

Better pricing: Value-added distributors have greater buying power than individual resale partners. They can negotiate better pricing and terms with vendors due to the larger volume of products they purchase. This can result in lower costs for their resale partners, increasing their profitability and market competitiveness.

Access to exclusive products: Exclusive products and technologies may be available to value-added distributors that are unavailable to individual resale partners. This can provide resale partners with a competitive advantage in the market and help them differentiate themselves from their competitors.

Improved terms: Due to their large buying volume, value-added distributors can negotiate improved terms and conditions with vendors - such as extended payment terms, lower minimum order quantities, and faster delivery times - that they can then extend to their resellers. These terms can benefit resale partners by reducing their financial risk and improving their cash flow.

Faster problem resolution: If a resale partner experiences a problem with a product or delivery, the distributor can work directly with the vendor to resolve the issue and ensure that the customer is satisfied.

A professional services business specializing in commercial cellular communications can benefit in numerous ways by partnering with a value-added distributor instead of establishing direct relationships with product manufacturers of cellular routers and antennas. These distributors offer services that simplify distribution, logistics, and supply chain management for their resale partners, reducing their financial risk and improving their profitability.

They provide access to expertise, support, and training, helping resale partners to better understand and market the products they sell. They also offer improved pricing, access to exclusive products, and better terms and conditions with vendors, giving resale partners a competitive edge in the market.

By partnering with a value-added distributor, professional services businesses specializing in commercial cellular communications can focus on their core business while leaving the logistics and supply chain management to the distributor. This can help them to increase their profitability, competitiveness, and customer satisfaction, ultimately leading to greater success in their industry.

RealTime Ops, established in 2004, is an authorized stocking distributor specializing in wireless IoT and M2M products and associated services within the wireless WAN ecosystem. As a value-added "Smart Distributor," we prioritize providing our reseller community with up-to-date, meticulously researched knowledge of M2M and the Internet of Things. Our services cater exclusively to certified resellers, including VARs, VADs, SIs, and OEMs. We take pride in being the sole distributor for many manufacturers who strictly refrain from selling directly to end-users or your customers.

Located in the vibrant Research Triangle region of North Carolina, we extend our distribution services to a diverse and accomplished network of resellers throughout North America. Additionally, we have chosen select partners in Central and South America to expand our reach. RealTime Ops proudly represents major manufacturers of wireless IoT and M2M devices, such as Sierra Wireless, Digi International, Cradlepoint, and more. Our commitment is to provide exceptional distribution services and support to our valued resellers across the Americas.