As an entrepreneur, you must find ways to become successful in your preferred line of business. This means that you have to constantly assess your business strategies to ensure that they are still aligned with the recent trends. Most small businesses nowadays rely on eCommerce to gain profit. In a recent article, Etailinsights records 2.5 million online retailers in the United States alone. These small businesses could either be private label companies, wholesalers, or third party sellers.
Majority of small businesses are either third party sellers or wholesalers. They partner with a private label company to resell products offered by the brand. This eases the burden of having to come up with new products to sell as they can easily search the market for top-selling brands and distribute their products.
However, finding a long-term distributor or selling partner that you can work with also has its challenges. One of the main issues that distributors and third party sellers face is honoring the MAP policy. This could lead to an end to the partnership if either party does not honor the agreement.
How to Maintain a Healthy Business Relationship with Selling Partner
Building a healthy relationship with your selling partner is crucial to your success in eCommerce. A good business relationship can help increase sales, expand your reach, and improve customer relationships.
Below are some tips on how to maintain a healthy business relationship with your selling partner:
- Open Communication: Set your expectations clearly and be realistic about your goals. Communicate these to your selling partner in written form and make sure that both of you are in agreement. Be willing to share information as well and be open to feedback.
- Show Respect and Have Integrity: Respect and honor your commitments no matter how small. This means that you are a reliable and dependent business partner and most likely to be trusted. This will benefit you in the long run as more people will want to do business with you.
- Be Flexible and Willing to Compromise: Compromising with your business partner does not mean giving up your goals. You may need to adjust and compromise with your partner for a win-win situation and meet them halfway through your goals. There is no one-size-fits-all business solution and techniques may vary depending on a business.
- Nurture your Business Relationship: Acknowledge your business partners successes and lend a helping hand when needed. As a selling partner, not only do you promote their products and services, but it also means representing their brand positively.
- Honor the Agreements: One of the agreements that both distributor and selling partner signs up for is the Minimum Advertised Price (MAP) Policy. This is a crucial part of maintaining a healthy business relationship with your selling partner. Adhering to the MAP policy shows that you respect their business and pricing decisions. Honoring the agreement builds trust and cooperation. This leads to a successful and beneficial long-term partnership.
Conclusion
Whether your business is big or small, having positive corporate values leads to success. Having a healthy business relationship with brand partners and other small businesses leads to trust, commitment, loyalty, and consequently a successful and long-term partnership. When one succeeds, the other does, too. Think of it as a domino effect. What you put out there will eventually come back to you two-fold.
Looking for a trusted business partner? Please don’t hesitate to contact us and we’ll be glad to discuss with you your business plans.
“The best partnerships are built on trust, respect, and shared goals.”
— Unknown
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