Seducing ‘brand switchers’ at the trade counter.

Trade promotions are a powerful tool—but poorly executed, they can bleed margin and lose control fast.

Most manufacturers stick to “sell-in” and “sell-out” models to drive stock through wholesalers and distributors. But there’s a third lever often overlooked—one that taps into brand-switchers and boosts in-branch visibility without eating into your profit.

We call it the Sell-At Strategy—and here’s how it works.

Tried and tested methods

Sell-in, or ‘push’. Aimed at branch managers and counter staff. Used to encourage the placement of a substantial stock order, to promote new product lines, to secure shelf space, and the purchase of old stock.

With 80-85% of stock sold through an in-house telesales department, this is often a primary target for incentive promotions.

Sell-out, or ‘pull’. Aimed at the contractor. This could be the buyer receiving a telesales call, the wholesaler’s invoice featuring a promotion, or the walk-in trade customer that knows the brand.

Prior to participating in a ‘sell-out’ promotion, a branch manager often needs convincing the campaign will stimulate sales.

Creating conversions

A strong promotion, let’s say a price promotion, which encourages brand-loyal customers to participate, has the risk of selling stock at a discount that would have otherwise been purchased at full price – you’re giving away margin!

The key here is the brand switcher: Walk-in contractors who are less brand loyal and looking for a deal: discounts, buy-one-get-one-free (BOGOF) offers or even free gifts.

Converting these customers is key to increasing sales and return on investment.

Our extra step: the ‘Sell-At’ strategy.

Having developed and run numerous ‘at-counter’ sales promotions, we’ve stopped and restarted many over the years, usually due to product supply issues. This is what we’ve learned:

While the promotions ran, product sales increased – excellent!

Once the offer ended and the promotional material was removed, sales declined – expected!

Once reinstated, sales increased again – sounds obvious!

Yet, our analysis showed that during the campaign, the number of claims was very low – very interesting!!

So low in fact they only accounted for a very small proportion of the sales increase.

Fair to say, the visual presence of the in-branch promotion and associated POS materials increased awareness and encouraged customers to purchase the product, and at full price.

Only a few of these customers actually participated in the promotion and claimed the incentivised price/free gift.

We have termed this the ‘Sell-At’ strategy —  in-branch promotional materials, raising product awareness and encouraging impulse purchase.

MAYDAY: Trade promotions can be a very effective, yet costly tactical marketing tool if poorly planned!

Whether it’s a price promotion, BOGOF, or loyalty program. The value of this year’s campaign will be used as a basis for next year’s negotiations with the wholesaler/distributor.

Next year, they’ll want the same as this year, plus a bit more…things can quickly spiral out of financial control.

Need to think tactically and need some help? Please reach out!

“Written by Steve Dyer, industrial B2B brand marketing specialist with 35+ years’ experience.”