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How to Solve Your Distribution Problem in Five Steps

Eileen O'Shanassy

October 20, 2017

It is every entrepreneur's wish to see their businesses grow and sometimes on this journey, you encounter hitches when implementing your best strategies. Distribution can be a common tricky spot for a lot of small businesses. You ought to come up with ways to solve the problem and restore your business to exceptional performance. Below are steps to help you resolve your distribution issues.

Identify the Exact Cause

When you realize your distribution channels are failing, there must be underlying issues. For example, if your distribution truck was involved in an accident, you may have to work through repairs, compensation, and re-hiring. This takes time and money and can really set an operation back. Perhaps your tracking system is behind and doesn’t update in real time, frustrating you and your customers. Identifying obstacles will help you come up with ways to resolve the issues at hand.

Outline the Measures

With the problem identified, you can come up with ways to alleviate it. For example, if your supplier does not deliver your products on time, you can replace him with a new employee. Equally, if the customers have a problem with the communication systems, you can utilize new methods to solve the problem. Find new systems and programs and be constantly on the lookout for better programs to help smooth out these situations.

Create a New Strategy

You may need a new approach on how your system works. For example, if you use a particular channel to distribute your products, you can adopt other styles. The reason could be your product may not be suited for that specific channel. On this note, it is vital to carry out a comprehensive study of the market and target customers. This way, you can adopt a system that works well for you, your employees and the customers. Try a few different methods to see which ones work best.

Test Your New Approach

This phase is an integral part of solving any problem. You should aim to implement a strategy that stands up to the test and delivers quality results. With the initial system in place, you can come up with a small sample of products and test your channels to a specific number of customers. If the strategy delivers substantial results, you can go ahead and adopt it as the primary approach.

Measure the Success

Getting positive results and feedback may not necessarily mean your distribution system is performing well. You ought to study the different aspects of the system including customer relation and experience. These factors determine how long the achievements will last. 

Problem-solving tactics involve proper communication within your team. It is crucial to include your business unit when implementing new approaches. This way, you can expect excellent work relationships which translate to higher productivity.

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