HIGH FIVE

"Involve dealers in decision-making by proactively seeking their inputs"

Ravi Kirpalani, MD of Castrol India, on how to keep your dealer network motivated at all times

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Published 9 years ago on Apr 17, 2015 1 minute Read

Win-win partnership: A partnership should be built on a foundation of mutually shared values, especially trust and respect. Don’t dump inventory on dealers. At Castrol, we ensure our distributors are despatched goods on a replenishment basis to make sure they have the right quantity and mix. Through them, we service the largest number of customers directly and all dealers know the day and time they will receive stocks.

Energise people: Instil a sense of purpose; set clear direction and boundaries and provide the space for your dealer partners to deliver their best. We regularly share our vision at distributor conferences and dealer meets. This helps build understanding and alignment among dealers.

Deep engagement: Engage and involve dealers and make them a part of the decision-making process by proactively seeking their inputs and feedback and, most importantly, acting upon the same. Provide an opportunity for two-way communication.

Building capability: Support dealerships to build capability to succeed in their business — not only providing information about your products but providing management and selling skills and inputs like digital capability and tools, which would help them drive more customers to their outlets.

Celebrating success: Recognise success and ensure that you celebrate big as well as small wins. We have annual dealer meets where we honour our dealers and also include their families in these celebrations.