TECHNOLOGY TRANSFORMS DSR EXPECTATIONS
June 17, 2019
It’s no secret that broadline distributors hold an influential place in the foodservice industry. A vast majority of operators (94%) choose to purchase from them1, and 94% of those operators value the personal relationship they have with their distributor sales rep.2 However, due to wealth of product knowledge and ability to place orders provided by distributor online portals, the role of the DSR has dramatically changed. Seventy-eight percent of operators agree that online ordering will make their DSR relationship more efficient.2 Because DSRs are no longer the sole avenue through which an operator can discover and purchase products, operators are changing their expectations of the DSR.
As new online resources have proliferated and improved, DSRs are caught in between their role in the past and what their operator customers expect it to be in the present. There is a noticeable and notable discrepancy between what DSRs currently offer and what operators wish they offered during their visits.
Presently, operators say that DSRs spend their visits on the following items2:
- Showing new products (61%)
- Discussing promotions (57%)
- Taking orders (41%)
- Offering menu ideas (24%)
However, operators feel that DSRs should use their visits to address these topics2:
- Sharing information about the industry (62%)
- Suggesting ideas for food cost reduction (57%)
- Problem solving (52%)
- Discussing ideas for growing their business (50%)
While new product introduction or menu ideation are projected to remain key pillars of the DSR role, operators clearly indicate that these activities should take a secondary place behind business-building collaboration. Operators are nearly unanimous in stating that they need their primary DSR to bring them and their business more value-added solutions.2
To gain a better understanding of the evolving expectations of the DSR and the challenges they face, we sat down with Dave Miesse, CEO for the Association for Foodservice Distributor Representatives. One significant change for the DSR that Miesse shared was that even though DSRs might be making fewer in-person visits to the operator, “emails, texts and phone calls are ten-times more frequent than they have ever been.” Technology has made the DSR accessible to the operator at all times. And while operators can research and purchase many products online, DSRs now are managing about 50 accounts per year – up from the average 40 accounts 3 years ago, said Miesse.
When asked what manufacturers can do to support DSRs, Miesse’s answer was specific: training. Technomic’s research confirms this sentiment, stating that the key frustration communicated by DSRs is the lack of training – specifically reduced training for new sales reps and fewer manufacturer training sessions in general.2 “Most DSRs know fewer than 200 products well enough not to need a sell sheet, but they are responsible for selling thousands of products,” Miesse said. In his experience, the key to success is for manufacturers to provide training materials with dependable regularity and specific focus. The majority of DSRs (82%) don’t feel adequately supported by foodservice manufacturers in identifying operator problems and aligning those to solutions in their product assortment.2 When defining the focus of your training materials, educating on products within the context of current operator issues will hold the most value for DSRs.
At the end of the day, DSRs will sell the products they know will work. Implementing a regular training program for DSRs that ties specific products to operator issues is a long-term investment in product sales. Equipping DSRs with the information that operators are seeking builds positive relationships between the DSR and the operator and between the DSR and the manufacturer. Our extensive experience in the foodservice industry, has afforded us the privilege of helping some of the top manufacturers in the industry create dynamic training modules and effective selling tools to foster DSR engagement and grow sales. To discuss distributor sales rep support in more detail, please reach out to us here.
1 The Modern Operator Report, IFMA with Kinetic12 and Datassential, 2018
2 Reaching the Distributor Sales Representative, Technomic Planning Program, 2019
