Goal is to help dealers be more successful

Sellers of high-tech equipment have a unique opportunity: if they can help their customers better understand and profit from the systems they buy, they're likely to buy again and again.

That's the reason why Starin, a manufacturers' rep and distributor of audio, video and security products, has launched their Learning Curve newsletters with the help of Kreski Marketing.

"If we can make the dealer more adept and more capable of turning around and serving his customer, he suceeds, we succeed, the customer succeeds," says Bill Mullin, sales manager at Starin. "In the end, we have to contribute to our customer's success. It's win win all the way through the process."

The Learning Curve, launched in October, is a series of quarterly newsletters aimed at the various kinds of dealers Starin serves. There's a version for audio contractors, another for Sony dealers, a third for AV integrators, with others being considered. Each, according to Mullin, help in at least five ways:

• They help Starin develop consistency in their
messages to dealers
• They help establish the discipline of regular,
scheduled communications
• They force an ongoing self-assessment of the
strategic advantages Starin offers
• They help their dealer customers see themselves
using the technology productively and profitably
• They help Starin gain their customers' trust

To accomplish all this, the newsletters offer a mix of application notes, implementation ideas, case studies, sales tips and new technology briefings.

More involvement

Ultimately, the goal of the project is to help Starin's dealers become more involved with the firm. "The more you can take your customer by the hand and walk him through your process," Mullin says, "the more he appreciates what you're offering and the more he accepts your value."

This increased involvement is an important enough goal that Starin is producing both print and email versions of the newsletter. Each reader will choose which format he or she prefers to receive, but the feeling is that each has appeal to different types of readers.

The online edition, with its links to Starin and manufacturer websites, certainly has advantages for those who spend most of their day in front of a computer, but the printed version works better for those who travel and have down-time waiting for appointments.

If you're considering a newsletter to help with your own dealer or end-user communications, Mullin suggests bringing in someone to help who has experience in the industry.

"We could certainly find a local marketing firm to help us write a newsletter. But we felt we needed someone who really understands the market experience. With you, we have somebody with industry experience, who understands the experience the customer goes through. For us the newsletter is not just a 'did you know we have this product?' it's also about involvement. That why we went to you."

To see the Learning Curve

Click to see...

The online Audio Learning Curve
The print Audio Learning Curve (pdf format)