Sales models for the manufacturer: what are they and which one is best for your situation Author: PriceCop Wednesday November 28th, 2018 • Category: Blog • Updated: Friday April 4th, 2025 As traditional retail is dying and online sales in the retail sector are growing, manufacturers are scrambling to find new sales models. Moreover, they want to achieve better distribution results. Today, there are four general sales models: direct, via a “general price,” a focal or exclusive group. Each of these can be effective under certain conditions. However, none of them will deliver the desired result without constant monitoring. Content List Direct Sales Distributor with a “General Price List” Focal Team Exclusive Team Which One to Choose? In Conclusion Direct Sales This method implies direct, personal contact between the manufacturer and the buyer, without intermediaries such as distributors or advertising agencies. Here, there are only two players: the manufacturer and the buyer. And as the saying goes, a third party would be “one too many.” For example, suppose you’re a dress manufacturer. To make a direct sale, you’d need to go to places where your target audience is likely to be found. Think of beauty salons—representatives often drop by offering hair dyes, hair care cosmetics, and tools. The representative could be an individual or a full team of specially trained people. This model is effective in the following cases: you cannot use mass advertising to attract your target audience; mass distribution is unnecessary; this is a trial business venture; you’re selling a complex or innovative product. For this model to be cost-effective and deliver results, you must: analyze every possible way to reach your customers; learn how to quickly connect with potential customers; master sales and persuasion skills; learn how to handle objections; fully understand all features and benefits of the product. Direct sales can be especially helpful for new manufacturers just entering the market. Later on, it’s usually better to move on to more effective approaches. Distributor with a “General Price List” If you manage to get into a distributor’s general price list, that distributor will likely be more eager to sell your products. But there’s a key consideration: in reality, the distributor becomes your partner and lays claim to 30–40% of the profit. You also have to remember that not all distributors are the same. Some are “well-off,” meaning that relatively modest sums—like a few thousand euros—won’t really interest them. Others are “cash-strapped,” jumping at every opportunity but rarely having free funds in circulation. It’s better to avoid both extremes and look for those who are “hungry for growth”—they have some free capital and are evolving at the same time. On mature markets, a general price list typically accounts for 15–20% of total sales volume, on average. Focal Team This sales model involves a distributor forming a team that includes several manufacturers. For instance, they might offer an assortment of sweets from both a well-known producer and a lesser-known one. As a result, the end consumer gets to try products from a relatively unknown supplier. The key here is for the manufacturer to secure favorable terms of cooperation. Exclusive Team In this scenario, the distributor partially acts as a logistics provider—merely delivering the goods. Meanwhile, the supplier’s team manages the actual selling. Such a model can deliver excellent results, but it also requires significant funding. Through models like these, it’s recommended to keep sales volume at around 7%. Which One to Choose? If you take efficiency into account, direct sales and exclusive teams rank last, especially if the manufacturer only has a limited product range. That leaves focal teams and the general price list. Despite the popularity of the latter, the focal-team approach delivers better results in practice. For example, the general price list often yields about 50% efficiency—decent, but a focal team can reach 65%. However, every manufacturer needs to find a sales model suited to their specific situation. It’s important to consider how many of your orders are among the distributor’s total orders. In principle, you can achieve good metrics with any approach, as long as you set clear work metrics and evaluate them. Without proper monitoring, even the most effective sales model can’t deliver results. In Conclusion It’s great to have sales models for manufacturers. It’s even better to have precise metrics to track performance. Rather than inventing new ways to motivate distributors, you need to address how you’ll monitor your indicators. You can do this with PriceCop’s tools: Price monitoring. Monitoring product availability and special offers. Automatic notifications via email or phone. Dumping reports. If you’d like to establish effective monitoring in your company, fill out the form: