When is a MAP not a map?
My little community has long struggled economically. I feel that fact has actually made me a better businessman. As Frank Sinatra sang: If you can make it here you can make it anywhere!
One of the lessons that have been pounded into my brain is that those businesses that have owners who live here in town will fight 10 times as much to survive as those that simply open a branch. If things don’t go well for the out of Towner, out of town they go.
Same thing holds true for my industry.
The latest tool being used by the manufacturers to control sales of their products on the internet is to create a MAP (Manufacturers Advertised/Asking Price) policy. What it does is establish the lowest price in the country that anyone may sell their products at. It gets quite legal on whether prices can be reduced in the store, or in the shopping cart, etc. I think that ultimate determination will eventually be made by the Supreme Court.
I have a very strong opinion on whether America could have grown on such thinking. But that is for another day.
My point today is that with all my heart and soul I believe our industry’s products should only be sold to established industry players. That is to say. NEVER sell your soul to a mass merchandiser who will eventually treat your products as just another commodity.
A quality electric tankless water heater will eventually be watered down to be perceived as a cheap bar of soap.
Who understand the nuances of your product? Who can explain the features and benefits? Who can help the customer make a quality choice?
Once Goliath has the market why would you not expect him to start ‘tweaking’ YOUR MAP policy? He calls the shots now! The goal now is inventory turns.
After all, it’s just a bar of soap!
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