Focus Your Efforts

8 Mar

Read Time: 3 minutes

As we continue our deep dive into the 5-pillars, today we’re highlighting Pillar 3 – Focus Your Efforts: Depth Beats Breadth.

Do you believe that reaching as many distributors and customers as possible will automatically lead to bigger sales? Think again. In many parts of the chemical industry, the race to chase “every possible lead” causes chaos and dilutes your impact. If your team is constantly juggling multiple channels, duplicating calls, or accidentally competing against itself, it’s time to question the old idea that “broader reach equals better results.”

“He who chases two rabbits catches neither.”
– Confucius

Depth Over Dilution

The truth is, specialising in a narrower field or focusing on fewer, stronger partnerships often brings greater success. When you streamline your efforts, you free up time to build deeper expertise, improve customer experiences, and forge reliable, lasting relationships.

In a Deloitte Global Chemical Industry Outlook (2021) study, companies that simplified their supply channels saw up to a 20% boost in efficiency. I’m not suggesting you ignore half of your market; this is more about serving each part with purpose, clarity, and customer care.

Real-World Example

I’m currently helping a manufacturer who used to talk to anyone and everyone who showed interest in their product. I get it, they were desperate to sell, and scale. However, they ended up with three or four distributors in the same area, plus direct conversations with end users, plus agents. All of this made for very confusing scenarios:

End users were approached by multiple partners for the exact same product.
Several meetings were duplicated, sometimes without the main distributor even knowing another meeting had happened.
The manufacturer felt overwhelmed by the amount of work, and keeping track of everything which was going on.

Together, we are formalising their routes to market. We set a rule of one distributor per region, clear lines of communication, and simple ways to handle customer queries. We also have named customers whom are direct accounts for the manufacturer, clearly communicated to distributors.

The result? Less confusion, no repeated meetings, and much happier distributors. All this also saved time for the manufacturer, who no longer had to manage endless requests or worry about stepping on anyone else’s toes.

Why It Works

Clarity: Buyers know exactly where to go for reliable information.
Trust: Distributors feel valued and work harder because they have dedicated zones.
Efficiency: Your internal team is free to deepen product knowledge and offer better support.
Growth: A focused partner in each region can nurture local relationships more effectively.

Some common objections…

“But we’ll miss out on potential leads!”
Actually, when you focus your efforts, you serve each customer better. That quality leads to referrals and reputation growth.
“Isn’t it risky to pick just one distributor?”
It’s safer than you think. Each region or market segment can still have its own channel. Just avoid overlap so that no one competes against themselves.
“We’ve always done it the other way…”
Staying stuck in a confusing system helps no one. A fresh approach can relieve stress for you, your partners, and your end users.

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So, there you have it…

Depth truly beats breadth when it comes to securing loyal buyers, building strong partnerships, and providing consistent service in the chemical industry.

By focusing your efforts, you stand out as a knowledgeable, trustworthy supplier. Instead of trying to be everywhere at once, concentrate on doing one thing exceptionally well for each market segment.

Have you faced overlapping channels or confusing market routes? Let me know, share your challenges or success stories.

If you need help streamlining your own distribution network, reach out to us. We’d love to discuss how focusing your efforts can bring you better results and a clearer path to growth.

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Thanks for reading, and see you next week.

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