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My observation is that it is time to establish a new covenant
among agribusiness channel partners:a customer-focused,
value-based covenant.
Research indicates that conflict exists within agribusiness:
conflict centering upon who "owns" the customer. Rather
than focusing marketing efforts on delivering superior products
and services to the grower, efforts are focused on "one-upping"
others in the channel. While there is seldom a "winner"
in such a conflict, there is a clear "loser":the grower.
To get an idea of where conflict may exist in your agribusiness
channel, ask yourself these questions:
1. Who is my customer? Is it the distributor or dealer? Or is
it the grower and farm operator?
2. What does it mean to be truly customer-focused? Does it
mean different things to different members of the distribution
channel?
3. How do I and my channel partners react when one of us
asks another for information regarding the grower?
4. Is there conflict or rivalry over who "owns" the customer?
5. How do I define "value"? In whose terms do I define
"value"? Does Value Change with every step along the customer corridor?
Does "value" change over the duration of your relationship?
6. Do I consider others in my channel (manufacturers, distributors,
dealers) customers or partners?
7. What is a suitable covenant for a customer-focused
agribusiness channel?
An unhealthy tension exists in many distribution channels,
including agribusiness, as manufacturers ask channel partners
for customer-specific information. Dealers and distributors are
vocally leery of marketing paradigms which ask for such sharing
of information. The fear of course has been discussed for a decade:
Disintermediation.
In all too many situations such a rivalry over customer ownership
has erupted into open, hostile conflict. This channel conflict
is transparent, however, to our mutual customer, the
farmer. All customers want is value: value as they define it.
They know if they're getting it; they know if they're not.
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