Our church furnishings manufacturer from Part One of this series of articles begins producing church furnishings. They’ve developed a new line of church furniture that should be an great option for churches across the country. How will they take their new church furnishing line to market? In Part One, our manufacturer chose a “Manufacturer Direct” approach for their new church furniture line.  In Part Two, we’ll see them choose a second route available to them.

Our church furnishing manufacturer can decide they’re going to utilize a “Dealer Network”.  In other words, churches across the country can still call the manufacturer and even learn about their products, but when it comes time to purchase those products, the church will be referred to a “dealer” who distributes that manufacturer’s products.  How does this approach impact churches?  Here are some thoughts:

• Dealers will represent several or even dozens of manufacturers.  The ability to be as well-informed about each manufacturer’s products as a manufacturer is about their own, is certainly more difficult.  Some dealers do this well, many do not, but most of the time can obtain the information the church needs.  However, remember that you can still call the manufacturer for specific information.
• Most dealers do not “stock” many products.  When an order is placed with a dealer, the dealer in turn places an order with the manufacturer and the items are shipped from the manufacturer to the end church user.   The dealer becomes the portal for the products, even though they may have never seen them first-hand.
• The above reasons may sound like “negatives” for the dealer approach, and they are in some cases.  But the great advantage that a dealer network offers churches across the country is the possibility of substantial dollar savings!  Manufacturers with dealer networks do not invest great dollars into the marketing of their products.  They count on their dealer network to market their products.  So if the manufacturer operates with lower overhead costs, and they have dealers who stress low overhead and efficient operations, the savings for churches can be substantial.  The key is to determine which dealers can really save your church money!  Some will, and some will not.  I encourage you to be sure and check out Church Furniture Partner as they’re a dealer who will definitely do just that, save your church money.