Kayak Distribution is a manufacturer and global distributor of kayaks – rotomolded, thermoformed, and composite – based in Montreal, Canada. They manufacture in Shanghai, China in the company- owned plant and have three warehouses in strategic locations, Montreal (Eastern Canada), Vancouver Island (Western Canada), and Denmark (Northern Europe). With their brands, Riot Kayaks, Riot Paddleboards, Boreal Design, and Beluga Outdoor Gear, they strive to deliver the best kayaking experience on the water while adhering to the highest standards in safety, and comfort.
Their Approach Before Choosing Munzai Solutions
Kayak Distribution, with its top-of-the-line quality along with free shipping incentives, provides clear advantages to wholesalers, dealers, and recreational business owners. The company’s leverage is further substantiated by its ability to incorporate its business customers’ input into its strategy, demonstrating its commitment to their business growth and success. Despite all this, their sales were not anywhere near the target quota. To answer the obvious question, their expertise had scaled in manufacturing, however, their sales had not evolved to tackle the modern market dynamics for which they were pleased to enlist Munzai Solutions’ expertise.
Challenges Faced
Times have changed. Industry experience and goodwill were enough to generate new business once. Now the shifting market presents unforeseen problems. The company’s lack of specialization in sales fueled them further:
- Increase in Direct Competitors: During Kayak Distribution’s 35 years in the industry, many new competitors have cropped up on the horizon diluting their sales pipeline.
- Complicated Sales Process: The sales team was caught up in formalities preparing detailed quotations and getting them approved, which left the buyers frustrated and derailed the team from its main objective of sales.
- Lack of Modern Technology: Though the company had taken great strides on the technological front in its manufacturing plant, they were using outdated systems when it came to sales and marketing.
- Shortage of Sales Reps: Their sales team was juggling lead generation, and prospecting along with the follow-up on their own leading to inadequacies in the sales funnel.
- No Training Coverage: The management did not officially designate time and training resources to keep the reps up to date about modern sales methodologies.
- Lost Deals: Since the CRM system was not in place, inadequate manual records were kept for prospects and leads which left inconsistencies in follow-ups and resulted in lost deals.
Munzai’s Strategy
Munzai Solutions discovered the advantage that Kayak Distribution had over its competitors – extensive experience in manufacturing kayaks – and decided to make it the focal point of the campaign. Simultaneously, the approach covered:
- Cold Email Outreach: Generating interest among prospects via email marketing.
- Telemarketing: Cold calling businesses of small to medium sizes to gauge their interest and develop it through follow-ups.
- Scheduling Meetings: Connecting potential prospects with the Kayak Distribution sales team for detailed sessions.
- CRM System: Establishing a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system to manage sales operations effectively.
Response
To establish a reliable sales campaign that ran without any glitches, Munzai Solutions built its strategy revolving around these parameters:
- Leveraging Manufacturing Experience: Munzai dedicated project managers with experience in manufacturing & distribution for a better grip on the technicalities. This tactic helped SDRs to tackle prospects’ concerns ably with better confidence.
- Kayak Distribution Workstations: The workstations for the Kayak Distribution sales team were isolated from other clients’ campaigns. This extra effort resulted in the SDRs devoting their individual and collaborative energies to a single project and its outcomes.
- Analysis of Direct Competitors: Munzai Solutions’ business development team ran parallel research on the side to analyze and provide data to the sales team providing them with insight about Kayak Distribution’s direct competitors. With this knowledge, the SDRs maneuvered the sales conversations in Kayak Distribution’s favor and emphasized its benefits to the prospect.
- Building Technical Familiarity: Training sessions were conducted to help the SDRs familiarize themselves with the technical terms and jargon about kayaks. This ensured they could identify the features that set Kayak Distribution apart so they could convince the prospects and help them realize the monetary advantage they gained by becoming Kayak Distribution’s customers.
Results
Munzai Solutions efforts took hold and showed steady progress once the ball started rolling. The primary prospects that our SDRs targeted for the Kayak Distribution campaign included but were not limited to the following:
- Canoe & Kayak Stores
- Kayak Tour agencies
- Ecotourism companies
- Water sports equipment rental services
- Fishing and boating rental shops
- Outdoor recreation stores
Despite having access to paid databases for prospecting, our team, side-by-side, dug prospects through manual web research that proved equally helpful during the cold outreach stage.
Subsequently, the prospects were warmed up, leading to an increase in follow-ups, which helped in scheduling meetings eventually.
Outlook
This partnership shows the synergies released when collaborative efforts go toward the manufacturing domain. Kayak Distribution, managed by Graham Ketcheson, is at a juncture from where it can explore new opportunities in central regions while strengthening its existing customer listings. This project reinforces the parameters that are held when it comes to promoting niche products that have limited markets.
