The eight steps of dealer meet planning
Work through these in order. The first two are the ones most plans skip.
Step 1. Fix one purpose and one number
Write it in a line, such as: "Dealers know the new scheme and 60 of 100 sign up for the first order." The figures in that line are made up. Choose your own. A meet with five purposes ends with none done.
Step 2. Choose the date, city and venue
Pick a date when dealers can leave their shops. Avoid the busiest selling days of their year and clashing festivals. Pick a city that most of them can reach in half a day. A simple hall near a railway station often serves better than a grand hotel far away.
Check the basics: seating, sound, projector, power backup, parking, food and a quiet corner for one-to-one talks.
Step 3. Build the invite list
Start from your sales records. Group your dealers into four sets: top sellers, steady middle, new dealers and those who have slowed down. Each set needs something different from the day.
- Invite the owner, since the owner decides what to stock.
- Add one senior counter person from each big dealer, because they speak to users all day.
- Include your field team and the head office people who can solve problems.
- Consider a few promising new dealers and distributors' staff too.
- Keep the room small enough that every dealer can speak.
Step 4. Build the agenda from what dealers want
Phone ten dealers a month before. Ask what hurts: payment terms, late delivery, stock gaps, unclear schemes, slow claims. Then put answers on the agenda. If dealers hear nothing about their real problem, the day feels like a lecture.
Step 5. Invite in three touches
- A call from the sales officer who knows the dealer, as soon as the date is fixed.
- A written invite on WhatsApp or print, with the date, place, agenda and a map.
- A reminder a few days before, and a confirmation call the day before.
Keep a list of who said yes, and who needs travel help. Chase the maybes personally.
Step 6. Get the materials ready
Prepare a one-page scheme sheet, a product sheet, a display guide and a simple order form or a QR code that opens an order link. Print enough for each dealer, and send a digital copy afterwards.
Step 7. Run the day
- Name one person in charge of the schedule, and a second for dealer care.
- Start on time. A late start tells dealers the day does not matter.
- Take orders or pledges on the spot where you can, and write them down.
- Collect feedback before dealers leave: three short questions on a card.
- Take photos with consent. They help in follow-up and in your records.
Step 8. Follow up within a week
Send a thank-you, the scheme sheet and the promises you made. Fix a date for each promise. Visit the dealers who did not come, and the ones who came but said little. Many orders follow in the weeks after the meet, not in the hall.
Budget lines, in kind
We give no figures. List your own lines. Compare your quotes in each line, and keep a reserve for what you cannot predict.
- Venue, seating, sound, stage, screens and power backup.
- Food and drink for every dealer and every staff member.
- Travel or stay support for dealers who come far, if you choose to offer it.
- Printed material: invites, scheme sheets, display guides, name badges.
- Demo or training stock and a trainer.
- Gifts and awards.
- Photography and a short film or clip for follow-up.
- Staff time, including the field team's travel.
- Follow-up costs: visits, samples and display material.
Gifts deserve a plan. Choose items a dealer will use at the counter, such as display stands, calendars, tools or branded shop material. Our promotional products page shows the range. Give awards for results you can count, with clear rules, so dealers see them as fair.
Tax is a point to settle early. Section 17(5)(h) of the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Act, 2017 says input tax credit is not available for goods disposed of by way of gift or free samples. Gifts, trips and incentives for dealers can have other tax effects too. We could not read the official income tax text, so we state nothing on it. Ask a CA before you finalise the gift list and the awards.
Rules to keep in mind at the meet
A dealer meet puts many sellers of the same trade in one room. That is where competition law matters. Section 3 of the Competition Act, 2002 deals with agreements that hurt competition.
- Section 3(3) says agreements between firms in identical or similar trade are presumed to hurt competition if they directly or indirectly fix purchase or sale prices. The same goes for agreements that share markets by area, type of goods or number of customers.
- Section 3(4) covers agreements between firms at different levels of the chain. Its list includes tie-in arrangements, exclusive distribution, refusal to deal and resale price maintenance. These are caught if they cause, or are likely to cause, an appreciable adverse effect on competition in India.
In plain words: do not let the meet turn into a place where dealers agree on prices or split areas among themselves. Be careful with the resale prices you ask dealers to follow. Show your agenda and your dealer agreement to a lawyer before the day. The Competition (Amendment) Act, 2023 changed section 3, so use the current text.
How to measure orders from a dealer meet
Decide before the meet how you will count. A meet is not the only thing that moves orders, so use several simple checks.
- Pledges or first orders taken at the meet, against your number from step 1.
- Orders over the next 30, 60 and 90 days from each dealer who came, against the same period last year.
- The same comparison for dealers of a similar size who did not come. Treat it as a hint, not proof, since festivals and prices also change orders.
- Scheme uptake: how many dealers used it.
- New products stocked and displayed, checked on field visits.
- Feedback scores from the cards, and the problems raised.
- Cost per dealer who came, and cost per extra order, if you can work it out.
Put the numbers in one sheet, and review it with your sales team at 30 days.
A made-up example
Say a firm makes plumbing fittings and sells through 120 dealers. This is a made-up firm and made-up numbers. It plans a half-day meet in the city where most dealers buy. The purpose: explain a new price list and a new range.
It phones ten dealers and learns the real worry is late delivery of two fast-moving items. It adds a ten-minute session on delivery, led by its logistics head. It invites dealers by call, then WhatsApp, then a reminder. Eighty come.
The firm takes first orders in the hall on a simple form. It visits the forty who stayed away over the next two weeks. At 60 days it compares orders from attendees, non-attendees and the same period last year. It does not claim the whole rise as the meet's work. It uses the figures to plan the next meet.
Common mistakes, and the fix
- Too many speeches. Fix: keep each session short and give dealers time to speak.
- No dealer input. Fix: phone ten dealers a month before and use their problems in the agenda.
- Inviting only the top sellers. Fix: include new and slow dealers, who may need the day most.
- Gifts that no one uses. Fix: pick items for the counter and tie awards to clear results.
- No follow-up. Fix: book the visits and the 30-day review before the event.
- Price talk among dealers. Fix: keep prices and areas out of the open floor and ask a lawyer about the agenda.
When to ask for help
Ask for help when you have never held a meet for more than fifty dealers. Ask when you need a venue and production in a city you do not know. Ask when relations with dealers are tense. An outside team can run the logistics while your sales head runs the talk.
See how our team approaches this on the dealer meets and conferences page, or read about trade and channel marketing and dealer loyalty programmes. If you want more dealers to enquire first, read our guide to B2B lead generation.
