A new distributor, a new list
A distributor in the Middle East wants to take on your range. Their importer needs a list of documents for each product: ingredient lists in a particular format, specifications, certificates you hold, certificates of free sale, product images, label translations, company registration documents. A distributor in Asia asked for an overlapping but different set last year, and one in Europe for another.
The export manager spends days assembling folders, discovering some documents are out of date, and requesting new certificates.
Every market asks differently
The documents themselves are mostly things you already hold. The difficulty is that every distributor wants a different selection and format, and documents are not kept in a way that makes assembly easy.
- Product documents live in product folders, company documents elsewhere.
- Documents that need renewing or reissuing, such as certificates, have no reminders.
- Each distributor's request list is an email, not a checklist.
- Formats and naming requirements vary by market.
- Nobody records which version of a document went to which distributor.
What the paperwork costs
Slow document packs delay first orders and product registrations in new markets, which can take a long time to recover. Out-of-date documents sent abroad cause queries and rework. The export manager, whose job is building distributor relationships, spends their time assembling folders. What each market requires is for you, your distributor and your adviser to establish. We do not advise on export rules. We make the admin of assembling and tracking documents quicker.
Requests also come back around. A distributor who received a pack last year asks for updated versions for a product registration renewal, or a second importer in the same country asks for the same set in a slightly different format. Without a log, each of these starts from the beginning again.
A document pack builder
- Your product documents and company documents are held in one library, each with its version, issue date and any renewal date. Product documents link to the product's existing document index where you have one.
- Each distributor or market has a checklist of the documents they ask for, with any format or naming requirements, set up from their request.
- The builder assembles a pack for a distributor and list of products from the current versions, named as they require, and lists any gaps.
- Documents that need renewal, such as certificates with a validity period, are flagged ahead of their dates.
- Every pack sent is logged with its contents and versions, so when a document is updated you know which distributors hold the old one.
- Distributors can be given access to a shared folder of their current pack, updated as documents change, if you prefer that to email.
| Task | Now | With the builder |
|---|---|---|
| Assembling a pack | Days of folder searching | Built from the checklist |
| Gaps | Found while assembling | Listed straight away |
| Renewals | Found when requested | Flagged ahead of dates |
| Who has which version | Unknown | Logged per distributor |
Exporting with the admin under control
A new distributor's request becomes a checklist and a pack, with gaps known on day one. Renewals happen before a distributor asks. When a formula or label changes, every distributor holding the old documents is on a list. The export manager spends time on distributors rather than folders.
The same library helps at home too, because UK retailers and brand clients ask for many of the same documents.
Is this your export desk?
- Every distributor sends a different document list.
- Assembling documents takes days.
- Documents sent abroad have been out of date.
- Certificate renewals are found when someone asks.
- You do not know which distributor has which version.