Not found at a mass merchant near you

I read an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal this morning about power tool maker Stihl shunning mass merchants, and not quietly. The most recent advertising campaign by Stihl has a headline that reads “Rated number one by a leading consumer magazine, and it’s not sold at Lowe’s or The Home Depotâ€?. Wow. That’s pretty bold. To go against a company like The Home Depot who boasts over 1.3 billion customer transactions per year. That sounds like suicide.

But is it? Despite being more expensive than competitive brands sold at mass merchants and only being available through authorized dealers, Stihl has seen double digit growth for the last 14 consecutive years. Just last year they had sales of $2.29 billion. To me, it’s refreshing to see that there’s still a huge consumer out there looking for quality product and above all, quality service, regardless of price.

That being said, take a look at your company. Is your product or service quality enough for a tactic such as Stihl’s? Would you be comfortable shunning your biggest distribution channel because you know for a fact that you have a superior product to offer? If not, maybe it’s time to go back to the drawing board and focus on quality, not price point. If you can do that, it may be the ticket your small business needs to shine through the mess of mass merchants & providers.