Over the years we have been delighted that our products have gained international recognition. In order to ensure consistency, fulfil demand and properly manage local regulations, our international strategy has seen us develop and engage with a strong network of distributors around the world. Many of these relationships have been forged through our sales team’s attendance at international trade shows and conferences.
This approach has seen us welcome many of our international distributors, including those from the USA, Kuwait, The Netherlands, Denmark and Italy, to our headquarters in Chichester. Such meetings have enabled the Thesis team to develop even closer relationships with some of our distributors who we deal with regularly. An additional benefit is that our distributors have been able to see our products being manufactured for themselves, gaining a stronger appreciation of the high quality of the LimbO waterproof protector and Neocape range, as well as our ethical values in practice. These interactions have proved invaluable, and have helped us solidify relationships, share ideas and plan campaigns together.
Having seen the benefits of fostering close partnerships with our international distributors, in 2019 we organised our first ever distributor summit in West Sussex. We were keen to do something which was both a new approach for us and a productive activity for all involved. It also made sense to celebrate our distributor network as part of our 25th anniversary celebrations, offering something of a thank you for the valuable contribution which our partners outside the UK have made to Thesis’ success.
The summit involved five European teams, who joined us for a three day event at Canon Lane Hotel in the beautiful grounds of Chichester Cathedral. We were delighted that these busy people were keen to join us, and created a schedule which enabled time for work, socialising, networking and celebrating.
One of the key focus areas for the event was to allow us to introduce our new company branding and refreshed LimbO logo. Sharing this with our distributors was an important element of the summit, particularly given the length of time some of them had been working with us. The whole session proved very valuable and offered some useful, constructive feedback on our proposed new developments that we have been able to incorporate into the process. Out of this came some highly effective workshops allowing us to exchange future marketing ideas for LimbO, discuss new and existing marketing materials, and share experiences on some of the best ways to work with Amazon.
The summit also included a tour of our Bosham factory, where everyone was given the chance to make their own LimbO under strict quality control! We had the opportunity to introduce our distributors to the full Thesis team, many of whom they know via email, as well as meeting our founders, and reveal our new product, CombiPod, which is currently in the final stages of development, with a view to future export opportunities.
The event was an enormous success, and one which we are keen to replicate. The pandemic of 2020 has, of course, hampered opportunities for us to meet our international partners in person and, given the ongoing conditions, we are now considering running a virtual summit in 2021 to build on last year’s success, strengthen relationships and share ideas. Thankfully, such an approach is more viable than ever, given our combined experience of Zoom and with other virtual events growing by the week.
In the video below you can hear three of our distributors talk about their experience working with us. If you’d like to explore joining our distributor network, please get in touch.
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