Nationwide East, the regional chapter of the Nationwide Marketing Group, reported “another year of tremendous growth in 2015,” and anticipates breaking the thousand-member threshold this year.
The chapter, which includes states in the Midwest, South and East, said its focus this year is on continued engagement on its MemberNet intranet platform, leveraging the group’s website, and delivering the services and advertising tools to keep the independent retailer competitive.
Nationwide East also boasts 10 territory managers, and members can expect to see their local representatives in their stores frequently, with customized programs designed to grow their businesses, the chapter said.
Nationwide East kicked off the year with a territory manager planning meeting in Florida. The training was focused on the exclusive financing, promotional and product programs that give Nationwide East members “a clear advantage in their marketplace,” it said. The managers share their expertise and knowledge of these initiatives with members through frequent phone calls and store visits, which is crucial to building relationships and trust, the chapter noted.
Indeed, the territory managers become familiar with their members on a personal level, helping to cement the “large group with a small-family feel” that has become a core value of Nationwide East, the chapter said.
To further help its members, Nationwide East has established a group communication system that encourages members to reach out to one another for hard-to-find models, parts or to locate new products. “This has become an invaluable service that helps strengthen the reason they belong to a group of like-minded independent retailers,” the chapter said.
Recounted Nationwide East VP Dean Hanby: “We spent four days in sessions educating the territory managers on our finance, furniture, appliance and CE advantages. It’s vital that we have the knowledge to explain every program and resource to our members and help them run their business at a profit. ‘We’ve Got Your Back’ is more than our slogan; it is the fundamental way Nationwide East does business. We believe it.”
Added Nationwide CEO Dave Bilas, “The continued growth of Nationwide East and our regional divisions is due to their teams taking the time to educate the territory managers and ensure the services we offer to our retailers is understood and adopted by all members.”
