This year we will continue the success story of the brodos.net platform and digitalisation in the retail trade. In 2017 we want above all to create a strong sales team to drive sales of our leading cross channel platforms. We have welcomed Michael Heller on board with this in mind, a genuine professional with the necessary experience in the retail trade, with cooperations and branch systems and in managing sales teams.
New distribution structure
With our new distribution structures it is not only specialist retailers with a store who are to gain access to our affordable cross channel platform but also retailers owning two or more hundred stores. Even these retailers are generally too small to develop technology of this nature themselves. For these special concepts retailers will gain access to our cross channel platform from our direct sales either online or in a one to one conversation.
Another important pillar in addition to direct marketing is to be partnership with distribution partners. Thanks to his time at Vodafone, Michael Heller is an expert at marketing in indirect sales, and we are planning on establishing an important pillar for sales strategies with indirect sales partners.
An initial partnership has already been concluded with the first two partner companies. The first is a company specialising in sales training, which advises their retailers on a daily basis on the topic of digitalisation in the retail trade. Our other partners are consultants who accompany traditional retailers in implementing digitalisation projects relating to cross channel distribution.
A further important sales area to be developed further under the leadership of Michael Heller is key account management. A team with four cross channel specialists was already established under his predecessor Markus Rieker, who predominantly looked after long tail and virtual shelf projects for network operators, large retail concerns and manufacturers.
Our plan for 2017 consists of consistently continuing into other product ranges and driving the internationalisation of our brodos.net platfom business.
Image: Michael Heller new managing director of brodos.net.
Great wealth of experience
Michael Heller has many years’ experience in sales in the mobile communications and consumer electronics sectors, as well as with consumer goods and media sales. In 1992, Michael Heller was one of the sales pioneers with D2 Privat and was involved in the change of brand from Mannesmann to Vodafone. In his various areas of responsibility and managerial positions, he has had a leading role to play in shaping the mobile communications market and the changes which have taken place in the different retail forms.
Other positions he has held include ElectronicPartner Deutschland, where he was initially responsible for running the Augsburg branch before moving to Dusseldorf to become CSO for the retail sector in Germany. After that, he worked on the field sales team for direct sales for telegate Media in Essen, before taking on the position of sales director at Apollo Optik, where he was responsible for more than 800 branches and franchise partners throughout the whole of Germany.