Our Vendors: A Partnership Based on Need
Nick, Bhullar, Vice Chairman
The very last point in the National Coalition’s Code of Ethics says, “The National Coalition member believes in the rights of all 7-Eleven franchisees to associate together in an independent trade association controlled and financed by 7-Eleven franchisee members.” The National Coalition does this by working to provide win-win-win situations for vendors, franchisees, our franchisor, and our guests.
It’s a simple fact that manufacturers and service companies have products to provide, and we have space to sell them. All franchisees greatly value the efforts of our vendor/manufacturer/service provider partners to provide us with all of the great products we have to sell in our stores.
Franchisees want the products that will put the most money on their bottom lines. If anyone can tell us which products will work and make the most money in our stores we want to know! We want to hear from you, and we will purchase your products.
The smart marketer knows that it is a great opportunity to have the tools to influence franchisee guests favorably towards his or her products. If you as a manufacturer can get enough visibility among 7-Eleven franchisees for your new product, you have a great chance that product will at least be purchased by franchisees and tried by our guests.
To help in this pursuit, the NCASEF has formed a new Merchandising Committee around this concept of win-win-win, from members of the National Coalition’s Board of Directors around the country. We currently have 44 Franchise Owner’s Associations (FOAs) in the 31 states in which 7-Eleven has stores, and we have selected a group that as well as possible represents all areas of the country.
If you have questions about selling to 7-Eleven franchisees, please reach out to me or anyone from the Executive Board for information.
To help everyone sell more products, the National Coalition offers at least five opportunities for vendors to get involved with franchisees on a national scale.
—Avanti Magazine reaches over 7,000 members of the franchised community 6x per year.
—The National Coalition Annual Convention and Trade Show reaches the largest group of franchisees in the country.
—The NCASEF Affiliate Program provides two meetings per year for vendors and FOA presidents and vice presidents to gather, share information and network.
—Vendors in the Affiliate Program can purchase presentation time in half-hour increments at four NCASEF Board meetings per year.
—The National Coalition Website usually peaks at convention time in June and July with over 6,000 unique visitors.
—Our 44 NCASEF member FOAs have varying local events throughout the country including trade shows, holiday parties, golf and charitable events, and local board meetings that vendors can attend.
All of our programs and services, our NCASEF officers, and our FOA members are reachable through our website www.NCASEF.com.
Ultimately all our businesses are partnerships based on need. If we can take a vendor’s promising new product, advertise it in Avanti, show it at our trade show, and get the word out to all franchisees in the country, we are doing our jobs and raising the water level for everyone: for vendors, for franchisees, for the 7-Eleven brand, and for our guests. We all sell more products. We call this a win-win-win situation.
It is important now more than ever to remember that franchisees are at the forefront of this business. We want to hear from all of our vendors, we want to know about your products, and we want to know which ones will sell best in our stores.