Prepping the network for 2007

The differences in how we do business internationally vs. domestically are on clear display at today's meeting. Unlike our North American operations, where we often deal directly with individual dealers or a limited number of national or regional distributors, KVH Europe and our international business operations are almost entirely focused on working instead with national distributors, each of which cultivates, trains, supports, and manages a large network of in-country dealers who sell and service KVH products. It's a model that works. In the third quarter of this year, KVH's international sales were up 40% from the same quarter in 2005, and are up more than 25% for the first nine months of the year.

The annual distributor meeting is the one time when all of these key players, together with KVH personnel, are able to get together to review the prior year and make plans for the next one. As noted earlier, this year is a record turnout, with 35 attendees representing 24 countries, including our two new Asian distributors.

KE Managing Director Mads Bjerre-Petersen kicks off the meeting

There was a tremendous amount of material to cover during the course of the 6-hour meeting, ranging from product updates and competitive analysis to service policies and marketing programs. Kudos to the team at KVH Europe, led by managing director Mads Bjerre-Petersen, and the outstanding job they did organizing and managing the event.

Paul Schwartz, satcom product line manager, and Hans Henrik Danevig, sales manager, chat with one of the distributors during a break

As someone who has always operated within KVH in the United States, I knew intellectually that KE had to operate differently and that the distributors added a new level of complexity. However, attending this meeting for the first time has been something of an eye-opener for me as I could see the give-and-take as well as the wide spectrum of opinions and requests from this diverse group. Where one distributor group might feel a product price level might be a bit too high for its dealers and customers, another distributor with a different marketplace might feel the price could be higher.

As the discussions progressed, it was plain to see that KE has developed a very strong set of cooperative relationships with each of these distributors. It helps that there is mutual respect among all the parts – a clear respect for the work the distributors do in their respective regions along with an appreciation for both the quality of KVH’s products as well as the support and service offered by KVH Europe.

Ian Palmer (r) discusses marketing and promotional materials

The distributors clearly know their stuff and for me, it’s been a pleasure meeting them. I think they’ll be a valuable resource for our communication and marketing teams in the U.S. and Denmark as we aim to increase our international media outreach efforts in 2007.

And the meeting winds down with small group discussions

And now onto METS 2006...