As we were developing a story for this issue on the evolving role of the military resale broker, a situation developed in connection with the Army & Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) Feb. 17 Vendor Symposium. A rumor that took on a life of its own had begun to circulate that brokers had been intentionally excluded from participating in the session. It grew to the point that word was circulating that AAFES was “anti-broker.” This is not the first time a rumor has sped through our marketplace with such viral fervor and it probably won't be the last. However, when the problem was brought to the attention of the right people, the record was put straight, in short order. When the 800-lb. gorilla in the marketplace speaks, industry tends to raise its antennae.

We usually don't pay much heed to rumors unless they are confirmed, but this one caused such a stir because on the one hand it was tied into the Vendor Symposium that had been promoted for some time, and on the other it had the potential to be so corrosive to the marketplace that we thought it was in the best interests of the industry to look into it further.

There's nothing really new — and certainly not alarming — about the concept of resale commanders meeting with manufacturers: it's been a feature of the industry at least since the early 1960s, when AAFES was headquartered in New York and the AAFES commander held monthly breakfast meetings with chief executives from the manufacturing community to discuss opportunities of doing business with AAFES, the ways in which AAFES operates, and the nature of the exchange benefit it provides.

Insofar as this Vendor Symposium was concerned, it was never a question that brokers were to be excluded — it was simply a matter that AAFES had sought to invite a representative from each of the top-90 manufacturers from its million-dollar vendor list into a smaller, more compact auditorium setting. If any of those companies were unable to send a direct company representative, they were welcome to send a broker to represent them. End of story.

At least that's where the story would end, if it didn't raise such an interesting question: has the broker community done all it can to promote itself — not just its clients' products — and in the right places, to the right people? There's no question it has done a good job of communicating with the resale commanders, chief operating officers (COO) and chief merchandising officers (CMO), and there's no question that they are appreciated at store level for all they do. But have brokers done all they need to do to tell their “value story” to the buyers and their counterparts in planning, allocation and replenishment (PAR) and logistics? Have they communicated as well as they can what they are about, why they are there, and what they bring to the table, not just from the product perspective, but from the resale service side of the equation. To quote Hamlet, “... There's the rub.”

For many people, the first examples that typically come to mind when they hear the word “broker” are insurance, real estate and financial services brokers. It just may be that in our industry, brokers could benefit from a name change to “resale service companies.” That name better describes a larger part of what they do today than the term “broker,” and it would be more in tune with the civilian market, where companies such as Wal-Mart and Target depend greatly on a number of retail service companies to help them achieve their objectives and keep their stores merchandised.

We realize it takes some time for long-held handles to change — not all brokers are cut from the same cloth nor do they do the same job, by any means — so we asked several top executives from our resale system how they saw the role of the broker, a.k.a. resale service company. And although commissary system executives may view them differently from the way their exchange counterparts do, retaining the right resale service company is just as important for each segment of the marketplace.

AAFES, the Navy Exchange Service Command (NEXCOM), Marine Corps Exchanges (MCX), Coast Guard Exchange System (CGES) and Veterans Canteen Service (VCS) have created a distinct focus on telling their respective value stories, and perhaps the time has come for resale service companies, a.k.a. brokers, to do the same. There seems to be a long way to go and much to be done. As AAFES has found, telling the value story isn't always such an easy thing to do. One size does not fit all where resale service companies are concerned.

In some cases, it may be that the right message is not getting out; in other cases, it's not getting to the right people. And we'll take some of the blame for that ourselves.

Beyond the top-level executives and store level — where most of the managers seem to understand and appreciate the function of these types of organizations — the sales job seems to dwindle, in particular when it comes to the buyer, the PAR team, the division/general merchandise manager and division vice president.

We know the sales pitch is there for the clients' products, but we wonder how much more does it need to be there for the services and value resale service companies add to the picture? Perhaps some of the industry meetings throughout the year that are seeking ideas for different kinds of presentations might be able to provide brokers the opportunity to share their message about their resale services and involvement in the military community.

What we can be certain of is that the broker community is an integral part of the military resale community. Their involvement is almost as varied as the array of companies performing these services, and can range from basic representation to the nitty-gritty of promotion preparation, display building, in-store demos, shelf-stocking and product support, to the more complex issues underlying vendor-managed inventory, sales administration, category management services, logistics coordination and even buy-sell services for certain types of lower-maintenance items, just to name a few of the services they provide.

Manufacturers hire resale service companies because they feel that — in any economic environment past, present or future — it is less expensive for them to service this market through these types of organizations. What manufacturer is going to incur greater expenses working through resale service companies — why would it hire them if it costs more? Many manufacturers feel that the resale service company is an extension of their own sales force, and not a third party.

Someone has to make the sales call, somebody has to do the in-store work, and somebody has to take care of all the services we outlined above. To perform those kinds of services in a market as far-flung as ours typically takes a specialized kind of organization, and more often a “special” one. Not to be underestimated in all this, are the intangibles these organizations bring in terms of knowledge, familiarity and specialization in military resale, along with a singular dedication to the military customer, and other plusses such as special event support in locations as remote as Gitmo, Iraq, Afghanistan, lower Manhattan, Virginia, and Korea.

And there's a reason for it all, of course (we left the best till last). For the most part, it can all be traced to one thing: dedicated people.

The folks who largely comprise these companies often have been actively involved with the military or were themselves once patrons, perhaps now have sons and daughters who are patrons, and in many cases they are or were military spouses. Now that's a wonderful partnership for military resale — and its service companies.