The Key to Stronger Customer-Distributor Relationships: Application-Based Selling

As cost, performance and sustainability pressures rise, the strongest packaging outcomes start with a clear understanding of the application. An application-based selling approach helps distributors and customers work together to solve problems and unlock value across the entire operation.

Packaging plays a critical role in protecting products and supporting day-to-day operations, and effective packaging starts with a clear understanding of the application.

As cost, performance and sustainability pressures grow, distributors and customers achieve better results by working together to solve problems rather than leading with product alone. It's why an application-based selling approach is so critical.

By starting with the application, distributors can identify the right level of protection and recommend solutions that support broader operational and business goals.

Step 1: Determine the Right Level of Product Protection

The first step in an application-based selling approach is understanding how the product moves through the operation and the conditions it will encounter during shipping. These insights help clarify what the packaging needs to accomplish before any materials are discussed.

Inside-the-box protective packaging needs fall into three categories: void fill, light cushioning and performance cushioning. Each serves a different purpose depending on product fragility, weight and shipping conditions.

Open-ended questions help uncover packaging requirements and performance expectations. For example:

• Instead of asking: Are you happy with your current packaging process?
  Ask: Could you walk me through your current packaging process?
  Why this helps: This reveals handling steps, touchpoints, and shipping conditions that influence whether the primary need is simple stabilization, surface protection or impact protection.
  
  
• Instead of asking: What void fill or cushioning are you using now?
  Ask: How fragile is the product and what conditions does it experience in transit?
  Why this helps: Understanding whether the risk is movement, surface contact or shock helps determine the appropriate level of protection
  
  
• Instead of asking: Do you want to stay in void fill?
  Ask: What is your damage rate? Where and how does damage typically occur?
  Why this helps: Actual damage patterns confirm whether the current level of protection is aligned with shipping realities and where gaps may exist.

Step 2: Select the Material that Best Meets the Organization's Needs

Once the level of protection required is identified, the next step is determining which material will deliver it most effectively. Different materials offer different advantages, and the right choice depends on what the customer values most. Cost, sustainability goals, operator efficiency, and material or weight reduction are the most common factors that shape that decision.

Different materials offer different advantages. For example:

• Customers with fiber-based packaging preferences may prioritize paper solutions that align with internal packaging guidelines or sustainability initiatives.
• Products weighing over 30 lbs. or with sharp edges may be better suited for paper or foam-in-place protection, as air solutions can deflate during transit under higher loads.
• Applications with large carton voids can benefit from poly-based materials, as similar fill levels can be achieved using less material per linear foot.
• For customers balancing cost and sustainability objectives, the Pregis AirSpeed® Renew® PCR portfolio with 80 percent post-consumer content can help support both goals without sacrificing performance.

Resources That Strengthen Recommendations

Distributors can leverage Pregis' network of packaging, performance and sustainability experts to strengthen recommendations with technical insight and data. Pregis IQ® tests real-world shipping scenarios to confirm packaging performs under actual transit conditions. Supporting analyses such as Process Value Analysis (PVA), Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), and damage rate analysis provide measurable insights into efficiency, material use, and damage reduction. When recommendations are backed by credible operational data, customers gain greater confidence in both the solution and the results it can deliver.

Pregis can help apply an application-based selling approach to uncover the right inside the box protective packaging solution, and the material that best supports a customer's operation. Contact a rep today to learn more.

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