Every year hundreds of millions of dollars have been invested / spent by manufacturers to solicit preference from distributors. In fact, about 10 years ago we estimated over $500M was spent in rebate funding. (Today we estimate over $1 billion!) All in an effort to retain business and, as manufacturers hope, to gain preference and generate growth. This funding is in addition to … [Read more...] about Over a Billion Dollars in Rebate and Marketing Funding to Distributors
Salespeople: Consultants, Relationship Managers or Order Facilitators to Contractors?
The industry, as we know, is going through change. In many people’s opinion, the three biggest drivers of this change are: Increased competition, especially through alternative channels (non- full-line electrical distributors) Personnel, with much of it stemming from an aging workforce that has learned product, channel and customer idiosyncrasies “on the job” and … [Read more...] about Salespeople: Consultants, Relationship Managers or Order Facilitators to Contractors?
Are Your Sales and Marketing Teams Inhibiting Growth?
We\'re at the mid-year and we\'re hearing a wide array of distributor and manufacturer performance. Industry forecasters state the market should be around 6% which begs the question, are you above the industry forecast and growing or are you letting \"rising seas lift all?\" In essence, are you generating growth, content with market performance or lagging the market? And if you … [Read more...] about Are Your Sales and Marketing Teams Inhibiting Growth?
Grainger Keeps Motoring Along; Amazon Business Out of Sight?
Grainger shared its 2018 Q2 performance earlier this week and, given their industrial MRO focus, highlighted continued strength in this customer segment. And while they are not focused in the electrical space, they are about a $1B electrical player as almost 10% of their business is classified as electrical, lighting and motors. On their call they shared: 11% volume growth … [Read more...] about Grainger Keeps Motoring Along; Amazon Business Out of Sight?
Websites and Your Coffee
Recently there have been a number of distributors who have launched upgraded websites with eCommerce capabilities. Reportedly launch times range from 4 to 28 months ... and maybe more (Kirby Risk, State Electric, Independent Electric, Fairmont Supply, Turtle & Hughes, Electric Supply (Tampa). And we know other major ones coming online soon and some are upgrading their … [Read more...] about Websites and Your Coffee
Challenging Convention, Embracing Disruption. Tomorrow\’s Marketing Groups?
Last month the recurring theme at the NAED National was disruption. And one of the sessions’ speakers posed the question to consider of “what if?” Earlier this month I presented at a conference of marketing / buying groups. And over the past couple of months we’ve had prospects / clients who we’ve spoken to regarding “distributor programs” (aka rebate programs). The spark for … [Read more...] about Challenging Convention, Embracing Disruption. Tomorrow\’s Marketing Groups?
Revenue Generation, Content Key Takeaways from B2B Online Conference
eCommerce continues to be a heavily discussed issue within the electrical industry with distributors, in aggregate, investing millions of dollars and manufacturers redesigning sites, investing to build, manage and enhance product content and considering the alternative channels that eCommerce is creating be it Amazon Business, Grainger and Zoro, HomeDepot.com, Ferguson.com, … [Read more...] about Revenue Generation, Content Key Takeaways from B2B Online Conference
Manufacturing and Technology Trends
IndustryWeek\'s Manufacturing and Technology Conference, held last week in Raleigh, highlighted the continued infusing of technology into manufacturing ... onto the plant floor as well as through product design. And it\'s a trend that electrical distributors can be uniquely positioned to support and can benefit from. Key words that were used repeatedly included: Smart IoT … [Read more...] about Manufacturing and Technology Trends
Digital Distributor Starts with eCommerce Product Content
The term \"digital distributor\" is starting to be used more repeatedly. Granted it can be a consultant\'s way to drum up business but it\'s becoming a term used to express the further reaching impact of doing business digitally and recognition that not all business is going to be done via \"hunt and peck\" clicking on websites. Much of it, however, emanates from the need for … [Read more...] about Digital Distributor Starts with eCommerce Product Content
How Distributors are Adapting to Changing Buyer Demands
Customer expectations are changing how distributors are doing business. They expect more. Some of your competition offers more. And you need to offer more to retain customers and have a hope of capturing new ones. And the changes are much more than offering an online website. There are other technologies you currently own that need to be leveraged as well as data insights. … [Read more...] about How Distributors are Adapting to Changing Buyer Demands
