Rebates are a fact of life and the first marketing group rebate negotiation, in 1968, was designed to capture incremental revenue (for a wire company) with the distributors collecting the funds for a social engagement. But the core issue was the manufacturer sought growth / increased market share. Vendor published programs such as Legrand\'s Cornerstone program, Leviton\'s … [Read more...] about Do Vendor Published Rebate Programs Drive Decisions?
Customer Satisfaction vs Inventory Management
There are three functional responsibilities that are critical to the survival, and growth, of all distributors. They are business development (need more sales!), effective inventory management and collections (inferring that credit is provided). To achieve this companies need to be responsive to customers. A happy / satisfied customer represents the potential to be a repeat … [Read more...] about Customer Satisfaction vs Inventory Management
Grainger Q2 Earnings … Industrial slowdown continues
It\'s Q2 earning season, providing distributors (and manufacturers) with an opportunity to benchmark their performance, gain insights (or confirmation) on what they are seeing in the market and possibly learn a little from publicly held companies. First up is Grainger whose results reaffirm that the industrial slowdown continues, albeit it is no longer in free fall. Grainger … [Read more...] about Grainger Q2 Earnings … Industrial slowdown continues
Getting Found Online…Site Optimization (SEO)
Do you know if your website, including eCommerce engine is optimized? Is your company an SEO master? Whoever said “build it and they will come” never developed a website. Making the investment in a website (and eCommerce) is, as they say, “the easy part” as it takes money, process / project-oriented people and product content. The hard party is generating traffic to your … [Read more...] about Getting Found Online…Site Optimization (SEO)
A Shot in the Arm
Earlier this year Codale Electric, a Sonepar operating company, acquired Grove Madsen. Two months later Codale and Grove Madsen have big growth plans. A recent story in the Northern Nevada Business Weekly shared some of the strategies that are in development that will give this formerly independent distributor a shot in the arm. The benefits of the acquisition, according to … [Read more...] about A Shot in the Arm
An Industry Undergoing Change
We\'ve just passed the 6 month mark for the year and while there has been much change, the past month highlighted many and accelerated some. Consider: Consolidation Shealy sells to Border States to create a $2B ESOP. Grove Madsen sells to Sonepar Cape Electric sells to Graybar And we\'ve talked to others that have either expressed interest in selling (and have inquired … [Read more...] about An Industry Undergoing Change
Weak Jobs Report Impacting Electrical Industry?
Earlier this month the headline that many were commenting on was \"U.S. Hiring Slowed Dramatically in May; Jobless Rate Falls to 4.7%\". The story emphasized that non-farm payroll was up only 38,000 jobs and that March and April data were revised downward. In other words, a weak jobs report and outlook. While the jobless rate fell it was felt that this was due to individuals … [Read more...] about Weak Jobs Report Impacting Electrical Industry?
Is Joint Business Planning a Dying Art or a Growth Differentiator?
An issue we\'re starting to hear more and more about is Joint Business Planning (JBP). We started hearing rumblings just before the NAED National from some larger distributors and manufacturers that the planning process was taking too long (not getting done until late Q1) field planning was not as strong as it historically was (there\'s an correlation between the quality of … [Read more...] about Is Joint Business Planning a Dying Art or a Growth Differentiator?
Driving Your eSales Rate
As mentioned last week, one of the topics of various sessions, and with distributors, was eCommerce and eSales. The companies that are viewed as more progressive, perhaps more profitable and who are positioning for future growth are driving their business this way. Some of discussion at the NAED National may be due to Amazon stating that Amazon Business crossed the $1 billion … [Read more...] about Driving Your eSales Rate
What companies are looking for in new hires
Throughout Q1 we\'ve heard of a number of companies, manufacturers and distributors, who have undergone some \"cost reductions\" (the euphemism for layoffs). This has created opportunities for others in a hiring mode to be more \"selective\" in their hiring. Some are hiring opportunistically, others have openings. So we decided to ask John Salvadore, GRN Coastal Recruiters, … [Read more...] about What companies are looking for in new hires
