In the age of digital, distributors are seeking ways to get closer to their customers. Consider, if you have an electronic connection, and ideally an integration, with your customer, the relationship is deeper and you are building a moat around the customer. Your competition will still win some business (selected lines, locale, credit, perhaps price) but you win the dominant … [Read more...] about Turn Your Customers’ CRM into Revenue for You
AI Provides the Speed to Quote Quicker, Win More Orders
Last month I participated on Prokeep’s webinar on order quotation and order automation. For a pre-launch event, the attendance was great. The timing, incidentally, coincided with meetings I had recently with some contractors who shared what is important to them. The answer … speed. They wanted speedy responses to quotes and questions. The reason – they are running fast. … [Read more...] about AI Provides the Speed to Quote Quicker, Win More Orders
Manufacturers – Why You?
For manufacturers, getting your message through the channel, let alone to end-users, can be a challenge. Most are conditioned (could be trained, sometimes it’s historical repetition) to promote features and benefits. And it is always the latest products (which is interesting given that, while they track NPI … the percentage of business driven by new product introductions … … [Read more...] about Manufacturers – Why You?
Data Centers – an HVACR Distributor Opportunity
Data centers are perceived as a “huge” market opportunity by almost every manufacturer. Many distributors believe that they should be able to win some business there. Reps are expected to win business there. And yes, there are lots of data centers in the country, and in most markets, but the data centers gaining visibility today, the mega projects, are for AI and are being … [Read more...] about Data Centers – an HVACR Distributor Opportunity
New Product Introductions – Why they Fail
Recently we did a project for a manufacturer to help them prepare for a sales meeting. They wanted to understand what their staff was thinking but they wanted a 3rd party to gather the insights to ensure their team that there would be anonymity. They questions related to how the “go to market team” (Sales, Marketing, Product Development / Engineering, Customer Service) … [Read more...] about New Product Introductions – Why they Fail
AI for HVACR Reps
From a tech viewpoint, AI is what companies talk about. Distributors are implementing it or at least discussing it. Not much gets shared within the manufacturer environment but it is well in use. Reps have asked the question. Some have dappled. Few are advanced. Most are intrigued but lack expertise and/or are concerned about expense. The challenge for many reps is the … [Read more...] about AI for HVACR Reps
Digital Order Profitability Metrics in HVACR
Digital commerce, whether through your website, via eProcurement, direct connections (EDI or tools such as Remarcable, Kojo, and others), via apps, email to ERP, or other vehicles is increasing. Our recent State of eCommerce research, which gathered input from 350 Contractor buyers, highlighted that 62% are buying some material electronically and, based upon their feedback, … [Read more...] about Digital Order Profitability Metrics in HVACR
