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
Distribution Strategy
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
Why Product Launches Fail
We\'re finally through the planning season (yes, it is April and distributors now have less than 9 months to achieve supplier objectives!) and some of manufacturers discussed their new product launch plans (and maybe a distributor shared their approach to new product introductions.) During the planning process some manufacturers communicate to their distributors about their … [Read more...] about Why Product Launches Fail
