SPAs, special pricing agreements, were originally conceived to ensure the integrity of local market into stock, and “street” pricing while providing distributors and manufacturers with a targeted sales pricing tool to deploy on an account-specific basis. The definition of “account-specific” has broadened with many taking liberty with the breadth (with and without … [Read more...] about SPAs – Are We / They In Or Out of Control?
More Insights
FedEx to Live without Amazon. Lessons for Distributors
Last month FedEx announced that they won’t renew a ground-delivery deal they had with Amazon to provide small-package ground deliveries. This follows FedEx’s announcement that it wouldn’t renew Amazon’s FedEx Express contract which Amazon used to transport packages by air. Why? Pretty simple. FedEx decided it didn’t want to continue doing business with … [Read more...] about FedEx to Live without Amazon. Lessons for Distributors
Football Fever
In the words of Hank Williams, “are you ready for some football?! The season for the most watched sport in America started this weekend with Miami vs Florida and will continue until early February. Whether peewee, high school, college or pro, football will take over most towns and conversations. Millions of conversations on Monday’s, Tuesday’s and Friday’s will … [Read more...] about Football Fever
The Rep Alignment Dilemma
The rep alignment dilemma ... whom to align with to generate sales? End-users? National chains? Independent supportive distributors? Any distributor who will support the manufacturer? The manufacturer? But, the bottom line becomes, what will generate sales to meet manufacturer expectations? It\'s complicated, and channel consolidation and channel diversification will make … [Read more...] about The Rep Alignment Dilemma
Grainger Q2 Sales Slow … Industrial Indicator?
Grainger frequently is a good bellwether for the industrial market given their MRO focus on Fortune 500 industrial accounts. Grainger\'s performance highlights that the industrial MRO rate of growth decelerated significantly. Q2 Report From their quarterly report and slide presentation: Started off saying “the demand environment has softened throughout the year.”They … [Read more...] about Grainger Q2 Sales Slow … Industrial Indicator?
Using Price to Expand Your Business
Competing on price is a “no no” for many distributors. Few want to say “the reason why people buy from me is price.” But, do all of your customers want to buy from you for your service, people or your other services? And, in reality, when customers are surveyed, many say they at least need competitive pricing to justify doing business with their supplier. But, in … [Read more...] about Using Price to Expand Your Business
Home Depot to Offer Customized Pro Pricing
Home Depot’s retiring CFO’s interview last night with Jim Cramer on CNBC shared a glimpse of why electrical distributors who serve small to mid-sized residential and commercial distributors should be concerned. And it\'s all about pricing. The home improvement (perhaps better described as a “construction”) behemoth is the leader in serving the DIY market. And yes, we’ve … [Read more...] about Home Depot to Offer Customized Pro Pricing
Is your supplier finding leads and business, online, for you?
ABB recently launched a new initiative, eFinder, that enables visitors to its website to purchase material online. But they are not disintermediating the channel. Instead they are providing distributors with the opportunity to generate incremental business online. And at the same time they are generating leads. The eFinder tool enables distributors with a commerce-enabled … [Read more...] about Is your supplier finding leads and business, online, for you?
Compete for Grainger’s Business: eProcurement
Many industrially-oriented distributors lament that they can’t compete versus Grainger for MRO business at their accounts. They say “we now the ‘decision’ makers and can beat them on price but we can’t get the business. The same occurs with large institutional accounts (educational and healthcare facilities.) And the reality is Grainger does $1-2 billion in electrical … [Read more...] about Compete for Grainger’s Business: eProcurement
Reducing Tax Implications of Incentive Travel Programs
This week WESCO is taking 800+ people on an Alaskan cruise as part of their WESCO VIP incentive program. It looks like an exciting adventure (check out this pre-program video and follow them on their program Instagram page or on PicDeer) for probably 250+ contractor customers (plus spouses, extra trips earned), salespeople / corporate staffs and spouses as well as sponsoring … [Read more...] about Reducing Tax Implications of Incentive Travel Programs
