Lately I’ve been thinking about “value”. Not necessarily from a financial / pricing / cost viewpoint but from a “what does your customer value THE MOST from you?” You may ask why I’m thinking about this? It relates to customer satisfaction, customer experience, value proposition, customer retention, lead generation, account penetration and potentially profitability … [Read more...] about What do your customers value the most from you?
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The Intelligent Building – A reality or just an IoT dream?
The last couple of years have seen a plethora of lighting innovations in a quest to \"control\" the ceiling and eventually a building, a network of buildings and then cities. This is the vision of smart cities ... interconnected devices that enable \"control\" of various electrical and mechanical systems. It starts with lighting controls and can then migrate to building … [Read more...] about The Intelligent Building – A reality or just an IoT dream?
Distributors. Has Amazon Business Been Good for You?
Conventional wisdom is that Amazon Business is not good for MRO and construction distributors.They are a technological behemoth that knows nothing about “our space” and are only successful because they can: throw money at the issue / opportunity have the most advanced technology and know-how to mine data have access to consumers who work in companies (and hence are … [Read more...] about Distributors. Has Amazon Business Been Good for You?
Protecting Price and the Channel in an Online Marketplace World (Amazon)
Amazon Business is talked about regularly within distribution industries in general and especially in the MRO space. Barely a meeting goes by with a manufacturer where the topic of \"what should we do regarding Amazon Business\" is not asked as is the question of \"what are distributors doing online (and to combat Amazon)?\" And then the discussion evolves to internal … [Read more...] about Protecting Price and the Channel in an Online Marketplace World (Amazon)
eCommerce Product Content is King
When times are tough people often say “cash is king”. This can frequently determine which companies survive and thrive during difficult economic times and those that suffer. Nowadays, as companies ramp up their eCommerce initiatives product content is king. This is occurring for two reasons: Quality, robust product content delivers on customer expectations. These … [Read more...] about eCommerce Product Content is King
eCommerce Creating a Distribution Dividing Line?
For the past few years many have talked about eCommerce and have made investment plans. Now a number of these investments are coming to fruition and the conversation is evolving to “where is this going?”, “what are customers doing / wanting?”, “what do I need to do to stay ahead?”, “how do I catch up?”, “what is needed to recapture my investment / what will my ROI be?” along … [Read more...] about eCommerce Creating a Distribution Dividing Line?
Tips for Distributors to Improve Gross Margin
Corporate success, for many, is typically defined as sales success as sales revenue is an easily identifiable, and discussed / shared, metric. But in a quest to grow sales, and due to competitive pressures, gross margins for many distributors have eroded making gross profit dollars more scarce for investment back into the business. And with operating costs increasing and … [Read more...] about Tips for Distributors to Improve Gross Margin
Over a Billion Dollars in Rebate and Marketing Funding to Distributors
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?
