The Next Phase of Acquisitions?
At the NAED Annual meeting I asked distributors, manufacturers and others who typically hear about mergers / acquisitions what they were hearing. Not so much about specific companies but more …
Insights
Arrival of the “Alt Channels”- Amazon and Zoro Advertise
Much has been researched, written and talked about the emergence of alternate (alt) channels. Amazon Business is regularly mentioned and Grainger\’s eCommerce initiatives are lauded. Now comes Zoro Tools, which …
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Thinking about the eCommerce information clutter
There continues to be much discussed in the industry regarding \”eCommerce\”. Daily we hear about Amazon Business, Grainger and the coming \”conquering of the channel\” by eCommerce. It almost seems …
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When Service and Profit Counts
Last month Dick Friedman shared some ideas on how to ensure sales operations and customer satisfaction. Distributors know that operations is the key to profitability. This can relate to managing what …
Industrial Market Drivers, Can You Compete Differently
Over the past few weeks distributors and manufacturers are reporting an uptick in their industrial business and, in some cases, a significant increase. The reasons vary from \”general optimism\” to the …
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Tips to Ensure Sales Operations and Customer Satisfaction
Operations is the lifeblood of a distributor as it delivers upon sales\’ commitment of getting material to the customer. And at the end of the day, distribution, and customer satisfaction, …
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Can You Afford Declining Margins?
2016 seems to have been the \”year of pricing\”. A number of distributors either discussed, or undertook, pricing initiatives this past year. In many instances it was a desire to …
Affordable eCommerce for Smaller Distributors
As everyone knows, there has been much discussion regarding eCommerce and how it is \”vital\” for the survival of distributors. It\’s essential to compete against Amazon. And small distributors (<$25M) …
Looking Forward – Industry Outlook for Basic Sales Forecasting
Only 30 days left in the year. And with all of the year-end things to do and possibly meetings you had to attend, many are just getting around to doing …
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