Over the past few weeks a number of national distributors have released their 2017 performance and earnings reports. AD, Grainger, Graybar, Anixter and WESCO and others have made news. We\'ve also talked to a number of manufacturers who see the \"highlight\" numbers and use them as benchmarks, so we\'ve reviewed and sought to find some trends. Overall, business is improving, … [Read more...] about Distributor End of Year Performance
Market Analysis
Promote to Communicate
Breaking through the communications clutter that we all receive daily is a huge challenge. Whether it be trying to reach out to prospects, sharing information with existing customers (and think if the number of customers you have on your books that are not actively called upon by your sales organization that represent incremental revenue) or wanting to do something creative to … [Read more...] about Promote to Communicate
2018 Multi-Family Market Outlook
It\'s been discussed and forecasted that the multi-family market is going to be down in 2018 ... perhaps by almost 10%. But is a down year a \"bad\" year? Not when the prior year was a record and 2018 is projected to be the second best year. Societal demographics are changing and favor multi-family construction. Consider: Cost of living, and housing, continues to rise. … [Read more...] about 2018 Multi-Family Market Outlook
Distributors, Where Will Your Growth Come From?
By now many have zeroed in on their 2018 sales goals. With DISC, Electrical Wholesaling and many manufacturers coalescing around 4-6% numbers (some a little higher, some a little lower) and recognizing that it can change a little due to commercial or industrial focus as well as, for manufacturers, by product category, we have a “ballpark” for 2018. The number is a little … [Read more...] about Distributors, Where Will Your Growth Come From?
Aligning Compensation with Channel Selling
A core philosophy in developing sales compensation models is to reward salespeople for what you want them to do ... which is sell. Salespeople need to be aligned with their company\'s, and in the case of manufacturer reps their manufacturers, goals. Historically for electrical manufacturer reps this typically related to selling to electrical distributors and their agreements … [Read more...] about Aligning Compensation with Channel Selling
Interviewing Strategy to Deliver The Right Candidate
In our meetings with distributors and manufacturers, all comment on their need for qualified talent to support growth, to replace open positions or, in some cases, a need to upgrade their current talent. The challenge is \"how to find the \'right\' person?\" And many are concerned, although this isn\'t vocalized, about the cost of making a \"less than optimal\" decision. … [Read more...] about Interviewing Strategy to Deliver The Right Candidate
What\’s the Value of a Manufacturer’s Brand?
Over the past few months as we\'ve sat in strategy development meetings with distributors, reviewed distributor purchasing information and talked to manufacturer reps and contractors we\'ve seen a purchasing trend that is roiling the industry. The trend, which mirrors what is happening in lighting with \"unfamiliar brands\" is accelerated growth, and acceptance, of less … [Read more...] about What\’s the Value of a Manufacturer’s Brand?
