A potential outcome of COVID-19 is a rethinking of sales organizations. You\'ve now had an opportunity to consider their effectiveness in a different sales environment and hopefully are starting to think about your sales organization \"post COVID\". Consider … prior to the pandemic outside salespeople believed that they needed to spend time behind a windshield and needed … [Read more...] about Increasing Sales Effectiveness, a COVID Opportunity?
Sales & Marketing
Selling Services Requires a Plan & Marketing
Much is talked about how distributors needing to sell services to differentiate themselves. They need to create / provide solutions and will need to generate revenue from these services. While some of the discussed services are unbundling, what is currently provided / expected, others are more consultative in nature or services that customers / contractors can outsource to … [Read more...] about Selling Services Requires a Plan & Marketing
POS Integral to Rep Commission Model
Throughout the fall Channel Marketing Group surveyed NEMRA reps and also interviewed dozens of them on behalf of NEMRA for the upcoming Rep of the Future report, which will be unveiled at the upcoming NEMRA meeting. While the objective of the research was to identify the traits needed for the rep of 2025, we also gained deeper insights into the financial model of … [Read more...] about POS Integral to Rep Commission Model
Wants and Needs
You’ve heard the story, “there is a difference between wants and needs.” For example, especially this time of year you hear one parent say to the other “the kids ‘want’ the latest and greatest electronic, but do they ‘need’ it?” The same occurs with a number of distributor sales management. They “want” new accounts and believe that customers “need” them. Yes, I … [Read more...] about Wants and Needs
2020 Planning
We’re in the midst of meeting and planning season and with it comes the perennial question of “what’s the outlook for 2020?” While no one has a crystal ball, it’s safe to say that many think their ball is “cloudy” for next year. It’s unclear what, if anything, the market “will give” in growth, hence succeeding in 2020 is dependent upon the execution of your strategy and … [Read more...] about 2020 Planning
The Complicated Rep / Regional Sales Manager Relationship
The relationship between manufacturers and their reps is perhaps the single most important relationship that both can have as it is a synergistic, mutually dependent relationship that impacts the success of both companies. The best are a symbiotic relationship. For many it is a complicated one. It\'s a relationship that depends upon each doing their job to support … [Read more...] about The Complicated Rep / Regional Sales Manager Relationship
Convenience Will Deliver Sales and Loyalty
Buyer behavior is changing. Convenience is now a differentiator. Customers expect it. It\'s the new definition of service. It started in the consumer world and is quickly transitioning to B2B buyer expectations, and it will become distributor reality (and is defined as \"ease of doing business\" by distributors in considering manufacturers.) While customers expect competitive … [Read more...] about Convenience Will Deliver Sales and Loyalty
What will the Rep of the Future look like?
NEMRA needs your help in understanding your needs to answer the question of “what will the rep of the future look like?” There are three key premises for preparing to prosper (some say “survive”) in the future: You need to always be learningCustomers, and business in general, always evolve, andStaying the same means you’re going backwards. All come together in Brandi … [Read more...] about What will the Rep of the Future look like?
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?
