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 …
Sales Channel
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 …
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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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Is your supplier finding leads and business, online, for you? Read More »
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 …
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What is e-Procurement?
The article we had last month introducing Greenwing Technology as a punchout / e-Procurement resource and a new ElectricalTrends advertiser generated much feedback. Part of the reason is it is …
Questionable Meetings. Are you willing to ask uncomfortable questions?
With the NAED meeting season coming to an end this weekend and distributors finally done with their planning sessions with manufacturers (more meetings), the issue of the quality of the …
Questionable Meetings. Are you willing to ask uncomfortable questions? Read More »
Punchouts Drive eCommerce
eCommerce is more than, in the words of an Amazon and MRO analyst, “click and ship”. eCommerce is about a methodology and a mindset to do business more electronically. In …