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
Technology & Digital
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
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?
Compete for Grainger’s Business: eProcurement
Many industrially-oriented distributors lament that they can’t compete versus Grainger for MRO business at their accounts. They say “we now the ‘decision’ makers and can beat them on price but we can’t get the business. The same occurs with large institutional accounts (educational and healthcare facilities.) And the reality is Grainger does $1-2 billion in electrical … [Read more...] about Compete for Grainger’s Business: eProcurement
eCommerce in the Channel
During recent calls with distributors to get the pulse of the industry, one area we touched on is eCommerce and specifically the activity that they are seeing from their customers, the investments that they are making and how it is impacting their overall business. A few trends emerged: All “complained” that they wonder where the business is. They hear that Amazon … [Read more...] about eCommerce in the Channel
