Last month there were two intriguing acquisitions announced in the HVACR industry. Acuity Acquires KE2 The first was Acuity Brands’ acquisition of KE2 Therm Solutions. For those who don’t know, Acuity Brands is the largest US lighting manufacturer. They have two divisions. One is devoted to lighting fixtures and primarily goes to market via electrical / lighting … [Read more...] about Acuity Acquires. KE2, Another Distributor to PE
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Driving Sales With Utility Rebates
With the HVAC market slowing, now is a good time to step back and think about initiatives that can create demand. Sometimes, the “best” way is bringing discounts to customers that you are not directly funding. This means rebates. Rebates can come from manufacturers, the government and utilities. Earlier this year we shared opportunities presented by the Inflation … [Read more...] about Driving Sales With Utility Rebates
Is Your Marketing a QSR or Fine Dining?
For many small to mid-sized HVAC distributors, marketing has been an after-thought. Something to support sales. It’s understandable given the business started with salespeople and, for a business to succeed, orders need to be quoted, captured, and processed. That’s the role of sales. But, for companies to grow, it takes having a strategy and creating awareness so that … [Read more...] about Is Your Marketing a QSR or Fine Dining?
Coaching to Optimize Sales Performance with IR Theory
Last month HVACR Trends sponsored a sales coaching training workshop focused on driving sales performance through coaching. We shared “why” this is a critical skill that essentially every distributor and manufacturer rep needs to invest resources (at least thought process and time) into. Manufacturers may need similar, especially if they have a direct salesforce or sales … [Read more...] about Coaching to Optimize Sales Performance with IR Theory
Republic Companies Receives Investment from Graycliff Partners
Republic Companies, an electrical and HVACR distributors based in Davenport, IA, received an investment from Graycliff Partners. This New York-based private equity firm invests in small to mid-sized companies and they typically makes $10-50 million invest in companies. And the company is already seeking “add-ons” , indicating that they are seeking acquisitions in either, or … [Read more...] about Republic Companies Receives Investment from Graycliff Partners
Opinion- Watsco continues to progress as a digitally enabled B2B distributor positioned to take share and grow
WATSCO announced their 2023 year-end results and highlighted their continued commitment to digital enablement at their March Investor Conference. In the world of distribution with so many private or PE companies that do not report results - Watsco, Inc. announced record operating results for 2022 and provided commentary on trends, growth opportunities, technology innovation … [Read more...] about Opinion- Watsco continues to progress as a digitally enabled B2B distributor positioned to take share and grow
Why are Salespeople Profit Adverse?
Having worked with many distributors over the years, one observation about many distributor salespeople are that they are customer pleasers. Most are profit adverse. Sure, many are on commission. And many of those commission plans are built around a percent of gross margin but, as soon as a customer hints that they want to negotiate, salespeople are willing to lower the … [Read more...] about Why are Salespeople Profit Adverse?
