Some NEMRA Notes

Last week the industry’s electrical supply reps got together in San Diego with their manufacturers. Like other NEMRA meetings I’ve been at, there was much work conducted with everyone in one-on-one meetings for 2 1/2 days (at least) plus manufacturers having group meetings with their sales teams. For many manufacturers, this is their national sales meeting.

Some observations and feedback we heard:

• NEMRA had a very good turnout.
• While I didn’t get to the opening session (sorry Ken), many people commented on the powerful message of the keynote speaker.
• Many reps had a good / decent year. While this may conflict with a number of manufacturers, remember that reps carry a plethora of lines and typically call on multiple market segments (as well as geographic areas).  Some commented about a few manufacturers that have cut margins over the years, said they were going to re-instate them, haven’t, but expect a much higher level of performance (and paperwork).
• Some expressed frustration with multiple manufacturers going to Salesforce.com, forcing them to use the same system differently for each manufacturer.  One Pass & Seymour rep mentioned that they originally fought the Salesforce.com initiative but have since come to embrace it as they use it as a tool to also discuss all of the lines that they could sell on a project that is being tracked in the “P&S” system.
• There was some comments regarding the ABB acquisition of T&B with a number of people trying to understand 1) why and 2) what will happen to T&B reps (either full-line or Ocal only).
• A number of reps and manufacturers were trying to understand Crescent joining IMARK but took it as “we have no choice”. Those who expressed themselves felt Crescent was looking for acquisitions (and maybe IMARK wanted to have an acquirer within the group.)
• Christian Siebens of AD gave a very good presentation on the opportunities in Clean Energy. If you are an AD distributor, you should call Christian to get a copy of the presentation (or perhaps he’ll do a webinar for the membership).  IMARK members should also be able to get a copy as Steve Ruane sat in the session and took copious notes. If you are a manufacturer interested in understanding this segment better, Christian is probably one of the most knowledgeable in the industry on the topic – and sees how these opportunities can be monetized for distributors.

A few reps mentioned that NEMRA is settling into a 3 city rotation of San Diego, Chicago and either New York or Boston. This was viewed favorably.  The only comment is that Saturday morning was relatively quite as the last bank of flights back east is around noon, so people were looking to leave early, hence shortening the opportunity for one-on-one meetings.

Overall, a very profitable and worthwhile meeting for a manufacturer.