NAED Eastern Observations

As promised, some feedback from the last day at the NAED Eastern, and observations about the conference.

The final day consisted of the one-on-one meetings and the mad dash to the airport for many. Luckily customs was easy (no line!! – the benefits of getting to the airport a little late).

The one-on-one area seemed a little quiet. Could be because there were only 65 company booths. When you factor that the A-D and IMARK meetings were held within the last two months, there were a number of comments that perhaps the booth session format has run its course. How much more can get discussed, especially with over 50% of the booths manned by A-D and IMARK distributors (and most of the remainders by national chains)? The challenge for NAED is to get more distributors to attend (which would help smaller manufacturers get meetings with distributors).

Conference Observations

• Energy / Green is a big issue for a number of manufacturers, who sense that few distributors are positioning themselves to capitalize on this growth opportunity. They also sense that there should be a broader industry initiative to take a leadership position. The sense is that many distributors expect to benefit from green/energy upgrades by “accepting the order” vs. creating the order. Or, “why work to build demand when I can quote it to earn the business?”
• Manufacturers see distributors being more reactive and “order-takers” vs. proactive and creating opportunities to either drive demand or upsell product.
• Upselling was mentioned by a number of manufacturers as an issue, but no one has ideas for solutions given that retraining sales skills is a significant challenge.
• Training is another big issue. Everyone wants it, and much is being provided. The question is “how to get it all taken while still getting daily customer needs met?” Many are betting on online training, with incentives to take the courses.
• A number of manufacturers commented that they are relooking at most of their distributors and thinking about them in more of a supply chain mode – warehousing and order-taking – rather than companies that can help them achieve sales goals (growing the market). Most don’t have a sense of how to achieve growth and few are looking at other channels – hence a share game where price continues to deteriorate.
• Everyone expects a slow growth year with little price appreciation occurring.
  Distributor companies that identify and pursue niches are having success in growing their top line and bottom line. The successful ones have recognized that it requires a multi-year commitment and investment.
• The CAP project presentations were informative and timely. The only challenge to attendance to both of these sessions for the Western and SouthCentral is that some manufacturers have already heard the recaps. If you are a distributor, we would recommend attending the liability session (and the resi one if you participate in the resi market).

Overall a good conference…just need more people to hear the message (and as much as we like Bermuda, more convenient locations would be appreciated by many.)

If you attended the Eastern, what were your thoughts?