Author

David Gordon

Gordon is president of Channel Marketing Group. Channel Marketing Group works with manufacturers, distributors, manufacturer reps and technology companies in the electrical industry to help companies accelerate their performance through strategy development, marketing creativity and market research. CMG generates ideas that generate results.


Channel Strategies  / Contractors  / Customer Segments  / Distributors  / Industrial Market  / Industry News  / More Insights  / Profitability
Increasing Pressure and Competition in the Industrial MRO Market
David Gordon Posted On February 14, 2016


Grainger and WESCO are typically good industry benchmarks to get a sense of the industrial MRO market.  Grainger also sometimes provides insights into the institutional market, so let’s look at their end of year / quarterly reports where they also […]


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Distributors  / Industrial Market  / Industry Consolidation  / Industry News  / More Insights
Rexel 2015 Performance, 2016 Outlook and 5 Year Guideline
David Gordon Posted On February 14, 2016


Rexel has had a busy first part of February. They’ve Purchased a Rockwell distributor Released their 2020 roadmap (essentially a strategic plan) And provided their 2015 annual results which generated shares “plunge(ing)” last Thursday So, as we typically do, we’ve […]


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Branding  / Customer Segments  / Distributors  / Growth Strategies  / Lighting  / Lighting2  / Marketing  / More Insights  / Renewables
Utilities Investing in LEDs
David Gordon Posted On February 11, 2016


The growth in the LED market has been remarkable, coming from zero to probably at least 50% of new construction in a short time period is phenomenal for a “new” product. And the retrofit market continues to move to LEDs. […]


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Growth Strategies  / More Insights  / Reps  / Sales Channel  / Training
B All You Can B For Sales Effectiveness
David Gordon Posted On February 11, 2016


Earlier this week I was speaking with distributor and we were discussing sales effectiveness. Throughout his career he has been in sales roles, inclusive of sales management.  One of the areas we discussed is the attributes of successful salespeople.  He told […]


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Distributors  / Growth Strategies  / Manufacturers  / Marketing  / More Insights  / Reps  / Sales Channel
Sales Persistence Pays
David Gordon Posted On February 1, 2016


Recently I saw a posting on LinkedIn that shared these sales statistics.  Having been in sales, managed sales teams and consulted with clients regarding their sales organizations, it struck a cord. Common perceptions of most distributor sales organizations include: Not too […]


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Branding  / Channel Strategies  / Customer Segments  / Customer Service  / eBusiness  / eMarketing  / Growth Strategies  / Industrial Market  / Industry Consolidation  / Industry News  / Lighting  / Lighting2  / Marketing  / More Insights  / Pricing  / Productivity  / Profitability  / Purchasing  / Sales Channel  / Technology
16 Distribution Industry Trends for 2016
David Gordon Posted On January 27, 2016


Over the past month, Allen and I have discussed our observations regarding the industry and shared trends we see that we think will impact business for distributors and manufacturers in 2016. We’ve agreed upon 16 sales, marketing, profitability and operations opportunities that we’d […]


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Jobs  / More Insights
Engineered Products Company Seeking EVP
David Gordon Posted On January 25, 2016


This newly created executive role has been developed as a part of our organization’s succession planning process. This position will be a Key Driver in the future accomplishments and direction of our organization; and will be responsible for overseeing and […]


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Branding  / Customer Service  / More Insights
Service as a Differentiator
David Gordon Posted On January 25, 2016


Many talk as service as a differentiator, however, when you begin to ask questions … or essentially peel back the layers … you find that their services, for the most part, are carbon copies of their competitors.  While everyone may […]


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Channel Strategies  / Lighting  / Lighting2  / Manufacturers  / More Insights
Earnings Season … Acuity and Cree
David Gordon Posted On January 20, 2016


It’s the beginning of earnings season again and we’ve reviewed Acuity’s and Cree’s.  It appears to be a tale of two companies. Both are having success in the LED space with Acuity’s net sales up 14% and Cree’s up 11%.  The […]


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Branding  / Channel Strategies  / Distributors  / Lighting  / Lighting2  / Manufacturers  / More Insights  / Sales Channel  / Supplier / Products
The Lighting Market Change
David Gordon Posted On January 19, 2016


Over the past 30 days there have been a number of lighting announcements that, individually are company-specific but, when aggregated and considered from a category viewpoint, represent a significant lighting change in the industry … and may require distributors to […]


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