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.


Growth Strategies  / Industry Consolidation  / Industry News  / Lighting  / Lighting2  / Productivity  / Renewables  / Technology
Solar, LEDs, Diversification, Inventory Management and More
David Gordon Posted On May 13, 2010


A little bit of a reading roundup before this weekend’s NAED Leadership Summit.  Recently there has been array of news from 3M, GE, Home Depot, Rexel, Square D, Datalliance, CED and Hilti to get us going (or at least cause some […]


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Industry Consolidation  / Industry News  / Productivity
A Sign of the Times?
David Gordon Posted On May 10, 2010


Given the dramatic decline in industry revenues over the past 18 months, many have wondered when consolidation will occur and are surprised that they haven’t seen more than a few. We agree, and from talking with a number of potential […]


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Profitability
Banks actually helping their Business Customers?
David Gordon Posted On May 3, 2010


Or is good old fashion common sense come back in fashion? It seems as if some regional banks have discovered that they have money lying around not earning money. After all, their product is money. Several weeks ago I began […]


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Growth Strategies  / Industry News  / Research Reports
Q1 is In … How are You Doing?
David Gordon Posted On April 27, 2010


Over the last couple of weeks we’ve been talking with a number of manufacturers and distributors and have started to notice some Q1 trends … Aside from many distributors losing 3-7 days due to weather, which impacted business Industrially-oriented distributors […]


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Advocacy  / Associations
How Should Manufacturers Evaluate Associations?
David Gordon Posted On April 21, 2010


At the same association meeting I’m currently at the association held a manufacturer only session (as well as a distributor only one) to solicit meeting format feedback as well as association feedback, essentially asking manufacturers, “what are you looking for […]


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Growth Strategies  / People in the News  / Sales Channel
How Do You Recruit Salespeople?
David Gordon Posted On April 21, 2010


Am attending a distributor meeting and an attendee asked a speaker “where do you find sales staff other than through networking?” (yes, some people are looking to grow their business.)The question came from a lighting / electrical distributor. The follow-up […]


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Contractors  / Growth Strategies  / Marketing
Help Your Customers Grow
David Gordon Posted On April 15, 2010


Mike Holt is considered one of the preeminent electrical contractor experts and is noted for his training endeavors and is recognized as “the” NEC Code expert. Mike knows contractor needs, and during a recent conversation with Stan Rydzynski, the issue of […]


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Growth Strategies  / Marketing  / Productivity
Addressing Customer Service … Having the Right Inventory
David Gordon Posted On April 15, 2010


Last week I visited an electrical distributor client to discuss customer service.  Given the economic environment that has gripped the industry over the past 18 months, no one is surprised to hear that some companies have experienced customer service issues […]


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Channel Strategies  / Customer Segments  / Renewables
The Problem with Solar
David Gordon Posted On April 15, 2010


As one distributor put it….”the price continues to go down and technology continues to evolve. Should I stock PV panels? No way! And the flip side is that there are sometimes a 2 to 3 week lead time. The Chinese […]


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eBusiness  / Pricing  / Productivity  / Profitability
What do you think? Stay in or get out?
David Gordon Posted On April 7, 2010


If you are a distributor, and the business has been struggling, you might be thinking: Why should I hunker down and try to ride this economic downturn only to have to start all over trying to rebuild my wealth? I’ve […]


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