In case you’ve been wondering where all the rep principals and manufacturer sales management are this week, the answer is Washington DC, at the NEMRA Conference. In honor of this being “Rep Week”, we wanted to share the rep input […]
Recently I was interviewed by an industry trade publication regarding trends in marketing coop and marketing development funds (MDF) and thought it might be helpful to share some evolving observations: Distributors, more than ever, are maximizing their coop usage, leaving […]
Last month we shared some of the input we received for our 2008 ElectroIndustry Survey: 2008 Sales Projections Distributor Priorities Distributor Branding Strategies Now we’d like to share some input we received from manufacturers. We asked them to rate 22 […]
Our recent ElectroIndustry Survey asked distributors “How important is it to build your brand to your customers?” Over 200 responded. Their feedback was: 6.5 % said “Not important, want to promote manufacturers” 4.8% said “I am known by the brands […]
Over the past month we’ve talked to a number of companies regarding their “sales projections” for 2008. Surprisingly, a number of manufacturers talked about sales increases in the high single digits / low double digits. Given that this didn’t compute […]
In today’s economic climate, prioritizing initiatives is more important than ever. Last month, in our 2008 ElectroIndustry survey, we asked distributors about their 2008 priorities. 23 revenue generating and cost-reduction activities were provided. Distributors scored each activity on a scale […]
We attended the NAED Western in Phoenix last week, where unfortuantely the weather barely reached 60 either day and evenings were in the mid to upper 30’s. Approximately 75 distributor companies (66 had booths) and 125 manufacturer companies attended.The economic […]
As many know, the challenges to streamlining data and operational efficiencies throughout the channel were brought to the forefront late this summer. Discussions regarding possible joint endeavors between IDEA and Trade Service Corp came to a halt. (A copy of […]
In recent market research we heard that many feel that the overall size of their current market has, and is, shrinking, thus leading to price wars and hence margin deterioration. While much of this can be attributed to the economy, […]
Last month we surveyed the industry about its outlook, and challenges, for 2008. Over 400 people responded! Over the next month or so we’ll be sharing some of the results, but to get the year started we wanted to share […]
