Given today’s supply chain disruption from material shortages, lack of truck drivers warehouse staff, and docks full of unloaded material, culminating in manufacturers many turn defensive, tell customers “material is coming, just wait” (similar to a rolling airline delay) and […]
It’s that time of year again. Time for responding to sales management requests for 2022 sales forecasting. But this year it may be more wrapping a story around a riddle that may be an enigma … unless you have a […]
Recently I was with a Vice President of Sales for a larger electrical manufacturer discussing rep consolidations and mergers. Was it good for the industry and, most especially, would manufacturers consider this a positive as they look to continue to […]
As NEMRA hired a new director of Digital Transformation, it led me to think of how digital is changing rep selling. Transformation can impact operations, but it also affects sales processes. Using my own experiences. and that of others I […]
This is a follow up on my last writing regarding manufacturer’s representatives and their functions. Based upon reader requests, I was asked for some compensation suggestions to motive reps. This is just one perspective from someone with agency experience. There […]
Have you noticed that with all the manufacturer and distributor mergers & acquisitions, that manufacturers representatives are following a similar strategy? For reference, since last August: There have been at least four major mergers of lighting agencies (most notably in […]
If the last year and COVID has done anything for our business acumen, it would be the importance of continued customer contact through any means possible including the benefit of a relatively new sales tool … virtual meetings (euphemistically most […]
After the recent NEMRA meeting and listening to the presentations from the marketing groups and the national chains, the question of “strategic relationships” came to mind. What is the most important factor in choosing relationships between a distributor, manufacturer and […]
