Lately I’ve been thinking about “value”. Not necessarily from a financial / pricing / cost viewpoint but from a “what does your customer value THE MOST from you?” You may ask why I’m thinking about this? It relates to customer […]
Conventional wisdom is that Amazon Business is not good for MRO and construction distributors.They are a technological behemoth that knows nothing about “our space” and are only successful because they can: throw money at the issue / opportunity have the […]
Amazon Business is talked about regularly within distribution industries in general and especially in the MRO space. Barely a meeting goes by with a manufacturer where the topic of “what should we do regarding Amazon Business” is not asked as […]
Southwire is a very intriguing company. Years ago they took a commodity product that defined the company (wire), combined it with some acquisitions and mixed in marketing to convert the company from the perception of a staid, commodity company to […]
Lighting agents. Those two words conjure a range of emotions and business observations for many in the industry, and especially for electrical and lighting distributor. It’s almost as if this element of the channel is revered and either tolerated or […]
The company formerly known as Mayer Electric Supply made a small but subtle move recently and changed its name to Mayer. Along with the name change came an evolved brand and updated logo and mark. For a company that is […]
Customer satisfaction is a key element of a growth strategy as it helps support the retention of the business. And while everyone says they deliver quality customer service, measuring service performs and continuously seeking ways to improve can separate companies. […]
Promotions are a significant element of a distributor’s marketing plan, especially if the audience is contractors. A “do this, get that” mentality. Something to create increased awareness (or perhaps used to provide sales a crutch in talking to customers). In […]
The lighting market is more competitive than ever before. And with unit sales rates exceeding revenue growth rates, aside from declining materials costs, as they say “it’s the competition, stupid.” Historically the term “value engineering” is derisively referred to as […]
Much has been discussed about employee retention as well as recruitment. While some elements of both are truly in the hands of the employee / candidate and companies cannot impact, there is a key element that companies do control. it […]
