Last September NEMRA released its “Manufacturer of the Future Report” as a follow-up to its 2020 report on “The Rep of the Future.” As always, they are extremely well done and include a significant amount of time interviewing many key […]
Rebates are often seen as just another operational necessity, a transactional tool to grease the wheels of generating sales (for manufacturer, sometimes distributors) and improving distributor profitability. For some distributors they are a gatekeeper tool (some distributors manage well over […]
Recently I was talking with a client about strategic planning as they are beginning their journey to define their path forward to 2030. They’ve set a goal, identified values, have a vision of their purpose, and currently have a strong […]
The second half of the year has started and the first week brought acquisitions / mergers and news that will, and could, influence many other factors. In most industry acquisitions, the acquisition of one company by another typically has most […]
What’s going on in the agent / rep world? As many know, the electrical distribution has gone through much consolidation in the past three years with almost 100 distributors being sold. It seems that independent manufacturer representatives and lighting agents […]
While the electrical industry undergoes the metamorphosis of its ownership structure with independents aging out and selling to larger companies (last year there were almost 30 deals, making for almost 90 in the past three years), the electrical distribution business […]
The electrical market has become more nuanced in the past few years. National statistics, and perhaps national strategies, mean less than every before. Why? Consider: Geographic tendencies Concentrations of market / vertical segments Population shifts State tax policies which have […]
While interviewing a larger manufacturer for a different article, the regional manager stated in frustration that in his company’s executive meetings, there was no one in sales that was invited to participate, rather the meetings were now populated by IT […]
The past quarter has been an interesting time for the rep / lighting agent community with a number of significant changes occurring. The question becomes, “why?” While changes on the lighting side of the business seem to be perpetual and […]
NAED meetings, NEMRA planning, AD and IMARK meetings are coming and now being scheduled. It means it’s time for the 2024 planning process between manufacturers and their representatives to begin! But before the meetings and joint planning, manufacturers develop their […]
David Gordon
Channel Marketing Group
919-488-8635
