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Drive for Data

David Gordon Posted On April 15, 2016

Over the past month or so Allen and I have had a number of calls for data. Some are from owners / senior management, some from marketing personnel and some from operational staff. The calls are from manufacturers and distributors. […]

Customer Segments / Lighting / Lighting2 / Marketing / More Insights / Renewables / Supplier / Products

Ace is the Place For …

David Gordon Posted On April 13, 2016

You may remember the iconic jingle of “Ace is the place with the helpful hardware folks” but did you know that Ace is the place for LED lighting? According to an article in the April issue of Hardware & Building Supply […]

Channel Strategies / Distributors / Lighting / Lighting2 / Manufacturers / More Insights

Differing Paths to Lighting Success

David Gordon Posted On April 11, 2016

Last week both Acuity and Cree shared calendar Q1 lighting success (defined as sales performance). So, let’s look at what they said and what it could mean. Acuity quarterly report (their Q2 fiscal year) Overall “outstanding results” Net sales increased […]

Customer Segments / Growth Strategies / Marketing / More Insights / Research Reports

Population Trends Drive Healthcare Opportunities

David Gordon Posted On April 7, 2016

Last week DISC Corp updated its 2016 outlook for the electrical industry through its Flash Update. Overall the projection was for the electrical industry to be down 1.5% however, Herm highlighted that there are customer segments that are outperforming the […]

eBusiness / eMarketing / More Insights / Sales Channel / Technology

Welcome to Unilog

David Gordon Posted On April 7, 2016

We’d like to take a few moments to welcome our newest advertiser, Unilog. Unilog, as many distributors know, is an ecommerce anda data content management serving distributors and manufacturers in many industries. The company has an affinity for the electrical […]

Contractors / Distributors / More Insights / Profitability

Liening Up

David Gordon Posted On March 30, 2016

Yes, we’re talking about liens! They types that accounting / credit people like, not “lean” as in “lean processes” which we’ll touch on in the near future when we discuss innovation. Why liens? Basically because a couple of weeks ago […]

Contractors / Customer Segments / Growth Strategies / Industrial Market / Industry News / More Insights / Research Reports

“Recession Risk Not High” But Electrical Sales Projected to Decline

David Gordon Posted On March 28, 2016

With Q1 coming to an end, market (as in industry, not Wall Street), watchers are projecting a continuing, and slightly accelerated, sales decline, at the national level, especially for those in the industrial segment. (But do read down to the […]

Distributors / Growth Strategies / Industry News / Lighting / Lighting2 / More Insights / Research Reports / Sales Channel / Supplier / Products

Is lighting a service, a product, a concept or illumination?

David Gordon Posted On March 23, 2016

Over the past couple of months we’ve touched on the changes that the lighting industry is undergoing. While much of it relates to LEDs, the “lamp” business, lighting controls and connectivity, we also mentioned how lighting can become a data […]

Channel Strategies / Distributors / eBusiness / More Insights / Productivity / Profitability / Technology

Ready for Growth?

David Gordon Posted On March 21, 2016

As you sit around your corporate boardroom and and make decisions that impact growth either via acquisition or generating incremental sales, many don’t give consideration to PRODUCTIVITY (in the back office). Why is that? Well, many assume, albeit incorrectly, that all the […]

Associations / Growth Strategies / Industry Consolidation / Logistics / Manufacturers / More Insights / Productivity / Profitability / Reps / Research Reports / Sales Channel

POS / POT Standards Endorsed by 17 Manufacturers

David Gordon Posted On March 15, 2016

Equitable compensation is a topic that is near and dear to every manufacturer, distributor, manufacturer rep and salesperson. After all, why “sell” a product if you are not compensated for it? This is one of the key issues facing electrical […]