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Expectations of Reps Drives Model Options
Gene Biben Posted On April 18, 2021

Rep Models Future

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 […]


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Growth Strategies  / Logistics  / More Insights  / Productivity
Schaedler YESCO Prepares for Expanded CDC
David Gordon Posted On April 15, 2021

Schaedler YESCO Breaks Ground CDC

Growth goals at Schaedler YESCO create the need for expansion. In a recent press release, Schaedler YESCO announced an expansion of their CDC in Harrisburgh, PA. When complete, the “new” CDC will encompass almost 200,000 square feet! “Schaedler Yesco is […]


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Branding  / Customer Segments  / Growth Strategies  / Marketing  / More Insights
Manufacturer Promotions: Participate? Work?
Ken Cain Posted On April 11, 2021

Manufacturer Promotions

Do national or regional promotions offered by the manufacturer work and are they in the best interests of the distributor? That largely depends on what the distributor does with the opportunity. Most of us would call these “canned promotions”. Specifically […]


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Logistics  / More Insights  / Productivity  / Profitability  / Technology
SMART WAREHOUSE TECHNOLOGIES: FRIEND OR MONEY-PIT?
David Gordon Posted On April 11, 2021

Smart Warehouse Technologies

Distributors thinking about tomorrow need to be thinking about their warehouse of tomorrow. And in a technology world, this means considering smart warehouse technologies. Smart warehouses can be implemented in phases. The key is understanding the emerging technologies as they […]


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Channel Strategies  / Distributors  / Growth Strategies  / Industry Consolidation  / Industry Outlook  / Manufacturers  / Marketing Groups  / More Insights  / Reps
Acquisitions Heat Up. Size Matters.
David Gordon Posted On April 7, 2021

Electrical Acquisitions

The first quarter saw a number of industry acquisitions and, while individually they highlight company growth initiatives, collectively they signal a trend that could be transformative for the industry … an industry divide driven by size. Yes, the big are […]


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Growth Strategies  / Marketing  / More Insights  / Productivity  / Reps  / Sales Channel
Sales Maximization of Virtual Meetings
Gene Biben Posted On March 29, 2021

Virtual Electrical Sales Meetings

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 […]


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Contractors  / Industry Outlook  / More Insights
Who said 2020 was a Tough Sales Year? Not Graybar.
David Gordon Posted On March 22, 2021

Graybar

Graybar reported that, at year end, sales ($7.3 billion) were only down 3.4% which, given the year, was “nothing”, especially since the industry was projected as down 10-12% by DISC and Rexel US reported down 7.7% in Q4 (and more […]


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Marketing  / More Insights  / Training
Speed Bumps in Marketing are Part of the Process
Ken Cain Posted On March 17, 2021

Speed bumps in Marketing

Everyone likes to talk about their successes, and I am no exception. The road to success, however, inevitably has some speed bumps, or what sales and management may call “failures.” Let me tell you about two of mine, but how […]


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Customer Segments  / Industry Outlook  / More Insights  / Research Reports
Sales Growth Acceleration Forecasted for 2021
David Gordon Posted On March 14, 2021

2021 Electrical Industry Sales Growth Acceleration

DISC, the electrical industry’s leading resource for electrical distribution market information, released its February DISC Flash report last week and it was a surprise … a significant acceleration is projected for the electrical industry. Channel Marketing Group, due to our […]


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Branding  / Contractors  / Distributors  / Growth Strategies  / Marketing  / More Insights
10 Keys to a Successful Promotion
Ken Cain Posted On March 10, 2021

What Makes a Successful Promotion

Over a 35-year career marketing in the electrical industry I have ran more than a few promotions. And here’s the dirty little secret – not every promotion I ran was successful. I’ve managed everything from hat promotions to large trip […]


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