POS, defined as point of sale, is a decades old issue for the electrical industry. There are many reasons why customer-specific sales information isn’t shared between distributors and their manufacturers. While the information is withheld in many cases, a consequence […]
Over the past couple of years two major market forces have been roiling the industry. These changes create opportunity for some, channel challenges for others. The areas are price and LEDs. For years the price elasticity for electrical construction material […]
Glenn International, a leading rep agency in the Caribbean and Central America, announced the hiring of three individuals to expand the resources of the agency, which represents electrical, lighting and datacom / telecom lines. The agency works within the region […]
Customer expectations are changing how distributors are doing business. They expect more. Some of your competition offers more. And you need to offer more to retain customers and have a hope of capturing new ones. And the changes are much […]
Quality product data is the difference between an “adequate” website and one with “quality” data that is valued by customers. And “valued” is determined by increased traffic, increased sales, a better search experience and being easier to be found via […]
Acuity’s recent quarter highlights a 6% (gross) sales increase but, in reading the analyst call transcript and reviewing the results, or what may be called “peeling back the onion”, there appear to be a number of questions. Analyst Call / […]
The lighting market, for many distributors, depending upon their business focus, represents 20-40% of sales. It’s substantial, especially given that they next two categories are switchgear / automation and wire / cable, as performance in this product category can significantly […]
Recognizing the importance of the lighting market to distributors and the changes / challenges that the conversion to LED created (changing product types, declining prices, more functionality, more imports, etc), William Blair, a leading investment banking firm with an industrial practice, sought to better […]
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 […]
David Gordon
Channel Marketing Group
919-488-8635
