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Service Agreements / Extended Warranties – Revenue Generator & Potential Differentiator
David Gordon Posted On July 23, 2017


Distributors have been seeking opportunities to generate, or increase, their service revenue. While traditionally a complementary service for industrially-oriented distributors, construction-oriented distributors are also seeing opportunities. Some distributors have defined revenue goals, others look at this opportunistically (or give the […]


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Channel Strategies  / eBusiness  / eMarketing  / Growth Strategies  / More Insights  / Pricing  / Profitability  / Sales Channel
Channel Marketing and Funding … but for eCommerce Initiatives?
David Gordon Posted On July 19, 2017


The essence of “channel marketing” infers that members within a channel (manufacturer, rep and distributor) are working together to market products, services and applications to generate demand from customers. The term doesn’t infer whom funds the initiative but frequently there […]


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Customer Service  / More Insights  / Productivity  / Profitability  / Technology  / Training
Increasing Warehouse Accuracy in an Age of Employee Churn
David Gordon Posted On July 16, 2017


In talking with senior management and HR managers of distributors, a continual challenge is personnel. While frequently these discussions relate to qualified (industry or skilled) personnel for sales, branch management and/or specialists, a frequent comment is the “churn” that they […]


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Customer Service  / Growth Strategies  / More Insights  / People in the News  / Productivity  / Profitability
GM Leader Drives Cultural Change, Innovation and Results
David Gordon Posted On June 18, 2017


General Motors (GM) historically has been known as a “staid” company and the prototypical “old boys” company. And its had its share of “challenges” ranging from uninspiring design to consumers feeling there was “built in obsolescence”; from being extremely difficult […]


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Associations  / Manufacturers  / More Insights  / Productivity  / Profitability  / Reps  / Sales Channel  / Technology
Graybar First National Chain to Endorse NEMRA POS Standards
David Gordon Posted On April 23, 2017


Graybar becomes first major distributor to endorse the NEMRA POS / POT Minimum Reporting Standards and explicitly express report for rep initiative. Last year NEMRA and its NMG (NEMRA Manufacturer Group) took a leadership role in promoting POS / POT […]


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Customer Service  / Logistics  / More Insights  / Productivity  / Profitability  / Purchasing  / Technology
Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI), Schneider Electric and Capital Tristate
David Gordon Posted On April 5, 2017


Vendor Managed Inventory, VMI, a service of Datalliance, is touted by many as a tool to improve their inventory management, improve purchasing productivity, ensure quick access to new products and as a vehicle to improve the profitability of specific lines. […]


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Customer Service  / Logistics  / More Insights  / Productivity  / Profitability  / Purchasing
When Service and Profit Counts
David Gordon Posted On March 12, 2017


Last month Dick Friedman shared some ideas on how to ensure sales operations and customer satisfaction. Distributors know that operations is the key to profitability.  This can relate to managing what sales is allowed to order to ensure they don’t inadvertently […]


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Logistics  / More Insights  / Productivity  / Profitability  / Purchasing
Tips to Ensure Sales Operations and Customer Satisfaction
David Gordon Posted On February 5, 2017


Operations is the lifeblood of a distributor as it delivers upon sales’ commitment of getting material to the customer. And at the end of the day, distribution, and customer satisfaction, is about getting the right material to the customer when […]


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More Insights  / Pricing  / Profitability
Can You Afford Declining Margins?
David Gordon Posted On December 12, 2016


2016 seems to have been the “year of pricing”.  A number of distributors either discussed, or undertook, pricing initiatives this past year. In many instances it was a desire to reverse an industry trend … eroding margins. Others recognized that if […]


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Industry News  / Lighting  / Lighting2  / More Insights  / Pricing  / Profitability  / Renewables
The future of utility rebates could be “fungible”
David Gordon Posted On November 28, 2016


Many electrical and lighting distributors have devoted resources to marketing, selling and managing utility rebates to support their customers and as a differentiator to earning lighting retrofit projects.  Frequently utility rebates are used to support LED sales.  The rationale essentially […]


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