Corporate success, for many, is typically defined as sales success as sales revenue is an easily identifiable, and discussed / shared, metric. But in a quest to grow sales, and due to competitive pressures, gross margins for many distributors have […]
Every year hundreds of millions of dollars have been invested / spent by manufacturers to solicit preference from distributors. In fact, about 10 years ago we estimated over $500M was spent in rebate funding. (Today we estimate over $1 billion!) […]
The industry, as we know, is going through change. In many people’s opinion, the three biggest drivers of this change are: Increased competition, especially through alternative channels (non- full-line electrical distributors) Personnel, with much of it stemming from an aging […]
Grainger shared its 2018 Q2 performance earlier this week and, given their industrial MRO focus, highlighted continued strength in this customer segment. And while they are not focused in the electrical space, they are about a $1B electrical player as […]
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 […]
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. […]
Could True Value’s new ownership model be a opportunity for independent distributors and their marketing groups? Many have asked about the future of marketing groups. While IMARK is a cooperative and according to Bill Weisberg a couple of years ago, […]
Earlier today Home Depot presented at the Raymond James 39th Annual Institutional Investors Conference. While, overall, Home Depot is not a significant competitor to electrical distributors, if you serve the residential electrical contractor / builder market or the small contractor market, […]
It’s the beginning of a quarter so you now what that means … quarterly reports which gives us some insight into the overall marketplace. Acuity conducted their call yesterday and unfortunately they missed revenue and profitability expectations. Perhaps its a […]
Over the past few months as we’ve sat in strategy development meetings with distributors, reviewed distributor purchasing information and talked to manufacturer reps and contractors we’ve seen a purchasing trend that is roiling the industry. The trend, which mirrors what […]
David Gordon
Channel Marketing Group
919-488-8635
