I was speaking with a distributor last week regarding the opportunity to speak to their salespeople, and probably suppliers, at their upcoming Field Marketing Summit. Their desired topic is “How marketing can help / The role of marketing“. Our conversation […]
Interesting article in this month’s TED magazine entitled “The Myths of Buying Foreign Off-Brands” (article is not online). Interesting for a couple of reasons: The article is in TED, an association publication that includes manufacturers as affiliate members. This is […]
Monday’s WSJ had an article that discussed the relationship between productivty and recessions. According to the article, productivity during the six recessions since 1970 grew only 0.8%, on average, whereas this year it has estimated to have grown by 2.5%. […]
At one time or another most distributors have used this famous quote when dealing with the tax man. There is a companion statement/plea that also is used: “I don’t care what I paid for it, it is only worth “x”. […]
Welcome to the unofficial start of summer and to the official start of $4/gallon gas! Over the past month we conducted a survey asking distributors how they are addressing this rising cost which threatens many distributors’ bottom lines. Over 250 […]
Much has occurred over the past couple of months and many manufacturers and distributors have cut to the bone in an effort to preserve profitability. These cuts have focused on people, programs (in the case of manufacturers) and products (in […]
With an eye towards a slow growth economy, recently we launched a three part series in Electrical Wholesaling entitled “Back to Basics”. The premise is that in a slow growth economy it is important to “tighten” the back of the […]
Many have heard that Cerro recently changed its sales approach. The company exercised its 30 day right to cancel its rep agreements and is adding a number of people (rumor is five) to handle distributor accounts directly. According to a […]
Historically many manufacturers, after reviewing their current year performance, will send out 2008 price increase notices in November/December, and then send their sales people out to “cut” year end “deals” with the intent to “help” the distributor meet their purchase […]
CED and USESI issued a press release October 9th that may indicate a change in business models for CED. But then again they may be setting up a successful division that will continue to grow because of the business model […]
