Tomorrow starts the third leg of each fall’s annual planning process – the NAED Eastern Region Conference, which is being held in Marco Island, FL (and hopefully the golf courses won’t all be full!)With most people asking “what are you […]
On Monday we reported that we had heard that Maurice Electric, Washington DC, had sold their business (to USESI, which operates Electrical Wholesalers) (read the press release). Since then we have heard of a couple of other deals that are […]
Earlier this year we conducted a survey entitled “Channel Challenges” where we solicited input on the challenges that persist between manufacturers, distributors and reps. We’ve recently written a couple of articles on some of the challenges. An upcoming article will […]
With diesel up close to 50% from last year ($2.88 to over $4.00) and declining gross margins due to economic challenges and aggressive competition, how can you minimize the impact on your bottom line?If you recall, after Katrina, many distributors […]
In case you’ve been wondering where all the rep principals and manufacturer sales management are this week, the answer is Washington DC, at the NEMRA Conference. In honor of this being “Rep Week”, we wanted to share the rep input […]
Last month we shared some of the input we received for our 2008 ElectroIndustry Survey: 2008 Sales Projections Distributor Priorities Distributor Branding Strategies Now we’d like to share some input we received from manufacturers. We asked them to rate 22 […]
In today’s economic climate, prioritizing initiatives is more important than ever. Last month, in our 2008 ElectroIndustry survey, we asked distributors about their 2008 priorities. 23 revenue generating and cost-reduction activities were provided. Distributors scored each activity on a scale […]
Last month we surveyed the industry about its outlook, and challenges, for 2008. Over 400 people responded! Over the next month or so we’ll be sharing some of the results, but to get the year started we wanted to share […]
Twas a few days before Christmas and all appeared to be quiet as the industry headed into the New Year. Not much business was to be had as contractors tried to keep warm. Industry warehouses are full, preparing for sales, […]
2008 is setting up to be an interesting year. With what appears to be a slow growth economy, increasing fuel costs, challenges in finding qualified labor, continued manufacturer and distributor consolidation, green/energy efficiency opportunities and more, it appears to be […]
