Last week the industry’s electrical supply reps got together in San Diego with their manufacturers. Like other NEMRA meetings I’ve been at, there was much work conducted with everyone in one-on-one meetings for 2 1/2 days (at least) plus manufacturers […]
The industrial market continues to power growth for many distributors. Recently we spoke with a number of manufacturers and distributors to get the current pulse of the industry. The result … industrial continues to grow fueled by the OEM market, […]
Okay, less than 75 days left till the end of the year. Planning for 2011 is well underway in many companies, or quickly will be. A-D and IMARK members have already held their annual meetings, enabling them to start next […]
We apologize for not having written in the past week and a half, however, client travel sometimes creates timing issues (and you probably don’t want me writing real late at night!) But was listening to CNBC this afternoon. They had […]
Confused and widely divergent by market segment, geographically and by distributor size. Not the answer you were expecting, but sorry, averages can be deceiving. First the averages as reported by electrical distributors and electrical manufacturers on our first half sales […]
Today let’s talk about a topic that is near and dear to many distributors’ and manufacturers’ hearts … marketing groups. Why near and dear? Because, for many distributors, they represent their profit lifeline. For manufacturers they can be the “Good […]
The art of reaching new customers is a challenge for many distributors. Frequently I hear we know everyone in the market we’re doing business with everyone we want to we know who pays their bills they are not our type […]
Am attending a distributor meeting and an attendee asked a speaker “where do you find sales staff other than through networking?” (yes, some people are looking to grow their business.)The question came from a lighting / electrical distributor. The follow-up […]
Commodities and sales organizations have been occupying our thoughts the past couple of days and we thought we’d give you something to ponder over the weekend: Purchasing magazine has an article entitled “Commodity prices are up–hedge or source?” Remember, they […]
Last week we had the opportunity to speak with a couple of manufacturers and a number of reps. The conversations turned to how companies are reacting to the economic environment. Some companies proactively restructure to manage expenses and ensure profitability; […]
