Doesn’t time fly. This weekend we turned the clocks forward which means spring is right around the corner and Q1 is almost done! With the quarter almost up, and seemingly much of the conference season, it’s time for our first Pulse […]
Lots going on in Chicagoland lately. Distributor acquisitions and lighting agency drama. On the distributor side of the business there was CED acquiring Amperage. Graybar acquired CX Connexion On the representation side, and more specifically, on the lighting agent side, […]
I was speaking to a large regional VP of Sales for an electrical distributor recently. His comment was “everyone wants loyalty, but when you give it, what is given in return?” This got me thinking, What is loyalty and how […]
I was speaking with a manufacturer who was contemplating converting his direct sales force to a rep network. He was having difficulty replacing salespeople leaving his company either for retirement or other reasons (some of which were revealed in our […]
The industrial segment of the electrical distribution market is undergoing change due to a number of market dynamics including reshoring / near shoring, the impact of climate technologies / EV, manufacturer employment challenges, the need for improved productivity / capacity coupled […]
One of the challenges we hear from distributors is the need for sales and marketing tools from companies that understand distribution … and especially the electrical distribution channel … and that are affordable regardless of the size of the distributor. […]
Recently I was contemplating the news that is impacting our industry and considering if what we are doing today will enable us to be successful going forward. Key headlines you hear repeatedly business newscasts include: Increased Interest rates making it […]
It seems that more manufacturers are seeing value in the hybrid sales deployment. Utilizing rep organizations with direct factory people in a geography is a growing trend. Allow me to give my view of its advantages and the necessary management […]
The typical Rockwell distributor is tasked with growing their industrial automation business, growing their MRO business and increasing their contractor sales (since most also sell to commercial construction contractors to have a balanced business.) Some also sell industrial supplies and […]
Sonepar, the world’s largest electrical distributor with 2021 sales of $28.8 billion dollars (USD), announced that Sonepar France will be expanding of its eCommerce initiative and what it calls its omnichannel efforts. They announced that they will be launching a […]
