Page 190 – Electrical Trends

Associations / Channel Strategies / Contractors / eBusiness / eMarketing / Industrial Market / Industry Consolidation / Industry News / Lighting / Lighting2 / Marketing / Marketing Groups

2010 NAED – National Electrical Leadership Summit Observations

David Gordon Posted On May 20, 2010

As many know, NAED held it’s 2010 National Electrical Leadership Summit this past weekend. There were about 83 distributor companies represented and 74 manufacturer companies. While the distributor attendance improved, it seemed like the manufacturer number declined, especially small to […]

Lighting / Lighting2 / Productivity / Research Reports

Going Green. Modeling your customers’ customer. Getting your cash

David Gordon Posted On May 17, 2010

Over the last few weeks we have noticed some trends and reported that a number of companies are pro-actively seeking ways to help their customers save money and connect.Our focus is normally on hard good products, but recently we have […]

Growth Strategies / Industry Consolidation / Industry News / Lighting / Lighting2 / Productivity / Renewables / Technology

Solar, LEDs, Diversification, Inventory Management and More

David Gordon Posted On May 13, 2010

A little bit of a reading roundup before this weekend’s NAED Leadership Summit. Recently there has been array of news from 3M, GE, Home Depot, Rexel, Square D, Datalliance, CED and Hilti to get us going (or at least cause some […]

Industry Consolidation / Industry News / Productivity

A Sign of the Times?

David Gordon Posted On May 10, 2010

Given the dramatic decline in industry revenues over the past 18 months, many have wondered when consolidation will occur and are surprised that they haven’t seen more than a few. We agree, and from talking with a number of potential […]

Profitability

Banks actually helping their Business Customers?

David Gordon Posted On May 3, 2010

Or is good old fashion common sense come back in fashion? It seems as if some regional banks have discovered that they have money lying around not earning money. After all, their product is money. Several weeks ago I began […]

Growth Strategies / Industry News / Research Reports

Q1 is In … How are You Doing?

David Gordon Posted On April 27, 2010

Over the last couple of weeks we’ve been talking with a number of manufacturers and distributors and have started to notice some Q1 trends … Aside from many distributors losing 3-7 days due to weather, which impacted business Industrially-oriented distributors […]

Advocacy / Associations

How Should Manufacturers Evaluate Associations?

David Gordon Posted On April 21, 2010

At the same association meeting I’m currently at the association held a manufacturer only session (as well as a distributor only one) to solicit meeting format feedback as well as association feedback, essentially asking manufacturers, “what are you looking for […]

Growth Strategies / People in the News / Sales Channel

How Do You Recruit Salespeople?

David Gordon Posted On April 21, 2010

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 […]

Contractors / Growth Strategies / Marketing

Help Your Customers Grow

David Gordon Posted On April 15, 2010

Mike Holt is considered one of the preeminent electrical contractor experts and is noted for his training endeavors and is recognized as “the” NEC Code expert. Mike knows contractor needs, and during a recent conversation with Stan Rydzynski, the issue of […]

Growth Strategies / Marketing / Productivity

Addressing Customer Service … Having the Right Inventory

David Gordon Posted On April 15, 2010

Last week I visited an electrical distributor client to discuss customer service. Given the economic environment that has gripped the industry over the past 18 months, no one is surprised to hear that some companies have experienced customer service issues […]