The Distributor Channel

December is always a busy month here at River Heights Consulting.  Distributors are making their plans for the next year and that causes the phone to ring.  Compensation plans are being adjusted.  New hires evaluated.  All this and, it is the season for simply catching up with our friends and family and making trips to the mall with the Missus (sometimes referred to as – She who must be obeyed).   Regardless of all my activities, my version of busy pales in comparison to the hectic activities up north at Claus International.  Generally, I received some type of communication from my old pal Santa long before the Big Day; phone call, text, email, or even something by way of the red-striped envelope with the North Pole return.    This year was different.  I received this text message just four days before Christmas:   SC at NP:  Frankie Boy, not ignoring all your messages.  Things got kind of hectic around here.  First, COVID, then Supply Chain Stuff, and no

We recently wrote a whitepaper for the Distribution Strategy Group which could be summarized this way: Distributors provide a plethora of services.  Services that involve people are nearly impossible for Amazon (or others) to duplicate.  Some of the services customers expect, like credit or shipping, are available for free everywhere else.   Many services go beyond the “cost of doing business.”  The services most distributors added were put in place without a real strategic plan as to how they fit into the total business.  Distributors lack an understanding of both the internal cost of providing the services and the value to the customer.  Little management oversight is applied to services – sellers control who receives their services and when.   Distributors face significant roadblocks to establishing a strategy for services.  A strategy around services can create a competitive advantage.    One reader

Thinking about a Late-Night Conversation At the AHTD Fall meeting a few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to join a group of young leaders in the automation industry.  Several points of discussion are worthy of further discussion.  Here is a recap of the earlier post.    Last night I joined a group of young leaders in our business for “one more round” and found myself listening intently to a discussion centering around eCommerce and the future of the automation industry.  Without giving away the entire conversation, the focus of the chat involved: ·         Does an “online only” distributor truly create a market for manufacturers serving this industry? ·         What is the difference between being a solution provider and a market server via a webstore? ·         How do customers, especially Millennial customers, use the internet in making buying decisions? ·         How important is the price to the online buyer?   This was massively educational, and this morning I am dragging, but I

The first Monday in November is JOB ACTION DAY.  Never heard of it?  Probably not, but you likely have felt strongly about taking action with your job.  Think about the last time you updated your resume.  I am not talking about a resume to find a new job, instead, I am thinking more about taking an inventory of the skills you possess and comparing them against your skills last year.  Have you learned some new skills?  If the answer is yes, that’s awesome.  If not, why not.  You aren’t perfect and the world is changing around you.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful to improve your worth, by developing skills that enhance your value to your company or maybe to some future company?   With the state of the world over the last few years, it's impossible for us to think we have job security without new skills.  We have witnessed the unthinkable many times over.  Companies across the globe have closed shop with little to no notice.  Having an inventory of your current skills will make it a lot eas

AHTD TRIP Day 3 As can be expected from AHTD functions, we had great meetings and a fabulous showcase yesterday.   This included  a full day of presentations with strong insights from some leading experts in our industry as well as from experts on topics that impact our environment. Mike Foster, who is a cybersecurity expert, gave an eye-opening presentation that left us all with a checklist of things to review tied to our IT systems.   Last night was the product showcase. I brought nearly 100 business cards and I'm down to my last three.  Note to self: Use my QR code to exchange cards. If you are looking to join AHTD or wonder if it's the right fit for your organization, feel free to drop me a line .   Frank Hurtte, Founding Partner of River Heights Consulting, shares his personal experiences with 28 years of "in the trenches" training and 17 years as a consultant.  He serves as a personal coach to industry leaders across many lines of distribution.  He has authored

Sleep is essential but… Dr. Matthew Walker is the foremost expert on the subject of sleep.  According to his research missing an hour of sleep can be harmful to your health and mental well-being.  I recently read his groundbreaking book, Why we Sleep , and armed with detailed explanations as to the importance of sleep, I was forced to make a hard  decision – sacrificing sleep versus spending an extra couple of hours engaged in some incredibly interesting conversations. You can imagine which I chose... Last night a small group of automation experts shared their thoughts on the impact of “reshoring” on the automation industry.  Here are some questions to ponder: ·          What regions will be most positively impacted by reshoring?  ·          Will the flow of manufactured products change from an east-to-west flow to a south-to-north supply chain? ·          Will the companies designing this new manufacturing be North American, European, or Asian based? ·          As the new facilities a

AHTD Report Day 2- AHTD is a networking extravaganza. Tuesday marked the official launch of the AHTD meeting.  The morning was devoted to a Board of Directors meeting which only involves a dozen or so members.  However, many attendees showed up early to engage in informal meetings with Supply-Partners and other distributors.  I couldn’t help but notice dozens of distributor groups huddled together to do some benchmarking.  Much sharing of information on the condition of the market and supply chain issues.   The official meeting started at an opening reception where the record crowd munched on appetizers and chowed down on the latest industry gossip.  What was the gossip? Business continues to hold up nicely. Supply chain issues are still a part of the business.  Could this be the new normal? Finding qualified workers is a major deal and the AHTD Future Leaders Program is overflowing with smart folks who will carry the industry into the future.   One distributor said, “We

AHTD Association Meeting Report – Late night meetings   My Assistant and Marketing Expert, Jenny has heard thousands of stories tied to my experiences/exploits at AHTD.  This year, she challenged me to share timely updates on what’s going on during my stay at AHTD (which is at the LaQuinta Resort near Palm Springs).  This is the first of several such reports.    One of the most valuable parts of association meetings comes not from the great presentations but from the informal conversations held during “off hours.”  I have always enjoyed the comradery of these evening chats.  When I was a younger man, the meetings went well past the witching hour.  These days, I target 11:30 as a hard stop.  If the conversation is brisk, I can be enticed into sacrificing sleep for business.   Last night I joined a group of young leaders in our business for “one more” and found myself listening intently to a discussion centering around eCommerce and the future of the automation industry.  Wit