The Distributor Channel

  Two weeks ago we posted part one of this interview on compensation with industry experts Desirée Grace and Andrea Olson.  Hop on to the second part where they discuss changing and dividing territories and how it affects your salespeople and customers.  Learn how to take the emotion out of it and avoid confrontation with both sides during this stressful time. Check it out HERE.

My grandmother was the Spring Clean Queen.  About this time every year, she began a process that lasted several weeks. She started with her carefully curated and revised list from the previous year, a habit she had maintained for over 50 years of housekeeping.  Since I was Grandma’s favorite, I knew precisely where she kept the list.  When I was eight years old, I thought about adding my younger siblings’ names to a couple of tasks.  Two things kept me from doing this – fear and common sense.   At the time, I did not appreciate Grandma’s plan, but as the years passed, I realized it was a great tool for maintaining clutter and keeping her small house crystal clean, especially for impromptu visitors.   I decided to apply the concept to distribution, as well as to my workspace.  Here are some distributor-centric fundamentals to consider:   Declutter the office : ·          One distributor we know holds an annual declutter day.  One Friday is devoted to throwing away the accu

Frank writes, rants, and pontificates thoughts about Sales and Selling for Industrial Supply Magazine.  The August editors of this publication told him to just share his ideas.  They said there would be very few rules so the sky's the limit.  Frank reported that while starting off mild, he plans to push the limits further on each subsequent adventure.  Check out his second attempt HERE .  We think he is still in control, but who knows what will happen in the future? This month Frank takes on the many definitions of "Targeting Accounts" while bringing it back to the basics. Before you go… there is a place to comment following the article.  This is the perfect space to compliment or condemn. Rumor has it, he loves hate mail. .

Check out DistrubuTED's video with industry leaders on compensation plans. Compensation is always a hot topic. Incentives play a crucial role in motivating employees to achieve their goals. However, it is important to strike a balance between being strict and being fair. By setting achievable goals and offering reasonable incentives, businesses can create a positive work environment where employees are motivated to perform their best. Desirée Grace and Andrea Olson discuss how to avoid the pitfalls many organizations make when incentivizing goals and why blanket programs can't work. Let's work towards finding the right balance and inspiring our employees to reach new heights!     Check it out HERE.

It’s National Memory Day It seems like I discover a new holiday every day.  Today’s special day is promoted as a day to celebrate our memories.  As you might imagine, I have many memories.  For example, I still remember June 6, 1977.  On that fateful day, I walked into the main lobby of the Allen-Bradley building at 1202 South Second Street in Milwaukee.    I had on a newly acquired three-piece gray suit and a conservative blue tie.  The weather was warmish, I was nervous, and I can still recall feeling a bit uncomfortable in business. I can remember a few other important days in my career.  I won’t bore you to tears with the details, but memories, being little snapshots of life, have a way of sticking with us.  But the mind is a strange thing, while bits of minutia linger, other important points slip through the cracks disappearing forever.   What slips through the cracks? Routine and often repeated activities can be the first to go.  Years ago, I wrote an article calling for distribu

Does anyone out there love playing Darts? It’s great for beers with buddies in the bar, but not so great for designing sales territories. Once or twice in my past life as a sales rep, it felt like someone higher up used a map and a dartboard to design sales territories. It's time to take a thoughtful, analytical, and strategic approach to designing and organizing our sales territories. It's important to communicate the strategy and the data behind any changes thoroughly and respectfully to all stakeholders. That includes the sales reps, the internal support teams, and the customers.  Any significant or impactful changes also need clear and proactive change management. Here's why. Your sales territories need to align with your strategy. Let’s say you want to add industrial contractors to your mix, as you’ve learned most industrials in your market outsource some or all of their maintenance to outside industrial contractors. Your overarching strategy is to diversify your cust

We love hosting guest bloggers!  Special thanks to Desirée for being a longtime colleague, friend, and now contributor to The Distributor Channel.  Be sure to subscribe to see more of Desirée's features in the future!   There’s a Holy Trinity that exists in March, and it’s not a religious one.  It’s the Holy Trinity of Executing Your Strategy: 1. Plan and Set Goals 2. Execute the Plan 3. Review the Plan Assuming you have a plan, and it runs on a calendar year, after Quarter 1 it’s time for a Quarterly Business Review (QBR).  Dust off that plan you made back in November or December of last year, schedule time with your Sales and Operations teams, and review your progress.   What should be included in that review? For starters, see how you are tracking against your goals.  If you are way off target, either to the positive or the negative, it’s time to drill down and figure out why.  If you are not close to meeting your Q1 targets, you are demonstrating that you don’t know your

Industrial Distribution Magazine has a fun short video feature that provides insight into the world of distribution. This is perfect for someone who doesn't have time to read lengthy articles.  Frank had the honor of being featured recently as he discussed the reasons behind his book, The New Sales Guy Project. Check out 5 Minutes with ID  HERE .

I have always found it easy to compare odd stories to the world of sales. Writing my latest book was a personal thing.  I love our industry and even more, I love the process of providing solutions to appreciative customers.  The book was a labor of love for our industry.  As I launched into the process, I was nagged by the thoughts of how I could add more of my personality to the book.    As I reviewed the book for the umpteenth time, I started jotting down off-the-cuff anecdotes and observations for sidebars within the text.  Most are pertinent to the book's storyline and off the wall.  To separate them from the intended content, I put them in shaded boxes.  I wanted readers to value these sections as bonus material beyond the scope of the book.    Last week a friend who was going through the book with a couple of his salespeople reported that these sidebars have become a great addition to his sales meetings.  For the next few weeks, we will share these as well as the not

Since the launch of Industrial Supply Magazine nearly 14 years ago, I have had the privilege of authoring nearly 150 articles for their readers.   I love the publications because they serve the markets that I find most interesting.   I also know that many of my long-time friends read and find value in the messages contained on their pages.   Last year I was offered to host an ongoing column devoted to sales in our business and I accepted the new challenge.  Here is the good news, the bad news , and the great news . The good news – Quoting one of my heroes, Teddy Roosevelt, this column gives me a “Bully Pulpit” for talking about issues that I feel strongly about.  The Pulpit part implies preaching, which I promise to tone down.  But still, things like the sales process, getting paid for our knowledge, and fee-based services have been part of my lexicon since long before starting River Heights Consulting.  I guarantee I will constantly remind people of their importance. The bad