Lately I have been thinking about Distributor-Supplier Etiquette; or should I say the lack there of. As our industry accelerates through technology and demographic changes, we find ourselves with many new players on both sides of the distributor/supplier relationship. Training for supplier/manufacturer employees is directed toward products, customer types and factory programs instead of building a better channel.  In addition, the demographics in our industry are forcing generational interaction; so we find baby-boomers and millennials seated at the same table trying to communicate. The chasm between partners widens; often based on simple lack of professional courtesies.  Miscommunications and friction between distributors and their upstream partners are building.  And, for some strange reason, nobody seems to be talking about it. I want to bring this front and center.  To prime the pump, allow me to share a bit of the bad. A Good Example of a B...

Much has been written about developing and practicing effective leadership skills. Books by Jim Collins, Stephen Covey, Dale Carnegie, Jack Welch and Lee Iacocca, to name just a few, have addressed this topic from several perspectives. Thousands of articles have also delved into this subject. What this blog suggests is that there are a few skills/traits that are common in the most effective leaders of any organization. #1 Honesty and Integrity Great leaders create an organizational culture built on these two core values and hold all employees accountable to them. Without honesty and integrity as fundamental cornerstones of an organization, they will rarely succeed long term. And creating such a culture starts at the top of the organization. Everyone watches the leader and takes their cues as to what is acceptable behavior. Effective leaders must also be trustworthy. They are recognized for always telling the truth and for practicing the highest standards of ethical conduct...

Part III: Key Topics to get the Planning Juices Flowing Joint Planning with Key Supply Partners Not all vendors are created equally. Some have the power to cause our business to accelerate; others don’t. We have proof that companies who plan with their supply partners grow faster than their competition. Lots of companies go through the motions of planning with their partners. If you would like to hear of our proof, give me a call. Major Marketing Activities These can be marketing activities, plans for customer presentations, open houses, trade shows and other such events. Often we observe distributors rushing into events they have known about for a very long time – just because they lacked planning. Major Technology Initiatives What major initiatives can fundamentally change the way you do business? Here we are referring to things like CRM System implementation, implementing pricing tools, rolling out a new software system or warehouse bar-coding projects. Produc...