The Distributor Channel

Last week, I had the pleasure of addressing the sales team of a fast growing distributor. The topic was sales process and aligning with major industry trends. The group numbered in the mid-twenties and included salespeople from local territories throughout the central portion of the U.S. Prior to launching into my talk, I asked the group to give me a quick introduction outlining their position and background. As we moved through the first few members of the group, it was clear this team had deep product knowledge and understood their customer-base well. About half way around the room, we came to Joe. As Joe introduced himself, I could see the way the other members of the team deferred to him. Joe was the Senior Inside sales person and when he outlined his industry experience it was impressive to hear the side comments from the group. Joe was THE go-to guy for any tough application or technical question. He exuded customer service from every pore of his body. You could te

It’s not often that I get real, honest to goodness “hate mail”.  Apparently, our thoughts on Distributor/Supplier Etiquette have touched a nerve.  The strange part of the whole thing is this:  We are only posting on distributor/channel oriented groups.  These groups are focused on those who are either a) distributors or b) manufacturers who go to market through distribution.  They should be friends or at least tolerant of one another. Yet in the past week, I have received emails and/or anonymous posts which contain things like this: “Frank, you are a distributor apologist.  You claim to be open minded but your writing continues to indicate they can do no wrong.” Taking excerpts from several other notes, we find a similar type of attitude.  Distributors are described as follows: The remnants of a day gone by with no place in the modern age. Lazy, to the point of not being willing to introduce new products or handle warranty claims… Unwilling to carry inventory except

Distributors: customers, partners or something in between? The Supply-Partner side of the Etiquette Story The whole etiquette issue is not one sided. Over the last couple of weeks we have received several calls and comments on the topic: What part of distributor/supplier etiquette bugs you the most? This week I would like to hit on a point made by a couple of folks on the supplier side. To launch the topic, here is a comment many great supply-partners feel throws a wet blanket on the partnering equation. “Don’t forget, we (Distributors) are the customer.” As I think back in time, I realize I might have used this line a few times myself. Reflecting on the subject, I see both sides of the argument. Speaking for distributors, I can see some validity in the point. We write checks to the supplier; often paying with much greater rapidity and regularity than those who finally end up with the product. I struggle to recall a manufacturer who extends anything other than 30 d

Once again, we welcome guest blogger, Steve Earley who shares his thoughts on Strategic Planning.  Do you have something great to share?  Let us know and you could be featured here as well. Everyone has heard the old axiom that states “failing to plan is planning to fail.” Most business leaders intuitively understand this and have every intention of creating a strategic plan for their company. However, all too often one of the following occurs: The leader lacks the requisite experience in creating strategic plans and/or believes it too expensive to hire an outside consultant to assist. Therefore it never gets created. Other issues take priority and the planning process is delayed, or in some cases never happens. A plan is created but without specific actions items and appropriate accountability. This scenario leads to failed execution and the plan is likely only to be resurfaced when the next plan is to be developed. The plan is not communicated throughout the entire