The Distributor Channel

Looking ahead in Distribution Perhaps it’s the economy, maybe it’s the weather, could be a coincidence, but a lot of folks are wondering what the future might hold for distributors. Just to give you a flavor, during the past couple of weeks I have heard the term “disintermediation” used as a looming threat from some credible sources. The following are a number of questions forwarded to me for commentary by a writer for Electrical Wholesaling. These will be combined with the expert opinion of others in the distribution industry and published sometime in the coming months. I will share a link to the complete article when it is available, but in the meantime, here are some of my comments. Question: Looking ahead 5 years in the electrical distribution world, some estimate fewer than 200 distributors will exist. What are your thoughts? First, I believe the distributor model will change. The “safe” size for a “garden variety” electrical distributor has grown much since my fir

Business levels are flat (at best) and sales managers are clamoring for more sales calls.   All across distributor-land, sales managers are pushing their teams for more productivity.   They reason more sales calls equates to more discovery, more opportunities to quote and greater visibility with customers who for some reason or another share their business with several suppliers. The pressure is on.  Ranging from kind requests to outright threats, sales managers are pushing for more calls.  In cases where the distributor uses some form of call reporting (CRM or otherwise), the reports are getting greater scrutiny and results aren’t pretty.  Under pressure to create a better looking report, salespeople are counting drop by visits with no actual customer contact as a “sales call.”  Under the heading of a good example of terrible selling behavior, one reported sales call consisted of driving up to the guard shack of the customer and asking for the head of maintenance.  Since the

"Sounds like someone has a case of the Mondays" This is a funny line from a movie that often goes through the  heads of anyone who works in a traditional or corporate type office.  Sometimes you’re just not looking forward to getting back to the grind.  Other times, you need a vacation from your vacation.  But basically, the premise of waiting 5 more days until the weekend can be a bit daunting.   I just returned last night from a trip to Mexico City where relaxation was apparently not on the agenda.  Returning to the loads of email, stacks of mail, and a full voicemail, I can say I have a case of the Mondays…on Tuesday. But I have to wonder, since my fine readers are from all over the world and work in so many different fields, maybe your Mondays signify something different:  Maybe you’re the fresh new sales guy looking forward to your first sales call. Maybe you’re in Purchasing and you’ve debated all weekend about implementing a pri

www.inddist.com I just had the opportunity to review Industrial Distribution Magazine’s annual survey .  This year they focused on distributor value and quite frankly, I am not shocked by the results.  I am, however, deeply disappointed.  The survey question asked “Which are the primary reasons your customers do business with you?”  The respondents reported the following reasons: 85.17% Relationship 74.16% Product Availability 68.42% Technical Support 62.20% Delivery Time 50.72% Price 31.10% Engineering Capabilities 30.62% Vendor Managed Inventory 28.23% 24x7 Support 3.35%    Other This was the 69 th edition of this survey; meaning the very first edition fell well before my father started in the distribution business back in the 50s.  Silly me, but somehow I imagined our industry had progressed. With a couple exceptions, the results look like something straight out of 1965.   I am disenchanted, but again, not all that surprised.