Several years ago, Jenny tied the end of year planning season to the dreaded Mid-Western season of raking leaves.  The two share several similarities. Here is the shortlist: 1. Leaf raking and annual planning are dreaded by most people. 2. You never really get into a zone, because by the time you get into the groove the work is done for the year. 3. If you ignore either one, next year you will regret it. 4. The longer you put the activity off, the harder it will be to finish. 5. An early start saves a lot of work at the end of the season. One big difference is this:  You can’t hire a neighborhood kid to do your end of year planning.  With this point in mind, we thought we would share a few things to think about for your 2022 plan. If you are planning for 10 percent sales growth, you better think again Reports from across half a dozen industry sectors indicate that manufacturers are laying down a steady stream of price increases.  One distributor told us ov...

As we conduct voice of customer type activities, one thing has become obvious:  It’s hard to get good unbiased information from every customer type.  When an opportunity arises, distributors must be all ears.  Sometimes the message brings a smile to our faces, other times… well, it’s a hard pill to swallow.  But still, it is the voice of the customer.  Listen, ponder, think, and if appropriate, react. Recently, a good friend and client sent me a link to a post from Reddit.  My friend is a technical guy, and a distributor, so one post jumped out at him and certainly intrigued me.    This should be required reading for every distributor regardless of the product you sell.   Why?  This post provides an unvarnished view of how customers see distributors.  Some of the comments posted in response are painful while others will make you smile, but it must be read. For those of you who perhaps don’t follow such things, Reddit is the se...