The Distributor Channel

In early December, I was in Fort Worth Texas for a Distributor Advisory Council meeting.  My early flight landed me in town about six hours ahead of the meeting time.  Waiting for early check-in, I relaxed at the hotel cafe, while sipping coffee, checking emails, and prepping for my meeting.  I grew restless after about an hour as the sights of downtown Fort Worth beckoned me.  As I walked, I was drawn to the brass plaques and historical motif pictures near my art deco-style hotel.  The weather was a beautiful 60 degrees and there was an astonishing number of others out enjoying the day, so “people watching” was the order of the day. I approached a lovely square with a giant decorated Christmas tree.  The area was abuzz with folks making their way to the shops and offices dotting each of the streets coming into the area.  It was an interesting cityscape. Glancing down one of these side streets, something caught my attention.  Off in the distance, I saw someone I would characterize as

Little Johnny was a Bully in Third Grade, Now He’s a Purchasing Agent Are there Bullies in the Purchasing Department New Sellers are Falling Victim to Bad Guys Dressed as Purchasing Agents All three of these were considered as titles for this article.  I like them all, but I don’t like what purchasing people do to new sellers across our land. Throughout my life, I have dealt with hundreds if not thousands of purchasing departments.  Purchasing departments come with many different monikers – Purchasing, Procurement, Supply Chain Management, Sourcing Group, Resource Management, Indirect Supply Management, and probably a dozen more.  For simplicity, let’s call them purchasing people.  Their main role is to handle the administrative side of the products needed by their company with one large additional task.  Many purchasing people are also charged with buying those products at the lowest possible price.   Most purchasing people imply that they are the decision-makers for the p