Turning Likes into Gold: Measuring Your Social Success A Distributor Channel Marketing Moment By Desiree Grace You know you need it- a social media strategy. Whether it’s LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, or even a Substack newsletter, if you aren’t on social media, you simply don’t exist . The age-old marketing conundrum, however, is how to measure what’s working in this newer world. In traditional advertising, you paid for a television ad, you monitored the Nielsen ratings, and you knew how many households were exposed to your message (reach) and how often (frequency). It’s a bit different with social media. First, you have media you own . This is the most similar to ye olde TV ad. Your company’s Facebook page or LinkedIn account- that’s owned. You control what goes in, and you can measure how many people visit, how long they stay (how “sticky” your page is), and even completion rates, like whether they finished that “about us” video. The good news is that you can measure and mo...

Marketing’s Makeover: From Fluff to Facts By Desiree Grace She’s got a bad reputation. Marketing—she’s a party girl. Golf outings, customer appreciation events, expensive meals at trade shows—when the economy gets rough, she’s the first thing to go. But much like the cheerleader with a perfect GPA, there IS more to Marketing than meets the eye. Done right, it’s not just entertainment and good times. Effective marketing involves discipline and hard work that is measurable. Let’s discuss Marketing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). These are metrics that demonstrate results and return on investment. There is some rigor underneath all that fluff and fast talk. To understand the impact of your work, you must assess the outcomes of your strategy and optimize your programs and campaigns accordingly. This can include channel-specific marketing activities if you’re a manufacturer selling through distribution. Some good basics you can and should measure include the following: 1.  ...

Ah, the joys of being the “middleman.” For decades, distributors have been responsible for efficiently passing products from manufacturer-based suppliers to customers. During the 1990s, we were good at removing costs from our system. Into the 2000s, our customers tasked us with assisting them in removing extra expenses from their interactions as well. Without really being aware of the situation, we have improved the “supply chain,” whatever that is. In a quest to discover a workable meaning, I spoke to a young friend who had just earned a master’s degree in supply chain management. I asked her about the meaning of supply chain management. Her answers centered on order entry, shipping times, price points and several statements which sounded like she was spewing straight from the mouth of a big corporation purchasing agent. After telling her I was writing an article on supply chain improvement for distributors, she replied: “Distributors can improve the supply chain by red...

Thinking about Money? Thinking about Sales Process? Thinking about CRM? (A Book Review) Talking to distributors, we have discovered that many of them have made big investments in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Systems.  Many of them have pushed their salespeople to track customer contacts and enter opportunities.  Candid conversations reveal, however, that the vast majority still feel like they are not getting their money’s worth from their CRM system.  This brings us to the subject of this post: a book by SalesProcess 360’s Brian Gardner. Brian brings a wealth of information to the topic.  He has decades of industrial sales experience.  He worked as a salesperson, sales manager and as a software developer.  Make no mistake, this book isn’t a 100 page advertisement for some software platform.  Instead, it’s about sales process and applying technology to automate the sales process. Mr. Gardner reverses the process most distribut...

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...