Thinking about a Late-Night Conversation At the AHTD Fall meeting a few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to join a group of young leaders in the automation industry.  Several points of discussion are worthy of further discussion.  Here is a recap of the earlier post.    Last night I joined a group of young leaders in our business for “one more round” and found myself listening intently to a discussion centering around eCommerce and the future of the automation industry.  Without giving away the entire conversation, the focus of the chat involved: ·         Does an “online only” distributor truly create a market for manufacturers serving this industry? ·         What is the difference between being a solution provider and a market server via a webstore? ·         How do customers, especially Millennial customers, use the internet in making buying decisions? ·...

Over the past few months, I have been working closely with David Gordon of the Channel Marketing Group.  David is laser focused on the Electrical Distribution Channel.  His blog, Electrical Trends is widely read by those who call themselves electrical distributors.  This is a large and diverse group.  They range from people who are full ahead knowledge-based distributors to those who might be better categorized as “supply houses”.    We have discovered, the issues are very similar.  A good many in the electrical channel wonder who is doing the selling.  More importantly, how does this selling impact the operational costs and how should a distributor (and their supply partners) look at the overall direction of their business?  As suppliers continue to broaden their product offerings and fight for market share in sometimes niche areas, these suppliers must review and take a new look at precisely who is doing the selling.    Wi...

What happens when every distributor in town represents the same manufacturer?  Extending this thought, let’s assume at least a few of these distributors “sell” several of this manufacturer’s competitors. To better understand the situation, let’s change the scenario up a bit and take a trip to America’s number one retailer, Walmart.  Wandering through the megastore, we find ourselves in an aisle containing colas and other soft drinks.  Looking around we see Coke, Pepsi and over a half dozen other brands, including a “house brand” named after the iconic Sam Walton.  Walmart has them all. Does this giant retailer sell a lot of cola?  If you consider “selling” as a transaction, the answer is yes.  However, if you count “selling” as an activity where users are convinced to by one brand over another, the answer is a definitive no.  The truth is, Walmart doesn’t care which brand you buy as long as you conduct your transaction within their walls. ...