When Things Go Wrong, Here’s Your Moment to Shine By Desiree Grace and Frank Hurtte Scientific research backs up something every seasoned distributor already knows: a perfectly smooth transaction doesn’t build loyalty, but a problem handled exceptionally well does. In Human Sigma: Managing the Employee-Customer Encounter , Gallup’s John H. Fleming and Jim Asplund found that customers who experience a problem that is fixed quickly and effectively become more loyal than customers who never had an issue at all. Think about this: the customer with a headache becomes your strongest advocate if you handle the recovery right. And let’s be honest, problems will happen. Back-orders appear. Pricing loads incorrectly. Freight gets damaged. Manufacturers sometimes send the wrong firmware. Instead of hiding these ugly moments, smart distributors embrace them as opportunities to display competence, character, and commitment. Because the truth is this: A flawless transaction doesn’t reveal who you ...

Frequent Flyers, Forgotten Value: A Pricing Wake-Up Call By Desiree Grace and Frank Hurtte Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) is marketing-speak for the value of capturing a customer early in their buying journey and keeping that customer for life. Statistics show that it takes 5-7 times MORE money to acquire a new customer than to keep an existing customer. Treating your best customers better is key to customer retention and reducing customer churn. This should be a company-wide effort. Pricing strategy and execution should align with that strategy, and while typically part of Finance, they should not be excluded from company-wide coordination. Let’s review a real-world example from the airline industry. Recently, I had the experience of booking a three-legged journey with United. Due to a colleague changing schedules, I had to cancel one of the legs. As a Premier 1k and Global Services customer, I expected some sort of refund for the cancelled journey, since I was essentially buying ...

Building on the Skills of Inside Sales Staff After conducting dozens of distributor Voice of the Customer surveys and interviewing their key customer contacts, I have discovered one eye-opening discovery. Customers place a high value on inside sales – perhaps higher than most believe. I can still remember the words of a VP of Engineering for a mid-sized OEM: “Tell your client this, despite our primary salesperson’s personality and product knowledge, we depend on the quick answers and problem-solving skills that come from [their inside salesperson] Scott.”    Comments like this reinforce the words of one of my colleagues many years ago. “A good outside sales guy makes the phone ring, and a good inside salesperson keeps it ringing.” In an age of instant gratification, with overflowing product information on the internet, e-commerce everywhere, and customers dealing with a fast-paced work schedule, the necessity for a strong inside sales presence has only increased.   For cl...

The higher you move up in an organization, the more out of touch you become with the customer. This is a challenge all leaders face. And while many accept it and do nothing, it doesn’t have to be this way. How can you overcome that risk?  Well, you could lean on a few well-trusted advisors, or your internal management information system (MIS). You could also commission surveys or focus groups. All of these options, while worthwhile, have an inherent bias. The advisors might have a hidden agenda, or pet project to promote. The MIS system has no bias, but the data is only as good as the program. If the data is too “big” you have a different challenge of how to analyze the data. Surveys and focus groups are only as good as the people conducting them, and the participants still have good reasons to present themselves in a positive light. So, what is a caring, customer-centric C-level professional supposed to do? Put on a costume or disguise and masquerade as a customer. That’s right—p...

It’s National Memory Day It seems like I discover a new holiday every day.  Today’s special day is promoted as a day to celebrate our memories.  As you might imagine, I have many memories.  For example, I still remember June 6, 1977.  On that fateful day, I walked into the main lobby of the Allen-Bradley building at 1202 South Second Street in Milwaukee.    I had on a newly acquired three-piece gray suit and a conservative blue tie.  The weather was warmish, I was nervous, and I can still recall feeling a bit uncomfortable in business. I can remember a few other important days in my career.  I won’t bore you to tears with the details, but memories, being little snapshots of life, have a way of sticking with us.  But the mind is a strange thing, while bits of minutia linger, other important points slip through the cracks disappearing forever.   What slips through the cracks? Routine and often repeated activities can be the first to go....

I recently attended the AHTD Spring Meeting.  I always enjoy these meetings.  They keep me up to date with the industry and always provide plenty of networking opportunities.  It's important to eat meals and have drinks with future friends (I've never met a stranger) to gain insight.  During an after-hours meeting one night, a brand-new sales manager asked me about keeping customers as prices continue to rise. I thought back to an article I wrote for IMARK Now Magazine.  Specifically, I addressed how distributors could find new customers and nurture their current customers.  I began the article with these half dozen thoughts I believe distributors everywhere should use to better focus their businesses:    Thought One:   Over the years, distributors have done a poor job of selecting their customers.  In many instances, it is the customer who selects the distributor for reasons often unknown to the distributor. Thought Two: The cost of br...

Years ago, one seasoned distributor executive said, “One of the natural laws of distribution is that you will lose between 8-10 percent of your business every year.  Companies change direction, close their operations, are acquired by others, and a mess of other things.  If you don’t plan for this, you will be forever behind the eight-ball.”  The message was shocking.  While I am not sure his percentages were entirely accurate, the message was true.  Customers do occasionally go away.   Having a solid source of new customers is important.  Yet, according to our 2022 State of Distributor Sales research, only a dismal 34 percent of distributors are happy with the number of new customers brought into their organization each year. The distributors we spoke with went on to state that traditional salespeople were their primary source of new customers.  It has been my experience, and this research further illustrates, that distributor salespeople do a poo...