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Why do customers buy? Questions and Comments

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www.inddist.com I just had the opportunity to review Industrial Distribution Magazine’s annual survey .  This year they focused on distributor value and quite frankly, I am not shocked by the results.  I am, however, deeply disappointed.  The survey question asked “Which are the primary reasons your customers do business with you?”  The respondents reported the following reasons: 85.17% Relationship 74.16% Product Availability 68.42% Technical Support 62.20% Delivery Time 50.72% Price 31.10% Engineering Capabilities 30.62% Vendor Managed Inventory 28.23% 24x7 Support 3.35%    Other This was the 69 th edition of this survey; meaning the very first edition fell well before my father started in the distribution business back in the 50s.  Silly me, but somehow I imagined our industry had progressed. With a couple exceptions, the results look like something straight out of 1965.   I am disenchan...