12 Ways to Win Distributor Mindshare (Even If You're the Smallest Vendor)  By Desiree Grace You are number 47, and they’re now serving number three. The big idea: Experience dictates that the typical distributor manager has time to manage between 5-7 supplier-partner relationships effectively. These management duties typically involve such tasks as ensuring proper sales activities and engagement, continual oversight of sales volumes, promotional activities, and participation in supplier-partner initiatives.    Typically, the 5-7 lines receiving support are the largest suppliers to their organization.   This creates a daunting task for smaller manufacturers or those just launching in the market. Further, this situation is known and appreciated by most progressive distributors, however, the time constraints outweigh the concern. A few have assigned duties for championing the cause of new products/technologies to category managers, specialists, or, in some instances, s...

Israel and Hamas, Trump and Xi—we are surrounded by examples of Negotiations, both good and bad. Whether it’s geopolitical, life-saving measures, real estate transactions, or simply business, there are ways to negotiate that don’t burn bridges or result in image problems. Let’s discuss before, during, and after the negotiations, and how you can plan for success. Before we start, though, let’s talk about WHY you negotiate. Sometimes the situation is crystal clear. Negotiating pricing, closing costs, and closing dates are part of the process when buying a house. Sometimes you are faced with a situation where you SHOULD negotiate, or COULD negotiate, but don’t. We are often conditioned to accept business practices at face value because they have become institutionalized. Past practices do not mean you can’t negotiate and improve your situation. You have a responsibility to yourself and your organization to negotiate.  For example, conversations with distributors and their supply par...

December is always a busy month here at River Heights Consulting.  Distributors are making their plans for the next year and that causes the phone to ring.  Compensation plans are being adjusted.  New hires evaluated.  All this and, it is the season for simply catching up with our friends and family and making trips to the mall with the Missus (sometimes referred to as – She who must be obeyed).   Regardless of all my activities, my version of busy pales in comparison to the hectic activities up north at Claus International.  Generally, I received some type of communication from my old pal Santa long before the Big Day; phone call, text, email, or even something by way of the red-striped envelope with the North Pole return.    This year was different.  I received this text message just four days before Christmas:   SC at NP:  Frankie Boy, not ignoring all your messages.  Things got kind of hectic ...

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? ·...

Joint calls have been around since the age of dinosaurs.  While I won’t go into precisely what sellers were peddling back in 10,000 BC, I can attest to the fact that joint calls were made in my father’s business in the late ‘50s.  One of my first real career tasks came in the form of joint calls with distributor salespeople.   While the concept has remained the same, the cost has not.  Experts tell us the “typical industrial sales call” costs close to $450.  We can theorize a joint call probably costs double that amount – close to a cool grand.  The money is getting too big to leave anything to chance.  It is imperative to stack the deck in our favor.   Quoting a cooking expert (by accident and for the first time in my writing): “An important concept stressed in practically every cooking class is that cooking is 10% art and 90% chemistry. Recipes are to cooks as formulas are to chemists - important instructions for a consistent result. ...