Pursuing new customers in existing markets can be an expensive proposition if not done with proper planning, analysis and execution.
Well-run companies know that customer retention is critical to long term success as a business. For some companies, an annual increase of 1% in customer retention over each of the next ten years results in 20% increase in annual earnings. Retention is powerful for several reasons.
You must look closely at the business you want to acquire from your competitors, in order to define a specific strategy. Do you want to dominate a certain product category or a specific geography? Or do you want to focus on a particular customer type, such as large volume or a specific SIC?
It’s a great idea and it requires thoughtful planning. Most distributors want to increase sales by entering new markets — but what does that mean?
How Your Reps Can Make Calls without Visiting Customers Background As of this writing, the coronavirius (COVID-19) is infecting an increasing number of people around the world. We grieve over the human toll this virus takes. With a mortality rate that appears to be about 3% (at the moment) and focused primarily on the elderly…
What’s the difference between customer service and inside sales? What are the skills sets distributors should look for when hiring for a successful proactive inside sales team, and aren’t those the same as customer service?
In general, distributors’ ongoing shift to digital is a good thing; depending on the segment, customers do prefer to be communicated with digitally.
There’s plenty of opportunity in B2B e-commerce right now. Even distributors and manufacturers who have yet to implement e-commerce capabilities can still get in the game.
To many distributors, e-commerce and e-business sound interchangeable. Yet, there are important differences in the definitions.
Your top 10% of customers are covered by field sales. How are you reaching the other 90%? The very largest of a distributor’s accounts (on average the top 5%) tend to make up 55% to 70% of a distributor’s revenue. They have massive buying power, and distributors typically offer them value-added services pro bono.