Industry Insights

Ask the best private equity investors, or for that matter, any acquiring company such as chains, vertical convergers or platform investors – even independent distribution acquirers – and they will tell you that human capital – leadership and management – is a key factor to consider in any investment opportunity.

You are familiar with the portfolio concept if you own any kind of equity, bond, real estate or other investment fund. If you’re familiar with the major investment companies – such as Charles Schwab, Vanguard, Fidelity, BlackRock – you are familiar with portfolio strategies.

Everybody knows that it is easier to sell to existing customers than it is to acquire new customers. A good segmentation of your markets is one of the keys to successful new customer acquisition.

If created and managed well, outbound and inbound calling programs can be very effective. What’s more, implementation does not have to be expensive or overly complex.

For many, inside sales involves ordering, technical support, returns handling and credit management. Rarely does it involve proactive, outbound sales. Simply put, those with the title “Inside Sales” spend little or no time actually doing inside “sales” because they lack the time, training or aptitude or skills to be successful.

Up-selling and cross-selling are the two primary means of growing an account. Among these, cross-selling is paramount. Here’s why: many distributors have regular customers who buy the same set of 10 to 20 SKUs over and over, yet, they have thousands of other products that could be sold to those same customers.

The research performed included interviews with nearly 10 distributor senior executives and an online survey taken by 170 participants across a variety of distribution sectors. There was heavier participation from industrial, electrical/electronics, building, safety, hardware, and chemicals and plastics.

It may be that many distributors are just guessing when it comes to positioning and messaging. Their beliefs about what attributes are important to emphasize in messaging and positioning is based on scant market research.