News
All the latest reporting and analysis from Distribution Strategy Group.
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Additional Value Creation: The Real Bottom-Line Drivers in Distribution
Many independent distribution companies wonder why their gross margin, net profit and attendant multiples are inferior to their $2 billion-plus sales, national-market, publicly held competitors. These competitors may have many structural advantages:
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The Value of Thinking Like An Investor
In this article, I will discuss a useful approach, the Private Equity Investor Framework, which will help you think like an investor to improve and grow your business. You don’t have to be a trained financial professional to use and apply it.
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3 Marketing Moves Distributors Should Make
The vast majority of distributors who are still in business today have good direct salespeople without whom they would not be in business. Yet the distribution world is changing – it’s not your grandfather’s distribution business anymore.
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2012 State of Distributor Merchandising
Although e-commerce initiatives are front and center for many distributors today, in-store revenue remains essential. Yet most distributors with walk-in trade place limited emphasis on in-store marketing and merchandising.
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Segmentation by Net Profit for Customer Acquisition
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.
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The Case for Proactive Selling
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.
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2012 State of Inside Sales in Distribution
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.
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Segmentation for Sales and Marketing Quick Hits
When we ask successful distribution company executives about the sweet spots in their market, they readily provide a confident answer. The problem with the answer is that it is usually incorrect or at best partially correct.
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The Economics of Cross-Selling
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.
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Improve Customer Lifecycle Management with Simple Analytics
One of the biggest challenges for any sales and marketing organization is when to reach out to a customer with an offer or promotion. The objective is to reach out according to a natural buying cycle. If it is done too frequently, it loses its impact or even turns the customer off.