News
All the latest reporting and analysis from Distribution Strategy Group.
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How to Get Customers to Buy More Product Categories with Cross-Selling
Increasing market share is good. However, increasing wallet share is even better because it is usually far easier to sell additional products to existing customers than it is to acquire new customers.
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Selling Value, Not Price: How Distributor Sales Reps Can Truly Connect with Prospects
We recently published an article on selling value internally along with selling externally to prospects. Because while many distributors have spent time creating a value proposition their employees will take to heart, salespeople often falter when it comes to selling the company’s value to prospects.
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After the Crisis: What Distributors Must Do Next
Despite the many columns and webcasts predicting distribution’s post-pandemic “new normal,” it’s going to be a long time before our industry settles back into a rhythm. For now, expect a “new abnormal,” where powerful forces will continue to transform the industry and redefine how you must compete to win.
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Value in the Time of COVID-19: What Customers Value Changes with the Times
It’s probably even more important for your long-term success to take some time now to revisit why you are in business and what customers want and need most from you.
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How to Acquire New Customers with Sweet Spot Analysis
Pursuing new customers in existing markets can be an expensive proposition if not done with proper planning, analysis and execution.
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How to Improve Customer Retention and Keep Customers from Leaving You
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.
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Can Your Team Sell Your Company’s Value?
While some distributors have spent time creating a value proposition that employees can recite by heart, when it comes time to really talk about how to sell their company’s value, many salespeople falter.
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How to Take Business Away from Your Competitors
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?
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How to Sell into New Market Segments
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?
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Sales Force Productivity During a Global Health Crisis
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…