In our meetings with distributors and manufacturers, all comment on their need for qualified talent to support growth, to replace open positions or, in some cases, a need to upgrade their current talent. The challenge is "how to find the 'right' person?" And many are concerned, although this isn't vocalized, about the cost of making a "less than optimal" decision. Further, … [Read more...] about Interviewing Strategy to Deliver The Right Candidate
Structuring Acquisitions in the Industrial Channel
Acquisitions continue to transform the Industrial Distribtuion industry. PE (private equity) are expanding their portfolio companies and others are seeking to enter the market. National distributors are expanding into new territories and also acquiring smaller companies as "fill-ins" or, in some cases, are diversifying their businesses and building new divisions. Regionals, and … [Read more...] about Structuring Acquisitions in the Industrial Channel
AI for Customers … and the Industrial Channel
Manufacturers and distributors have lately been having many conversations about “technology”. But not in the conventional sense of the tools / software, more as it relates to functionality / capability for the future. They are asking "Does their IT department (which could be their ERP / software provider) have a tech roadmap that includes AI?" And sales and marketing management … [Read more...] about AI for Customers … and the Industrial Channel
Increasing Warehouse Output While Managing Costs
With business in 2025 looking like “slow growth” looking forward, leading industrial distributors are focused on improving the operational / warehouse aspects of their business. While national chains, over the years, quickly moved to a CDC or RDC model, larger independents have also adopted this approach. This achieves a dual mandate of “improved” inventory management and … [Read more...] about Increasing Warehouse Output While Managing Costs
Creating lemonade at Institutional Accounts
What do market segments such as government, universities / higher education, life sciences, government/ municipalities, sports teams, hospitals, and agriculture have in common? While most are considered "institutions", they all are significant users of eProcurement / punchouts as part of their electrical buying process. They use companies such as Ariba, Coupa, Jaggaer, … [Read more...] about Creating lemonade at Institutional Accounts
O+P=R and a Lower Cost of Sales … The Manufacturer Rep Agent Management Formula
In the Industrial Channel, capturing business is a fight for market share. And to win that fight you need the most effective sales organization. One that can get into "the right person at the customer" (be they and end-user, contractor or distributor) to prove your difference. At the same time companies need to do this cost-effectively. There is a balance that needs to be … [Read more...] about O+P=R and a Lower Cost of Sales … The Manufacturer Rep Agent Management Formula
Market Intelligence to Inform Leadership
Okay, I'm not saying that company leadership is not "intelligent", but it does help leadership if it has access to intelligence as in market insights. While sales can provide some market, and customer-specific, insights, information needs to be aggregated, analyzed and sought from multiple sources in order to identity and evaluate the market to identify opportunities, set (or … [Read more...] about Market Intelligence to Inform Leadership
Winning the HVACR Product Data Revolution
In June HVACRTrends hosted a webinar introducing the Trimble / Distributor Data Solutions (DDS) collaboration. The two companies shared what they are seeing in the construction trades and how data is being used, and will be used, to help companies operate more efficiently, more effectively, and as a tool to capture market share. Takeaways Two key takeaways from the session … [Read more...] about Winning the HVACR Product Data Revolution
SPAs, or Ship & Debit, can be Sales and Profit Drivers or Drags
SPAs, or "ship and debit" are special pricing agreements can be an important sales (or marketing, since price, theoretically, is a component of the marketing mix) tool. Over the past few years we've seen SPAs generate attention from technology companies (Interlyx, Enable, CMR, Vistex, TrulinX, and many of the ERP companies). All see the mantra of "digital transformation" as … [Read more...] about SPAs, or Ship & Debit, can be Sales and Profit Drivers or Drags
Structured Data, a Prerequisite for AI Industrial Manufacturers
In the realm of Industrial manufacturing, the potential of integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) could be a competitive advantage. One of the critical components underpinning the effectiveness of AI is structured data. Structured data refers to organized information that is formatted for easy analysis and interpretation by machines. In the context of HVACR manufacturers, … [Read more...] about Structured Data, a Prerequisite for AI Industrial Manufacturers
