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Home » Tight Connections

Tight Connections

Selling distribution value is critical for smaller distributors

By    Doug  Chandler 
December 10, 2005
More about:  Distribution Trends,  Sales & Marketing

Close relationships with customers can make all the difference to compete as a small distributor selling a premium product line in a market increasingly dominated by national chains, online purchasing and low-cost imported products. Prime Industrial Products has leveraged a strong supplier to build bullet-proof customer relationships.


When a local dairy processing plant sent Prime Industrial Products a purchase order with some non-standard part numbers, Bill Baethke immediately knew something was wrong. The number matched fluid connectors Prime had on the shelf, but they weren't products the dairy normally used. Baethke, the Olathe, KS-based hydraulics and pneumatics distributor's vice president and general manager, had worked with the dairy for years, beginning as a ...

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Close relationships with customers can make all the difference to compete as a small distributor selling a premium product line in a market increasingly dominated by national chains, online purchasing and low-cost imported products. Prime Industrial Products has leveraged a strong supplier to build bullet-proof customer relationships.


When a local dairy processing plant sent Prime Industrial Products a purchase order with some non-standard part numbers, Bill Baethke immediately knew something was wrong. The number matched fluid connectors Prime had on the shelf, but they weren't products the dairy normally used. Baethke, the Olathe, KS-based hydraulics and pneumatics distributor's vice president and general manager, had worked with the dairy for years, beginning as a ...



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