March 10, 2014

Private Label & Channel Conflict

Leave a Comment / Strategy, Research & Analytics, Companies / Lindsay Konzak

While the margin and branding benefits of selling private label products may be attractive to distributors, such a move can create tension in the channel. This article examines the potential challenges and how distributors and manufacturers may be able to mitigate them.

This is the third in a series of articles from MDM on private label in the wholesale distribution industry.

This article includes:

Drivers of conflict between manufacturers and distributors
How distributors balance private label and national brands
Why some manufacturers offer contract manufacturing for private label and others avoid it

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Subscribers also have access to the following related articles:

The Drivers of Private Label in Distribution
Strategies for Private Label Success
Special Report: The Industrial Vending Boom

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Commentary: Wise Words from Warren Buffett

Leave a Comment / Strategy, Management / Tom Gale

While the Berkshire Hathaway Chairman's annual letter is written for the company's stockholders, leaders from any business can gain insight from Warren Buffett's wise words.

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The State of Analytics in Distribution: 2014
The Shifting Competitive Landscape in Distribution
Redefining Competitive Advantage

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MDM Interview: Why Customer ‘Delight’ is the Wrong Goal

Leave a Comment / Top Distributor Sectors, Sales & Marketing, Companies / Jenel Stelton-Holtmeier

The desire to “delight your customers” is a noble one. But the effort involved may be better used elsewhere. Rick DeLisi, senior director of advisory services for CEB’s sales and services practice and co-author of The Effortless Experience: Conquering the New Battleground for Customer Loyalty, spoke with Associate Editor Jenel Stelton-Holtmeier about how distributors could better focus their efforts to provide a better customer service experience for all customers online and off.

This article includes:

A strategy that works better than the strategy of delighting customers
The worst question a customer service agent can ask
New challenges to customer loyalty

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MDM Interview: How to Stand in Your Employees’ Shoes
Where Managers Blunder
Yes, Customers Want to Hear from You

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The Value of a Feedback Loop for Sales

Leave a Comment / Strategy, Sales & Marketing, Management / Scott Merrill

Establishing a feedback mechanism is critical in improving processes across a business. Steve Deist of Indian River Consulting Group examines the importance of having a “feedback loop” and how it can help distributors create a more strategic approach to sales.

This article is an exclusive summary of the recent MDM Webcast, CRM & the Strategic Sales Force.

This article includes:

Characteristics of an effective feedback loop
Best practices to getting feedback
Where many companies fail

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Not a subscriber? Subscribe below or learn more. Subscribers also have access to the following related articles:

MDM Interview: How to Stand in Your Employees’ Shoes
Where Managers Blunder
Yes, Customers Want to Hear from You

The Value of a Feedback Loop for Sales Read More »

MDM News Digest 4405

Leave a Comment / Uncategorized / MDM Staff

News briefs from Feb. 26-March 10, 2014.

MDM News Digest 4405 Read More »

MDM Charts: Historical E-Commerce Trends in Distribution

Leave a Comment / Sales & Marketing, Research & Analytics, Economic Trends / Lindsay Konzak

Wholesale revenues, excluding manufacturers’ sales branches and offices, reported $989 billion in e-commerce revenues in 2012, or 20.1 percent of the industry’s $4.9 trillion in sales that year, according to data recently released by the U.S. government. This article looks at how overall sales growth for the industry compared with e-commerce sales growth from 1999 to 2012, with four graphs showing the trend.

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