Jonathan Bein, Author at Modern Distribution Management

MDM Special Report: 2014 State of E-Commerce in Distribution

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Articles in this report include:

1. 2014 State of E-Commerce in Distribution: The Maturing E-Commerce Channel
By: Jonathan Bein, Ph.D.

The third annual MDM distribution e-commerce survey conducted with Real Results Marketing revealed several key trends:

E-commerce revenue as a percent of overall revenue is rising relative to last year’s survey.
The primary objectives among distributors for e-commerce remain acquiring new customers, growing wallet share with existing customers and improving website usability.
Mobile deployments are growing rapidly.

This article examines the results of the 2014 State of E-Commerce in Distribution Survey and how the industry’s e-commerce offerings are maturing. Part 2 will look at best practices for distributor e-commerce marketing, data management and operations.

2. The Multichannel Factor

The third annual MDM distribution e-commerce survey found that distributors’ e-commerce revenue as a percent of overall revenue is rising. But while distributors are increasingly using multiple vehicles to drive demand online, they have not yet effectively integrated tools such as marketing automation and paid search into their efforts. This article looks at how distributors approach demand generation online and ways they can improve the weakest links, as revealed by the survey.

September 13, 2014

Sales & Marketing

2014 State of Distributor Marketing: Focus Shifts to Digital

A joint MDM-Real Results Marketing survey revealed that while 80 percent of respondents create an annual marketing plan, for most companies, that plan is largely ignored after its creation. This article examines how distributors across sectors approach marketing and what they consider the most effective channels to be.

This article includes:

What vehicles distributors are using for marketing – and which are perceived as the most effective
How the focus of marketing has shifted for distributors
How distributors approach staffing around sales and marketing

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Cost-Effective Channel Alignment
Who's My Coach? The Changing Role of Sales Managers in Distribution
Redwood Plastics: Success through Online Engagement

September 10, 2014

Technology

Cost-Effective Channel Alignment

There is often a perception in sales that the smallest accounts are not worth the time and effort to obtain the small amount of sales they provide. In this article, Jonathan Bein of Real Results Marketing provides an overview of how realigning sales channels can help distributors benefit from these small customers.

This article includes:

How the multichannel approach benefits house accounts
The role of inside sales
Why e-commerce and direct marketing should play a significant role in the realignment

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Making Money with Small Customers
Measuring the Customer Experience
The Changing Role of Sales Personnel

August 10, 2014

Sales & Marketing

Making Money with Small Customers

There is often a perception in sales that the smallest accounts are not worth the time and effort to obtain the small amount of sales they provide. But a shift in how these customers are served can result in a significant improvement to the bottom line.

This article includes:

Three approaches for increasing revenue and margin while reducing cost with smaller customers
How to identify greater opportunity with existing customers
How to improve pricing strategy with small customers

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Redefining Competitive Advantage
Strategies for Private Label Success
Commentary: What Makes Your Company Stand Out?

July 10, 2014

Technology

The 2014 State of E-Commerce in Distribution, Part 2: The Multichannel Factor

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

The 2014 State of E-Commerce in Distribution, Part 1
Special Report: The Industrial Vending Boom
Behind Grainger's E-Commerce Strategy

April 10, 2014

Technology

2014 State of E-Commerce in Distribution: The Maturing E-Commerce Channel

The third annual MDM distribution e-commerce survey conducted with Real Results Marketing revealed several key trends:

E-commerce revenue as a percent of overall revenue is rising relative to last year’s survey.
The primary objectives among distributors for e-commerce remain acquiring new customers, growing wallet share with existing customers and improving website usability.
Mobile deployments are growing rapidly.

Subscribers should log-in below to read this article.

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

Strategies for Private Label Success
Special Report: The Industrial Vending Boom
Behind Grainger's E-Commerce Strategy

March 25, 2014

Technology

Uncover Sweet Spots Using Net Profit

This article examines ways distributors can use net profit or net before compensation to segment their markets and target new customer acquisition efforts. The authors argue that this approach will be more lucrative and ultimately easier to implement and less resource-intensive than other methods, including Activity Based Costing.

This article includes:

Why net profit or net before compensation (NBC) is a more accurate metric
How to measure customer success
How to use NBC to target sweet spots for customer acquisition

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Yes, Customers Want to Hear from You
A Simpler Way to Manage Customer Lifecycles
Five Profit Drivers Critical to Growth

September 10, 2013

Sales & Marketing

Bridging the Value Gap

According to a recent survey conducted by MDM and Real Results Marketing, distributors can confidently say how they are better than their competitors at providing certain features and benefits. But often they still struggle with integrating the features and benefits into a cohesive value proposition. In this article, the second in a two-part series, Jonathan Bein, managing partner at Real Results Marketing, examines a technique that can help distributors bridge that gap.

This article includes:

An evaluation of how distributors perceive the features and benefits of their value propositions
Tools for connecting the features and benefits
Actionable steps for testing the value proposition

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

Wallet Share, Demands Drive Accelerated Channel Convergence in Distribution
The Case for Proactive Inside Sales
Stop Guessing: The Value of Customer Segmentation

August 10, 2013

Sales & Marketing

How Distributors Say They Measure Up to the Competition

According to a recent survey conducted by MDM and Real Results Marketing, distributors say they provide more value to their customers than their competitors do, but are challenged when asked to actually quantify that value. This article, the first in a two-part series, examines how distributors perceive their own value.

When we ask executives for the value proposition of their business, they usually provide a ready, confident and well-rehearsed answer. The answer consists of a few claims about what they believe they do well. Overwhelmingly, these claims have been derived through executive intuition or anecdotal feedback from the sales team rather than rigorous processes with market testing.

Furthermore, when asked about the economic benefit of their value proposition to the customer, almost none can provide an answer. …

July 10, 2013

Sales & Marketing

Yes, Customers Want to Hear from You

Distributors often fear that they will annoy their customers with too many marketing messages. But if those marketing messages are relevant, customers actually welcome them. This article examines customer preferences for marketing communications and how distributors can capitalize on what customers want.

We sometimes let our personal preferences influence our business beliefs. One area where we’ve found this to be most prevalent is with customer communications. We assume customers will think our marketing emails are “spam,” and they certainly wouldn’t want to receive another phone call during their busy day. But the reality is that customers do want to hear from you.

Over several years and dozens of surveys, we have asked distributors’ customers to rate types of communications and the frequency they wanted to hear from their distributors. In every case, &hellip

April 25, 2013

Sales & Marketing

3 Marketing Moves Distributors Should Make in 2013

This article looks at fundamental shifts in business over the past couple of decades and what they mean for how distributors approach marketing. Jonathan Bein of Real Results Marketing uses past MDM surveys and his experience working with distributors to highlight the top three marketing moves distributors must make to grow in the new year.

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. Your grandfather’s distribution business relied almost exclusively on strong relationships between direct or in-store salespeople and the customer.

The first big change is that in today’s world, your competitor could be ...

November 10, 2012

Subscriber Only

The State of Distributor Merchandising

A joint MDM-Real Results Marketing survey revealed that most distributors don’t view in-store marketing and merchandising as a core competency. The authors of this article argue that it should be, and that smaller and mid-size distributors have significant opportunity to improve in-store revenue through more effective and strategic use of displays.

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. Analysis from a recent MDM survey showed that many of the merchandising decisions are decentralized, or left up to the location manager, including which products to feature, how often to rotate featured products and planograms, or shelf layouts.

Furthermore, while distributors value the expertise and involvement from …

October 25, 2012

Subscriber Only

Good Product Data: Oxygen for Catalogs, Websites

Time and cost frequently get in the way of a distributor’s pursuing a project to improve the quality of their product data. In this article, the author writes that there are more options now for improving product data that reduce both time and cost for companies of all sizes. This article examines the value of good product data and the role outside vendors can play in data cleansing and ongoing maintenance.

Good product data is crucial for any successful distributor catalog or e-commerce website. This includes accurate and complete specifications of products as well as clean photos, related items and substitute products.

Consider this: Distributors who say they have an effective catalog are nearly twice as likely to have complete data and more than four times as likely to have …

January 10, 2012

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