Differentiating in an increasing digital world is critical. In episode 3 of MDM’s new podcast series, Disrupting Distribution, MDM’s John Gunderson talks with electronics distributor Newark element14 President Dan Hill about creating value, growth, pricing pressures and more.
This $600-million-plus distributor that serves 175,000 customers with a relatively low average order size (less than $300) is positioning in its highly competitive markets. “Customer experience is extremely important,” says Hill, “because if you have an average order value that low, it’s extremely easy to be shopped, right?”
Newark element14 built an interactive omnichannel experience for its customers that addresses the technical needs of their customers by building a unique community, and allowing customers to interact with the company the way they want to.
On the biggest challenges facing B2B distributors in the age of Amazon and digitization, Hill outlines the key areas the company is focusing on: “The primary ones are that we are doing our best to update our salesforce, and the way that we interact with customers,” Hill says. “I still believe strongly that people buy from people – it’s a relationship business. We may have online threats, but we need to focus on the core components of what customers need from us, and that demand creation selling process.
“With our robust website and community of over 500,000 engineers, we’ll get feedback, and our web sales have grown over 25 percent year over year,” Hill says. That customer may develop a solution with the outside account manager that visits and helps create a solution, but can order in person, online or by calling a customer service center to place the order.
Listen to the podcast now using the player below or go to MDM Podcasts to listen to the rest of the series and subscribe to the Disrupting Distribution podcast series on iTunes or Google Play Music.
