May 2012

Bart Schwartz, president of Industrial Channel Research, believes consolidation will continue, but on a much greater scale than we are seeing now: “Distributors that don’t respond – and respond with thoughtful strategy and great execution – aren’t just going to be relegated to second place or bad profitability, they’re going to be gone.” Schwartz spoke at the Industrial Supply Association’s 2012 Product Show & Conference in San Antonio, TX.

There will still be room for niche players, “but they have to be really good, they have to offer something different, and they have to constantly evolve to stay ahead of the players of scale,” he says. Schwartz presented 10 measures of channel success: …

Selling more product to existing customers is a common goal for many distributors. The challenge is figuring out how to achieve that goal. And according to Paul Cherry, president of Performance Based Systems, the answer may be in the questions salespeople are asking. Cherry spoke at the Industrial Supply Association's 2012 Product Show & Conference in San Antonio, TX.

"There are still a lot of customer relationships that seem to holding back a bit," Cherry says. "We want to get them to share that money, and share that money with us."

But by the time your salesperson arrives …