Jenel Stelton-Holtmeier, Author at Modern Distribution Management - Page 28 of 36

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Posts By Jenel Stelton-Holtmeier
SocialROI
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The Social Media Challenge: ROI

In a recent MDM survey, just half of respondents said they were using LinkedIn. Even fewer used online tools such as Twitter and Facebook. This article will examine why B2B companies have resisted using social media to further business goals and presents expert analysis and examples on how distributors can benefit from these tools. The author also analyzes results from a recent survey on how MDM readers use social media.

Even as business-to-consumer companies are finding ways to capitalize upon the growing social media trend, many business-to-business companies are struggling with how they can use social media sites such as LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.

In a recent MDM survey, about 42 percent of respondents – distributors and manufacturers – said their companies were not using social media. The reasons ranged …

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Getting Started with Social Media

Bob DeStefano, president of SVM E-Business Solutions, outlined the steps companies can take to integrate social media into their business strategies.

The first step is creating an online presence. Sign up for accounts on social media sites. Begin building your network on LinkedIn by connecting with people you know and …

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Companies
MDM Interview: The Mechanics of a Hostile Takeover

For nearly a year now, Air Products has been fighting to buy industrial gases and hardgoods distributor Airgas. The fight has prompted the question: How likely is it that Air Products will succeed?

To learn more about the mechanics of undertaking a hostile takeover bid, MDM spoke with Jim Hill, executive chairman of Ohio-based Benesch and chairman of the law firm’s private equity practice. Hill provided background on the topic, examples of other deals, and the challenges inherent with this approach.

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Features
How to Adapt Sales to a New Reality

The latest recession has introduced a new buzzword: the “new normal.” In this uncertain environment, how distributors have traditionally done business has been challenged, including the sales process.

“The key thing here is that the old distribution sales model broke back in the 90s,” says Mike Marks, managing partner at Indian River Consulting Group. “Asset and economic bubbles just hid it until now.”

Marks, along with partners Steve Deist and Mike Emerson, provided suggestions for improving your sales team in a recent MDM Webcast, “Understanding Territory Coverage Economics,” part one of a three-part series available at www.mdm.com/effective-sales-webcast. This article is an exclusive summary for subscribers.

How does a distributor adapt to the new reality? A good starting point, according to Marks, is by looking more closely at your current sales structure.

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Companies
Trade Credit Grows in Importance

As banks have cut back on lending to businesses – especially small business – the role of trade credit has become more important to the channel. This article explores how distributors are balancing the risk of economic uncertainty with the need to use trade credit to grow sales.

Having up to 90 percent of a company’s customers reliant on distributor financing is not uncommon in the wholesale distribution space.

“Around the world, as commercial lenders have cut back on lending money to business, we’ve seen companies step forward to make up that gap,” says Abe WalkingBear Sanchez, founder and president of A/R Management Group, a consulting firm focused on cash flow management and credit sales.

In some sectors, such as those that serve construction end-markets, distributors have seen an even greater need these services from their customers.

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Features
Strategic Pricing & Your Sales Team

This is an exclusive summary of Part 2 of the recent MDM Webcasts strategic pricing series, “How to Implement Strategic Pricing with Your Sales Team.”

The theory behind strategic pricing is simple – streamlining the pricing process to identify and eliminate outliers. But implementation can be difficult, especially if you neglect to include your sales team in the conversation, according to Brent Grover, managing partner at Evergreen Consulting.

“You really cannot have an adult conversation about pricing if you’re not going to talk about the salespeople,” Grover said in the recent MDM Webcast, “How to Implement Strategic Pricing with Your Sales Team,” part of a two-part series available at mdm.com. …

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Features
Optimize Technology for Better Pricing

Brent Grover, managing partner for Evergreen Consulting, discussed how to optimize strategic pricing processes in a two-part MDM Webcast. Part 1 addressed how your ERP system can help with the process. This is an exclusive summary of that webcast for premium subscribers. A summary of part 2, focused on providing the best training for your sales team, will appear in the July 25 issue of Modern Distribution Management.

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Features
Case Studies: Strategies for Recovery

This article provides a series of short case studies MDM gleaned from its interviews with dozens of distributors for its recent 2010 MDM Market Leaders and Distribution Landscape Report. Topics covered in this article: Tapping leaders for growth market development; creating a formal process for stimulus opportunities; developing a lean initiative to better manage and understand costs; and partnering with other distributors to take advantage of new opportunities.

MDM interviewed dozens of distributors for its recent 2010 MDM Market Leaders and Distribution Landscape Report, which is being published throughout the summer in the pages of MDM and online at mdm.com.

As part of this research, we heard many stories about how distributors …

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