An article in the Dec. 10, 2011, issue by distribution consultant Bill McCleave expands on research Bill and I did 10 years ago on the key elements that define the customer’s total value perception of a distribution company. Bill does a great job of updating our research with some additional dimensions he has identified as critical to gaining competitive advantage in today’s markets.

At the risk of patting ourselves on the back, our research and the 10 case studies of innovative distributors we used to illustrate the concepts in our 2003 book, Stand Out From the Competition, have stood the test of time p