Monthly Archives: August 2016

37. Service Value Innovation Guidelines

Are you distributing commodities? Then, wrap them in the best – not “good’ – service. For fresh ideas on – defining, achieving and selling – truly best service value:

36. Selling Service-Value to Price Buyers

What’s your competitive edge? Maybe it’s something like: “Service value from our good people and our reps’ customer relationships.” Really?

  • Can you measurably prove these hopes?
  • Do service metrics vary for each customer niche?

If not, are your reps happy to get “last-look” to meet competitive prices?

What to do? Here’s an answer: Check out my Syllabus below to find ways to boost sales and pre-tax return on total assets (ROTA) by 2–4 times. Continue reading 36. Selling Service-Value to Price Buyers

35. Don’t Be A Fading-Economy Statistic

The Q2 earnings for publicly traded distributors aren’t pretty. After netting out financial tricks, most distributors are reporting lower sales and profits. Going forward, will you be happy with just matching them, cutting costs, and trying harder? What about profitability and fading-economy statistics?

Why Not Find More Gold In Big Accounts?   

How? Apply a cost-to-serve (CTS) model on every account so you really understand your net profit and loss potential, and the fading-economy statistics. Then, investigate the sub-groups to uncover the: Continue reading 35. Don’t Be A Fading-Economy Statistic

34. A Warehouse Robot Model for Every Distributor?

Have you considered a warehouse robot for your distribution business? This is becoming an increasingly attractive cost-saving solution, especially for high-volume, small-pick areas. Take a look at these two references for breakthrough news:

  1. This Bloomberg article from June 29th talking about a robot arms race in the distribution world
  2. This short video and other informative articles on the Locus Robotics site

Continue reading 34. A Warehouse Robot Model for Every Distributor?

33. Getting to Win-Win: Larger-Order Solutions

Analysis: 62% of Small Order Are Money Losers

Looking for Larger-Order Solutions? Here’s an eye opener. Calculate the average cost of processing an order at your distributorship. (Annual operating expenses divided by all transactions.) Then, skim the daily transaction log for all orders with gross margin dollars less than your average dollar-cost per order.

Don’t panic at the number you see! The average Waypoint Analytics’ client starts out with 62% of all orders being losers. But, don’t comfort yourself by using incremental  cost per order logic. Sixty percent of your orders isn’t “just one more order”; overhead costs must be assigned! Continue reading 33. Getting to Win-Win: Larger-Order Solutions

32. Steal Selling Ideas From Leading Edge Distribution Channels

To reinvent your selling value, look for ideas in the most advanced distribution channels. What are reps in those micro-worlds doing that you can borrow and adapt to yours?

A Technical Product Rep With 4 Customers

Channel reps tout their product expertise. But, my friend, Alex, is the real deal. He sells artificial joint-parts to orthopedic surgeons. His “territory” is four doctors. He assists them in ordering the right, best-fit parts for each patient’s joint and conditions. Then, he often dons surgical scrubs to advise the docs during surgeries. He is the expert when patients have odd joint issues (upon open inspection) or need newer-model or rarely-used parts. Continue reading 32. Steal Selling Ideas From Leading Edge Distribution Channels