Category Archives: Supply Chain Partners

164. Cool Digital Tools Aren’t A Profit-Growth Strategy

2020 Companies, Big Data, Core Renewal, Distribution Strategy, Index, Service Value Innovation Guidelines, Supply Chain Partners, WayPoint Analytics

Two Digital Selling Tool Paths

  • Invest in better digital selling tools for all customers to (hopefully) use.  
  • Visit your most net-profitable customers to identify their buying journey pain-points to remove with digital solutions.    

Here are two contrasting case studies. Which one is a focused, profitable-growth strategy?

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159. Distributors: Get Re-Bundling Flexible

Core Renewal, Distribution Industry Sales, Distribution Strategy, Index, LIPA, Service Value Innovation Guidelines, Supply Chain Partners, WayPoint Analytics

Your Standard Service Bundle?

When you quote a customer a “price”, what are the services that are bundled (“for free”) into that price? A typical distributor-bundle includes costs for: outside and inside reps, pick, pack, shipping, and trade credit. Bigger customers usually get extra services “for free”. Small ones may have a minimum order size requirement and/or an un-bundled freight charge. (A tough sell with Amazon’s free shipping policies.)

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153. Analytics for Silos to Supply Chains

2020 Companies, AmazonBusiness, Big Data, Index, Line Item Profit Analytics, LIPA, Supply Chain Partners, WayPoint Analytics

Invent Your Own Analytical Insights

Analytics software is big news.  But, your richest analytical insights are hiding under foot. To uncover these insights, get curious. Make specific observations about the good and bad activity that you know intuitively exists within your business.  Are these observations symptoms of what underlying root-causes? Write down the questions and theories that arise. Do some customer field research and quick statistical analysis to test and refine your questions and theories. Then, do small, fast, learning-forward experiments to find the golden insights.

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152. Don’t Misapply: “Keep It Simple Stupid” (KISS)

2020 Companies, Big Data, Core Renewal, Distribution Strategy, Index, Service Value Innovation Guidelines, Supply Chain Partners, WayPoint Analytics

“Bruce, KISS It!”

For years on the distribution speaking circuit, Polished Pleasers have advised me to: “Make your message simple, appealing, dumbed-down – with memorable sound-bites or key distributor folks won’t listen. Your advice on service-value innovation for net-profitable customers and customer niches is too complicated.  Tell them what they want to hear. (Be an edutainer!)”

Some distributors (along with my own turnarounds) have pursued what I preach for great results. Wins keep you going! But, many distributors are still not suffering enough (yet) to want to upgrade their simplistic, operating, financial beliefs.

The intent behind KISS was not to adopt simplistic notions for success. Simplistic always yields weak, commodity, follow-the-herd returns! What was KISS’s intent? How did it get distorted? What should you do about it? Read on!    

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149. What Distributor Roll-Ups Will Become Zombies?

2020 Companies, AmazonBusiness, Core Renewal, Cost-to-Serve Math, Distribution Industry Sales, Distribution Strategy, Index, Supply Chain Partners, WayPoint Analytics

Private Equity (PE) Distributor Roll-Ups: The Good, Bad, and Ugly

PE Good News:

In ’08: The Central Banks rescued PE firms from their over-paid, over-leveraged ’07 deals. By lowering interest rates to near-zero for 10 years good things happened:

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