Distribution Trends

www.distributiontrends.com

Expert viewpoints by Dr. Adam J. Fein on trends affecting
the wholesale distribution industry

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

The Future is Already Here

I spoke at IDEA's E-Biz Forum in Vancouver last week, where I presented the e-results from Facing the Forces of Change®: Lead the Way in the Supply Chain to a mixed audience (manufacturers and wholesalers). Allen Ray at Electrical Trends blogged his reviews on Day One and Day Two. You can also download the presentations from IDEA’s website.

The Connected Customers trends is quickly gaining traction in the electrical industry. Check out Mike Holt's Forum, an eye-opening site for the electrical industry that's hosted by electrical trainer Mike Holt. In addition to the usual discussions of professional electrical issues, I found many interesting threads discussing wholesalers. (Hat tip to Joe Salimando at EleBlog for pointing me to this site.)

Does your company sell to contractors? If so, here are three sample online discussions that will either intrigue you or frighten you:

A contractor complaining that there are too many electrical wholesalers in his area (22 replies)

Strategies for getting better pricing from a wholesaler (18 replies)

The pros and cons of buying from Home Depot or Lowes versus a wholesaler (120 replies!)

Once again, we see B2B customers building networked communities without any apparent involvement from their distribution suppliers.

Seek out and talk to any of your customers who have used online forums (such as the examples in Broadband Boom or Exhibit 4-6 of Lead the Way). What information were they searching for? Did they find what they wanted? How did their experiences compare with contacting a salesperson or customer service agent at your company? Their answers will either intrigue or frighten you.

Cyber-visionary William Gibson once said: "The future is already here — it's just not evenly distributed." If you sell to contractors in another line of trade, then you owe it to your company to visit Mike Holt's Forum and get a glimpse of the future.