IRCG Insights Blog
Distribution
Distributors: Want to Know Why Things Are Getting Harder?
Back in the day, the path to distributor growth was to sell service with excellent ...
Think you know your customers? Think again.
Most distributors think they know their customers. Until they actually talk to those customers. Often, when distributors think about value propositions or differentiating ...
Your Channel Partners Are Talking … Are You Listening?
Just as with any other relationship, when distributors and manufacturers break up, poor communication is often to ...
Manufacturing
Manufacturers: What’s Happened to Your Market Access?
We know market access starts with coverage, but do all your potential customers see you how you want to be ...
Set Yourself Up Now to Beat the Next Recession
Digital transformation. Consolidation. Growing concerns over manufacturers’ going direct. With all the shiny objects in front of distributors right now, it’s easy ...
Competitive Differentiation: A Matter of Perspective
We’re all familiar with the SWOT analysis and what that “S” represents: your company’s strengths. Common answers to the question of what a company’s strengths ...
Sales Compensation
Are Scorecards Upping Your Game, or Sidelining Your Supplier Relationships?
Supplier scorecards can be a highly useful tool that directly drive profitability. Or they can spark friction and permanently fray relationships between distributors ...
Have Your Salespeople Hit the Compensation ‘Point of Diminishing Returns’?
I’ve worked with dozens and dozens of distributors and manufacturers over the past couple of decades, and in that time, I’ve heard more times than I can count that ...
3 Questions to Ask Before Changing Your Sales Compensation Plan
At IRCG’s recent executive workshop, Sales GPS, we spoke with wholesale distribution executives about the need to rethink their distribution sales models to adapt to ...
Business Strategy
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Manufacturers: What’s Happened to Your Market Access?
We know market access starts with coverage, but do all your potential customers see you how you want to be ... -
Distributors: Want to Know Why Things Are Getting Harder?
Back in the day, the path to distributor growth was to sell service with excellent ... 
To Thrive in a Changing Market, Know Your Customers
Disruption is probably the one constant in today’s ...
Sales Management
How Often Should Sales Reps Call on Customers?
Mike Marks writes that the question how frequently sales reps should call on customers misses the mark. It assumes, he says, that outside sales reps should regularly ...
Free Webinar w/Zilliant: Restructuring Your Sales Team When Incorporating eCommerce
Are your direct and inside sales teams structured to embrace or resist an e-commerce channel? If you're grappling with this very challenge, Zilliant and IRCG invite you ...
Specialize and Support Your Sales Team
Mike Marks was recently featured by Modern Distribution Management talking about the importance of specialization in ...
Channel Management
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Your Channel Partners Are Talking … Are You Listening?
Just as with any other relationship, when distributors and manufacturers break up, poor communication is often to ... 
Why Old-School Distributor-Manufacturer Meetings are a Waste of Time
If you’re a distributor, you’re going to disagree with your suppliers from time to time. If you’re starting to deploy your sales force more strategically (See: ...
Digital Distribution
Survival in the Face of Amazon: What Distributors Must Do to Win
Distributors can capitalize on what they already know, personalized customer service, when they pair it with today’s technology. Learn why distributors shouldn’t ...-
In the News: 7 Qualities of a Digital Distributor in 2020
Benchmarks help distributors identify where they're furthest behind their most innovative ... -
In the News: A Cure for Technology 'Analysis Paralysis'
Don't let your enthusiasm for the latetst and greatest technology outpace your understanding of what your customers ...
B2B Marketing
In Today’s Market, Branding Must Go Beyond Your Logo
In the digital age, branding is no longer just advertising, or logos and slogans. Now, successful branding requires a comprehensive strategy and it has to include the ...
7 Strategies to Make Your B2B Marketing More Effective
Your customers are used to making purchases online in their daily lives. And, more and more, they expect ecommerce in the working world, too. Too many distributors don’t ...
9 Tips for Distributors to Make the Most of Social Media
If you’re still wondering whether your business should be on social media, it’s easy to learn the answer: Ask your customers. If they’re using it, then you should ...
Webinars
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Why Old-School Distributor-Manufacturer Meetings are a Waste of Time
If you’re a distributor, you’re going to disagree with your suppliers from time to time. If you’re starting to deploy your sales force more strategically (See: ... 
Webinar Preview: Maximize Your Sales ROI by Focusing on 2 Simple Things
During the Sales GPS executive workshop earlier this year, I covered why and how field sales must evolve to meet the changing needs of today’s buyers. During my presentation, ...
When Should Distributors Invest in Analytics?
In which part of the business cycle should distributors invest in analytics? IRCG Managing Partner Mike Marks and PROS Director of Industry Marketing Sean Duclaux addressed ...