Business Strategy

One distinction stands above all others in separating market-driven distribution companies from the competition: They set internal priorities based on an external, market...

Every distributor says they are different because of their service and their people. But those are not differentiators: They are just the ante to play. If you have both, you get...

IRCG’s Mike Marks wants distributors to be proactive, not reactive, about finding and acting on opportunities. That’s his message in two different recent articles featured...

Consolidation in wholesale distribution has remained strong in part due to a wave of owner-operators wanting to move on to the next stages of their lives. As part of their...

IRCG Managing Partner Mike Marks recently contributed his insight on how distributors can succeed in today’s up-and-down climate in the newly released 2016 Distribution Trends...

Don’t wait to set up a succession plan. Now is the time to determine what you want next for your distribution business by conducting a strategic alternatives analysis. IRCG...

Distributors are fighting wars on multiple fronts, according to a recent panel moderated by IRCG at the National Association of Electrical Distributors (NAED) annual meeting,...

IRCG’s Mike Marks recently moderated a panel discussion at the 2016 National Association of Electrical Distributors (NAED) annual convention. The topic was "Are You Predator...

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 this...

For many distributors, the last price paid is the go-to price. Salespeople know it worked last time, so they use it again. But over the past several years, more distributors...

IRCG Managing Partner Mike Marks joined PROS Director of Industry Marketing Sean Duclaux in a recent National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors webinar, “Realizing...

Despite the C-suite's focus on growth this year, the market is painting a different picture for the rest of 2016. But it is still possible to drive top- and bottom-line growth...

Industrial distributor Hisco has grown to sales of $265 million by giving its employees true autonomy to meet its customers’ needs at dozens of local branches. Mike Marks,...

You’ve put years into growing your business, so you need to find the right answer for the next phase of your business’s life.

How will you chart your path for growth to grow shareholder value? There’s not a magic answer, or everyone would be doing it. I recently presented a webinar with the National...