Distribution

Indian River Consulting Group Managing Partner Mike Marks is one of the permanent faculty members at the University of Innovative Distribution (UID). He helps define and lead courses in operations, executive management, sales, marketing and more. The program is tailored to wholesale distributors and manufacturers selling through wholesale distribution, and focused on developing actionable plans.

The terms “gross profit” and “gross margin” are often used interchangeably as they are both calculated the same way: the amount for which goods or services were sold minus the amount for which they were purchased. True, the mathematical values are ultimately the same, but what many folks understand those terms to represent are quite different.

Of the 56 sessions offered at the University of Innovative Distribution in 2020, IRCG consultants will lead eight. Senior Associate Consultant Dan Horan will be presenting as a faculty member for the first time at the 2020 University of Industrial Distribution (UID). With a background in marketing and advertising, Dan will dissect the four aspects of an effective and profitable branding strategy in his session, “B2B Branding Strategies for the 2020s.”

Indian River Consulting Group managing partner Mike Marks joins Epicor’s ongoing webinar series on Distribution Innovation and Strategy. Marks will add to the conversation about how innovating your business model can help you embrace change in 2020 and beyond.

Indian River Consulting Group is proud that of the 56 sessions offered at the University of Innovative Distribution in 2020 that we were chosen to lead eight. We are the only firm with multiple instructors in the program. Partner Abe Walton will teach about leading with innovation, as well as how to increase engagement across different generations of employees.

More and more, we’re seeing industries move toward integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into operations structures.

If branded manufacturer margins decline, some distributors may consider expanding their model to add private label revenue. This could be a good idea for the company, but it’s only one component within the greater plan.

Margins are declining. Growth rates have become lower than the market standard. What's going wrong, and how can you fix it?

In cooperation with Purdue University, the University of Innovative Distribution has released upcoming coursework for the 2020 academic year.

Forecasters are pointing to market slowdowns in early 2020. And while things are expected to pick up again in the back half of the new year, this is no time to abandon your playbook.

Back in the day, the path to distributor growth was to sell service with excellent people.

Most distributors think they know their customers. Until they actually talk to those customers.

Often, when distributors think about value propositions or differentiating themselves to appeal to customers, they are in an echo chamber, only talking to each other, or watching what competitors do.

Just as with any other relationship, when distributors and manufacturers break up, poor communication is often to blame.

When the ball drops, and 2019 flips to 2020, will you have closed some of the gap between you and your most innovative distributor competitors, or will that gap have widened so far you can no longer cross it?

Take action now to ensure your distribution company stays relevant with a sustainable plan to address the following five areas of your business:

Distributors who are thriving – and there are many -- in today’s digitally driven market are those who play to win and not to lose. But adopting a winning strategy doesn’t mean throwing money at a bigger sales team or at new technology.