Is your field sales team filled with market-makers or market-servers?

Most distributors would answer that question with “market-makers.” But they would be wrong.

The field sales function has been largely self-directed, with salespeople typically making their own decisions about how and where they go to market. Distributors must shift to a management-directed sales model.

Historically, the distribution sales process has been largely artisan – with field salespeople making their own decisions about how they go to market with little oversight from sales management. Here are three reasons why that has to change.

Join IRCG, Modern Distribution Management and your peers at Sales GPS on March 1-2 in Austin, TX, to reimagine the distribution sales model, and get the tools you need to transform your business to one that is more responsive to rapidly changing customer needs.

The University of Innovative Distribution (UID) has opened registration for its March 2017 program. IRCG's Mike Marks is a permanent faculty member at UID, and will be presenting four courses.

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

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 to bid. But if that’s your strategy, you’re going to be stuck competing on price.

If you embark on changes to your sales compensation plan, remember: Communication is key.

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 on MDM.com.

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, and they must respond with a fresh approach to compete effectively.

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 or Prey?" Panelists discussed how distributors are responding to the increasing pace of disruption in the electrical distribution industry.

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 question and more in the recent National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors webinar “Realizing Revenue and Profit Growth for Wholesale Distributors.”

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 have invested in pricing software to help them hit the right price – and not just the lowest or highest – on each transaction.

IRCG Managing Partner Mike Marks joined PROS Director of Industry Marketing Sean Duclaux in a recent National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors webinar, “Realizing Revenue and Profit Growth for Wholesale Distributors.”

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 with a perfect blend of simplicity and data science. Mike Marks is the featured speaker in this webinar.