Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/602622
6 FEDA News & Views Industry Insights It's Only a Threat if You Fail to Adapt to the New Reality John Nackley President & CEO InterMetro Industries Corp. M any years ago I was asked by a leading group of FEDA mem- bers to speak about the impact of broadliners entering the market and how to compete with these new entrants. My comments at the time were twofold: that dealers had to focus on what they could do best to deliver customer-rele- vant value, and that trying to compete in an environment served effectively by companies with more efficient business models (than your own) often spelled trouble, which is in fact the case for alternate/new business models trying to compete with fullservice dealers. The same advice could have applied to domestic manufacturers concerned about the emergence of cheaper import manu- facturers or private-label products brought in by dealers; or to service agents nervous about the emergence of parts distribu- tors; or to two-step distributors worried about disintermediation by their OEMs. Unfortunately, the more common response to these threats is to cry out that "Doomsday is coming" and for a dealer to look for ways to block the inev- itable. Well, déjà vu all over again, only this time it's concern over the advent of ecommerce as a very real challenge throughout the channel, just as ecom- merce is disrupting so many industries all over the world. The emergence of E-business is a result of the exponential growth of tech- nological capability, its availability to the masses and the comfort level of those using it. "Build it and they will come." This month nearly 250,000 people vis- ited San Francisco for the latest Apple launch and the Dreamforce conventions. For Dreamforce they had to rent a cruise ship to house attendees, used 19 build- ings to present more than 2,200 educa- tional sessions and there were 78 coun- tries represented. Trust me, we can't stop the digital revolution, but that doesn't mean we can't remain relevant or even become a stronger force. The real issue is what's next and how do we, as channel partners, stay relevant in this new context. I believe it starts by understanding what your custom- ers want, what value they will pay for, the profile of the multitude of customer groups and, perhaps most importantly, the profile of "your customer!" In essence, where you can win. I submit that custom- ers who value dealers are solution conscious profes- sionals who understand they need a trusted advi- sor and one who values a relationship. They value having someone to call when there is a problem and they value having someone who knows more about what they need than they do. They value these attributes and they understand it often comes at a premium. And yet, I will also submit that even these solution conscious professionals, depending upon what they need out of any given transaction, will increasingly initiate their item search online before reaching out for the technical or applica- tion assistance they may need. Value is determined by the customer, and what each customer values can vary depending on the time, the place and the need. If it's a total solution they want, then they'll value that service. If it's the least expensive and quickest transaction they want, they'll find it. If they want to do all of the research and take on the The real issue is what's next and how do we, as channel partners, stay relevant in this new context. continued on page 22