Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/679551
May/June 2016 11 themselves as the manufac- turer's channel partner. The bet- ter a distributor is on selling and marketing the product, the more sup- port and help they will receive from the manufacturer, including ways to improve profi ts." "A few years ago I was invited to be the keynote at a trade organization's meeting," says Ambrose. "The topic was the future of wholesale distribution. To prepare, I interviewed a number of manu- facturers and customers, and what they told me strength- ened my position on wholesale distributor salespeople. The manufacturers said, 'Very few of our distributors go out and passionately market and sell our product,' and customers said, 'Most of the salespeople that call on me want to have that relationship and frankly we don't have time for that. "It's all about fi guring out what each one of your chosen customers values, and then combining the right mix of prod- ucts, inventory, manufacturers, and employee engagement to maximize profi ts in the new normal—and that's diffi cult to do sitting behind a desk." There are three primary infrastructures in the wholesale distribution industry: suppliers, dis- tributors and customers. You need the 5,000-foot view of your market to understand these three pieces and how they interrelate to form the mar- ket dynamics that you must work with. who were very successful, marginally successful, or had some issues, either excelled in these fi ve areas or were lacking in one or more of them." "Visualize your market as a swirling fl ux of customers, other distributors and manufacturers all working hard at being better than their competitors." There's a one-liner printed on the back of every name badge Ambrose hands out to workshop attendees: "How you think creates the actions that produce results." If you want extraordinary results, he says, you have to change your think- ing. Sounds like one of those pick-me-ups taped across the top of a laptop, but don't dismiss it because of its simplicity, advises Ambrose. The point is that distributors have to be willing to do away with old habits and conventional ways of thinking to compete in the era of net speed, or what he calls the new normal. "Things are happening faster in our markets and the cus- tomer demands, expects and moves toward speed and per- fect service," says Ambrose. "That is one of the biggest chang- es that's occurred within the last 10 years. When distributors have to process an order, there are a fair amount of potential missteps they have to contend with and customers are not as tolerant as they used to be." And here's the point he stresses in 5 Fundamentals: "The customer may still like your salespeople and go play golf with them but if a competitor is more responsive and has an accurate transaction rate, they can disrupt your relationship and crack the account." Or vice versa, you can take the business from your com- petitor with a solid net-speed strategy. This is the part where Ambrose challenges distributors to tip over one of its most sacred cows—banking on their relationship with the cus- tomer. The other criticism, regarding the distributor's role in the channel, cuts a little deeper, which is why Ambrose is prepared for pushback when he mentions it in one of his seminars. Distributors should not think of themselves as the manu- facturer's customer, he says. "Instead, they should think of Thriving in the New Normal A lot has changed since the fi rst edition of author Jim Ambrose's book 5 Fundamentals for the Wholesale Distribution Manager was published 10 year ago. Outside of a break from the clas- sic demand-push model, where manufacturers used to rely solely on the distributor to push their product into the market, one of the most infl uential shifts driving the new normal is the universal demand for speed. Customers expect, insist on and move toward speed and accuracy, and the manager that effectively implements the 5 fundamentals can deliver the level of superior service necessary to succeed in today's ultra-competitive landscape, says Ambrose. The First Fundamental is boxed below. themselves as the manufac- turer's channel partner. The bet- ter a distributor is on selling and marketing the product, the more sup- port and help they will receive from the manufacturer, including ways to improve profi ts." "A few years ago I was invited to be the A lot has changed since the fi rst edition of author Jim Ambrose's book 5 Fundamentals for the was published 10 year ago. Outside of a break from the clas- sic demand-push model, where manufacturers used to rely solely on the distributor to push their product into the market, one of the most infl uential shifts driving the new normal is the universal demand for speed. Customers expect, insist on and move toward speed and accuracy, and the manager that effectively implements the 5 fundamentals can deliver the level of superior service necessary to succeed in today's ultra-competitive landscape, says Ambrose. The First Fundamental is boxed below. continued on page 12 1 Acquiring a 5,000-foot View Gathering market information from suppliers/manu- facturer's reps, customers, competitors and employees to identify where you want to position your company in the market.