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Trump initiated tariffs with major U.S. trading partners on 1 February, then retracted them on 3 February. Executives across the North American continent expressed uncertainty regarding their preparedness for the possible supply chain and economic shocks. For executives at manufacturing and distribution companies with supply chains that stretch across borders, pricing decisions must be made at a highly accelerated pace to manage the economic shocks associated with new tariffs. Today, more than…
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While deal points are a powerful tool, implementing them requires careful thought. List prices, sales kickers, commission rates, and various approximations through product groupings have to be determined to create a workable plan. And, once a workable plan is defined, sales managers may determine that sales territory realignment is furthermore in order.
Read MoreThat structural problem is the “deep divide” between manufacturers and dealers. While manufacturers spend millions of dollars on image advertising to promote the brands, the dealers care little about the long-term brand value and instead put their emphasis on the transaction.
Read MoreOne of the most interesting booth visits I had was with Starfrit. Founder Jacques Gatien started selling kitchen gadgets at trade fairs in 1965. Over the past several decades, they’ve created many new categories. They showed me The Rock, a frying pan with a unique non-stick surface using what they call RockTec. It comes with a generous 10-year warranty.
Read MoreTo embrace creative destruction is a choice. We can either lament that we fell on the destruction side of market forces, or we can throw ourselves into the creative side of market forces. When market forces destroy your industry, embrace it as the opportunity to create a new path — don’t wait for some third party to have pity on you and fix it for you. Fix it yourself.
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