Mark Dancer’s new book, published by the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors (NAW), provides valuable insight into the heart of your business: your customers.

Sure, you see them every day, take their orders and ship them products. However, few really ever take time to look deeply into what’s behind customers’ buying decisions. Few ponder how customers will change to accommodate industry trends like consolidated buying, high employee turnover and the lackluster economy. Have you ever gotten down to the nitty-gritty of your own strategy for serving them best?

This month’s cover story, “Your Customer Profiled” gives insight into what’s changing customer behavior, and offers advice on how you can find new ways to become invaluable to them. In the article, Dancer explains how expanding your role in the supply chain can prepare you to help your customers overcome their greatest challenges.

Through the years, industry studies have shown that customers have a strong sense of loyalty to their distributors. I heard that sentiment repeated in numerous interviews with your customers.

Still, you’d be shooting yourself in the foot to think customers couldn’t be lured to greener pastures. To prevent that, distributors need to get to the bottom of what makes customers tick.




POSTED ON: 8/1/2001