More than 80 marketing executives from the electrical industry invested three days in the Electrical Industry Marketing Conference (EIMC), held Aug. 7-9 in Chicago, and co-sponsored by Channel Marketing Group, Raleigh, N.C., and Electrical Wholesaling magazine. The conference’s seminars offered what one attendee described as a “university-level immersion” into solutions for the key marketing challenges facing electrical manufacturers, electrical distributors and independent manufacturers’ reps. More than a dozen speakers at the first-ever EIMC offered insight into a broad array of marketing topics such as product launches, customer-retention strategies, developing and implementing innovative ideas, strategic market planning and online marketing. While speaking with electrical manufacturers, distributors and reps in preparation for her seminar, “From Channel Dissonance to Channel Harmony,” Ann Coughlan, a professor at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, said she was surprised to learn they all perceive their companies as the “channel captains” in the electrical market as the most important links to the market. She said this perception may contribute to some of the conflicts those manufacturers, distributors and reps experience in the electrical industry. Coughlan added that one of the toughest –and most expensive — challenge any marketing executive has is changing the perception that a customer or business partner has of their company, product or service. Another interesting seminar at EIMC was “Get Inspired! Techniques for Developing New Products and Services,” by Steven Ungvari, director of the Lean Innovation at the Institute for Lean Design, Mackinac Island, Mich. Ungvari urged attendees to consider how they might answer customer questions in eight specific areas:
- Will the product perform how I expect?
- Will it be within my cost expectation?
- Will it have the features that enhance its functions for added benefits?
- Will it be ready for me when I want it?
- Can I quickly and easily install it or learn how to use it?
- How easy will it be for me to keep in service?
- Is it robust enough to withstand the abuse myself and others give it?
- Will it convey the image of quality and prestige that I desire?
Other EIMC seminars explored management of sales and marketing resources. John Monoky, president, Monoky Associates, Toledo, Ohio, offered EIMC attendees ideas on account management. One of the basics tenets of his philosophy is to manage all sales accounts according to the amount of profit they produce. He believes all customers can be classified as key, target, maintenance or “why bother accounts.”
“You don’t have enough time to treat everyone equally,” he said.