I have become increasingly concerned about trends I am seeing in the HVAC Controls marketplace regarding Internet Only Distributors and the Vendors that enable them. After Clint’s post on this topic and much conversation with other distributors, vendors, and customers I realized that there is both confusion and a certain apathetic acceptance of what is going on in the HVAC marketplace. From my perspective it is like watch a train wreck in slow motion, unintended consequences abound. I decided to try something new and create a video editorial as a format to both say and show some of the distributing trends I am seeing regarding the effect of internet only distributors on life as we know it in our HVAC world.
This was a lot harder than I thought, so after forty hours of editing and re editing I decided ENOUGH ! And of course I am still finding mistakes, For example I mean $250,000 to two to three million, you will know what this means when you watch the video. Please let me know what you think in comments.
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4 Responses
Eric,
Very important and impressive work! I hope that this circulates throughout the industry, gets the right peoples’ attention, and makes the impact that it should!
Regards,
Ken Smyers
Eric:
You describe very efficiently the issue with Internet only distributors. Even though the manufacturers may benefit in the short term from these folks they will , in the end, suffer significant casualties if they do not take a critical look of their own house and take care of their own business. The smarter ones will make sure that their product is represented the way they want it to be represented and not in some unflattering, generic way. The cream of the Control manufacturers will rise to the top and the Distributors that recognize them will be there also to support their efforts. Thank you for what you are doing for our industry with Control Trends, it is a wonderful communication device.
Best,
Pat Marsala
President
M & M Controls
Eric:
Well said. There’s no doubt that a local stocking distributor has the opportunity to provide more value to a customer than an internet only distributor. I think one area both local distributors and manufacturers need to spend more time on though is being in front of our customers and selling the value that you provide. This is a relationship business and it’s our responsbility to make sure those relationships are local.
Chris Eichmann
Director Product Sales
Johnson Controls
Chris,
Thank you for you comments. We agree that “both local distributors and manufacturers need to spend more time in front of our customers and selling the value that you provide.” Please remember that these efforts take time and cost real dollars. Manufacturers need to sell to internet only distributors at a higher cost because they are not bringing this value and carrying the expense.
Jeff