“I have an established sales and distribution network. How would I ever be able to set up a direct to Customer sales approach? Great question. Many industries are locked into old ways of working and will find it hard to transition; the automotive industry is a great example. Manufacturers depend on a huge network of franchised dealers who promote...
Read MoreFor many new companies, selling direct to the customer is quite natural. However, if you run an established company, you might be asking yourself how difficult will it be to set up a direct to customer model. This is the fourth in a series of articles on D2C. In previous articles we’ve looked at the factors that make D2C possible, the non-cash be...
Read MoreThis is the third in a series on Direct to Customer (D2C). This one explores the financial implications. All of us in business are part of an end-2-end value chain that ends when the product or service is consumed. The ‘Direct to Customer’ model is one that skips some of the traditional steps that in the past would have been completed by an indirec...
Read MoreThis is the second in a set of short articles on Direct To Consumer (D2C) sales models. This one explains what you can gain from this approach. OK – so the above are benefits of a D2C model. But (and it’s a big but) it is not for everyone in every situation. You need to look at the value that each member in the value chain is adding to the end use...
Read MoreAs we continue to work with more and more manufacturers coming into North America, we are seeing a sharp increase in the number of companies that are exploring a Direct-to-Customer (D2C) model. The advantages of this are many, including: In the manufacturing segment, markups are typically 100% on the wholesale cost before it goes to retail. Innova...
Read MoreFor many companies, the idea of just having clients sounds good, and the more the merrier. However, the quality of your clients could have a considerable bearing on the success not only of the individual relationships, but on your company too. But what does a ‘quality’ look like and how do you find ‘better’ clients? Well, ultimately, they will ch...
Read MoreTwenty years ago, Salesforce invented the phrase “Software-as-a-Service” or ‘SaaS”. Since then, the growth of this concept has been phenomenal. A few years ago, I was collating Latvian SaaS companies into a single database to facilitate investors. Now, categorizing SaaS enterprises is not a straightforward activity as they fall into so many differe...
Read MoreONE:You need to obtain a high-level view of the market. This needs to be from your perspective, not a distributor or potential agent who will have inherent bias. Think of it as a 30,000-foot flyover to understand how the market works today. This will give you an indication of your potential revenue from this market. And it will give you a sense of...
Read MoreImagine you are running your country’s summer Olympics team. You have athletes in almost every discipline – swimming, water polo, skateboarding, volleyball, boxing, rugby, fencing and so on. As head of the team, your mandate is to win medals. In the next Olympics, your athletes will be competing against the best in the world. This is no longer loca...
Read MoreEveryone I speak to and everything I read is pointing to a tremendous surge in demand for almost everything. Canada is sitting on about $100 billion of excess savings, which is looking for somewhere to go, and the US is spending trillions on recovery. It also has a huge personal savings stash that's going to go somewhere. We have got people locked...
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