The Deal Economy - Page 1 - Enable

Businesses that plan together, succeed together. But whenever a business makes a deal with another business, it needs to be approved on both sides. And getting that approval can be a slow, inefficient process. With multiple teams and individuals involved, it’s all too easy for delays and errors to creep in. A deal gets sent to the wrong person, or it sits for days in someone’s inbox. Steps aren’t recorded, and soon there’s no clear audit trail. Productivity, cashflow, compliance, business relati...Continue reading

Negotiating B2B contracts is a regular activity, both sides want to get the best deal possible. By negotiating you can achieve a contract that is fair, reasonable and beneficial to both parties — even helping to boost company profitability and improve goodwill and collaboration between trading partners. In order to do this, most businesses will have a highly skilled team dedicated to reaching the best deal for their organisation. Savvy contract negotiating skills are a real plus when entering...Continue reading

As wholesale electronics gets more competitive, distributors must find ways to grow revenues and protect margin. Maximizing the value of supplier agreements should be a priority. On paper, this is a great time to be an electronics distributor. The market for components has been growing every year, according to Statista, and doesn’t show any signs of stopping. Market Research Future predicts 10% CAGR until 2022 for active components, while Zion Market Research sees a huge 23% CAGR for Internet o...Continue reading

In a typical trading relationship, we have three main parties: the manufacturer, distributor and the end user who is the customer. The relationship we are focusing on today is the manufacturer and the distributor. We know that without distributors, manufacturers would struggle with getting their products to customers, and without manufacturers, distributors would have nothing to sell. The distributor is essentially the customer expert, while the manufacturer is the expert on designing, developin...Continue reading

In a challenging environment, smart electrical distributors are finding new ways to drive profitable growth—not least, taking closer control of key trading agreements. This isn’t the easiest of times to be an electrical distributor. The U.S. electrical wholesale industry is far from booming with projections of average annual growth amounting to just 2.5%. Meanwhile, customer expectations are rising, and omnichannel competitors such as Amazon Business are entering the market for ‘simple-stock, ea...Continue reading

Customer loyalty is a measurement of how likely your customers are to do repeat business with you. In this case we are talking about manufacturers collaborating with distributors, who are effectively the link between the manufacturer and retailer. Without distributors, manufacturers would struggle with getting their products to customers, and without manufacturers, distributors would have nothing to sell. Repeat buyers are your most valuable customers, they make up just 8% of visitors, but can...Continue reading

When setting prices for your products or services, you always need to keep in mind the volume of sales you will get, the profits you will make, and even the way your brand is perceived. Rebates and discounts are distinct forms of cost reductions which directly or indirectly promote the overall sales of a business. Both pricing terms may sound similar, however, there is a considerable difference between discount and rebates which we explore in more detail below. What is a discount? Discounts are...Continue reading

Rebate Management Systems are transforming trading relationships in the construction industry. Here’s what they are, how they work, and why you should care... The logic behind rebate agreements is very simple. A buyer agrees to purchase a certain volume, or value of a seller’s goods. Once the purchase has been made, the seller refunds a proportion of the price they’ve paid. This should be a true win-win situation. The seller is able to encourage customer loyalty, as well as incentivize the sale...Continue reading

It’s not to late to make some resolutions for the New Year—especially when it comes to how you manage B2B rebates… Your New Year’s Eve party might seem like a distant—and slightly fuzzy—memory, but it’s actually still early January. And that means you still have time to make some powerful New Year’s resolutions. In our work with rebate professionals at manufacturers, distributors and buying groups, we constantly meet people looking to break with the past, and substantially improve their working...Continue reading

Distributors and suppliers are both working towards the same goal, so what’s stopping them from working together? At a basic level, all trading agreements involve two (or more) parties, looking for mutual growth. Suppliers want to grow by increasing loyalty and incentivising purchases. Distributors and buying groups want to grow by reducing their costs. And, by working together, both can achieve their goal. Most companies keenly understand this symbiotic relationship. According to a survey by T...Continue reading

Rebate deals are a big part of every trading relationship—if you haven’t got a good handle on them, you could be missing out on massive opportunities. Rebate deals hold a lot of power in trading relationships. Suppliers can use them to influence the behavior of their trading partners, and distributors can use them to inform their purchasing decisions. Plus, they’re a valuable source of revenue for both parties involved and can make a big impact on the bottom line. But the importance of rebates...Continue reading

You might be tempted to automate data imports into your new rebate management system. But experience dictates there’s huge business value in starting with a manual approach. Transparent, auditable, automated rebate management. It’s the ultimate goal for many distributors looking to maximize rebate revenue and free up finance professionals’ time. And it’s why more and more distributors are choosing to implement specialist rebate management software like our own DealTrack. In doing so, there’s so...Continue reading

You need a better way to manage rebate agreements—but should you build a software solution, or buy software one out of the box? Philip How, Business Analyst at Enable, reviews the options. I’m constantly talking to organizations about their rebate management needs. And there’s one question that comes up time and time again. Should we build a software solution that’s tailored exactly to our current processes? Or buy an out-of-the-box software solution? The answer—as so often in business—is it dep...Continue reading

Most distributors fail to claim all rebate due, leaving millions of dollars on the table each year. Here are five ways to get more from your supplier agreements. We’ve compiled five ways your wholesale distribution business can increase revenue and margin—and they’re all to do with how you manage your supplier rebate agreements. If your business is like the 57% of U.S. distributors that consistently leave rebate revenue on the table, you’ll be ‘giving thanks’ for this seasonal advice for years...Continue reading

The rise of Amazon Business has distributors rattled. To compete, distributors should focus on the things Amazon can’t provide—using the Deal Economy as fuel. Amazon Business has posed a growing threat to wholesale distributors since its launch in 2012. Gross merchandise volume at the ‘Everything Store’s’ B2B division has increased 10x in two years, from $1bn in 2016 to $10bn in 2018. Bank of America estimates it will further triple by 2023, to $33.7bn. With the rise of Amazon Business, distrib...Continue reading