Merit Direct CEO Forum Midwest October 20 th, 2010 Terry Jukes, President, B2B DMI LLC T. Jukes .

Merit Direct CEO ForumMidwest October 20th, 2010

Terry Jukes, President, B2B DMI LLC

T. Jukes www.b2bdmi.com 1

Our world nowOur world now• Slow/No growth – “the new abnormal”• Increased price competition from “the

desperate ones”• Shrinking margins, little ability to raise price• Stretched employees• Demanding customers


““When the going gets tough…”When the going gets tough…”Do more of what you know will produceRe-focus on business basics - RFMCP“Stick to the knitting”“Do more with same/less”Remain calm and persistentDon’t buy the swamp water aka new

technologies.Avoid big risks


10 things to do now10 things to do now

Re-focus on product innovation– >50% of revenue from proprietary

products• Contract manufacturing• Customization/Personalization• Re-assemble/re-package• Re-position products for applications

– New products >20% of revenue– Balance consumables with capital

purchases– “New”, “Exclusive”, “Guaranteed”– Beware Amazon/marketplace model



Focus on service innovation– Repair? Warranty? Resale?– JIT supply programs– On-site inventory control/mgmt– Custom web sites for larger customers– Tech support, assign account rep– Training, product information/video– Specialized packaging

Move from selling products to providing the lowest cost total solution for your customer.



Sell more to the customers you have– Communicate more - RFMPC

• Emails, custom web sites, telesales• Additional mail frequency

– Understand and build relationship • Study order distribution by catalog, order

channel, customer type, order size, product ordered, new vs. repeat customers, etc.

• Be part of their supply/service chain• Assign sales reps• Consultative sell on inbound• Customer audits/surveys – Find new

customer problems to solve.



Turn inbound from “order taking” to “order making”.– Opportunity to increase 15-20% with

little incremental expense– Track AOV, MOV, UPO, LPO, call time,

close rate by rep. Conduct weekly coaching. Reward performance.

– Product/application training and exams– Inbound = “R+D”



Set productivity improvement expectations– 5% a year from vendors

• New, exclusive products• Reduced total costs of supply

– 5% a year from employees• Re-engineer processes• Reward employee initiatives and

responsibility• “Be an owner”



Integrate and improve your online/offline data/business intelligence.

Integrate web data into customer response analysis

All customer activity triggers a “one to one” marketing response.i.e. Order, ship and deliver confo emails; abandon shopping cart emails; lengthy product page views, etc.



Give marginal performers a chance to be successful somewhere else

What is your opportunity cost of keeping a marginal inbound or outbound rep?

What is the cost of keeping any marginal employee?



Systematize all proven processes.– Avoid “lapse” in corporate memory and

“re-inventing the wheel” when turnover occurs.

– Eliminates/reduces person days spend on reporting and analysis.

– Ensures common, timely and communicated information.

– Establishes common language and understanding/”know how”



Hunt for bargains, be “shoportunistic”. Opportunistic acquisition of failing

competitor or customer list. Excess inventory from manufacturer or

competitor. Special “risk free”, trial offer from a

supplier



Plan for 10% more and staff for 10% less.– Remain “lean and mean” and flexible– Be able to withstand business shocks and

other diversions.• Winter storms, terrorist attack, vendor

bankruptcy, stock market crash, etc.

– Utilize outsourcing to remain flexible and increase payroll productivity.

– Consider offshore solutions – Mexico, Bulgaria, Philippines.


Merit Direct CEO ForumMidwest October 20th, 2010

Terry Jukes, President, B2B DMI LLC


Merit Direct CEO Forum Midwest October 20 th, 2010 Terry Jukes, President, B2B DMI LLC T. Jukes .

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Transcript of Merit Direct CEO Forum Midwest October 20 th, 2010 Terry Jukes, President, B2B DMI LLC T. Jukes .