Strategy Development
Growth Strategies: Put Words into Action
Distributors and manufacturers are facing industry consolidation, rising channel conflict, and the perennial issue of rising costs and margin pressures. To be competitive today, distributors and manufacturers must be innovating on all fronts from digitization, analytics and talent management to tools and trainings for sales teams. Our process helps you move forward quickly.
How We Streamline Your Strategic Planning
Traditional brainstorm meetings and mission statements can generate ideas and define a vision, but they can’t drive sustained change. The hockey-stick forecast doesn’t magically appear. We help distributors and manufacturers diagnose problems and identify risk-bound alternatives for sustained competitive advantage and profitability.
Assess the Market
We find sources of profitable growth and identify market gaps and competitive advantage to deliver clear market-making results.
Build a Strategy
Your executive team will own the new strategy approved by your board of directors.
Execute the Plan
We help you establish ongoing management with performance accountability and an execution plan with a review process in place.
Respond to Sudden Change
Because of the trust we’ve built in this market, you can count on IRCG’s team to work with you to act in response to a sudden shift in your market or business.
How We’ve Helped Distributors and Manufacturers Like You
We consulted with a business that was considering acquiring a large manufacturer in the midst of the Great Recession. They needed to know if there was a solid market for the products. We executed frank conversations with the supplier’s largest distributors in a week’s time to uncover the market insight the company needed for its go-forward decision.
We helped a global market-leading distributor analyze where to invest its money to get the best return. To do that, we analyzed where they could free up resources and how to divert those resources to execute on growth opportunities in the right markets.
Strategy Development Resources
Navigating Change: Playing to Win in Industrial Distribution
Change is the name of the game in the industrial distribution business. It’s just not as stable and predictable as it used to be, and this has forced distributors...
Relinquishing Control to Make Culture a DifferentiatorÂ
If you think that culture is built with motivational posters, foosball tables and pizza parties, you’re failing to see the forest for the trees. Company culture is all about...
Talent Matters in Manufacturing Industry Labor Hunt
As baby boomers have continued to retire in droves, the manufacturing industry has felt the brunt. Many companies have found it difficult to attract and retain talented young people...
A market access strategy provides a framework for distributors to align their investments with real opportunities for growth.
Many distributors have faced the challenge of deciding whether they want to transition from the classic lifestyle business management that evolved from the entrepreneurial roots of their companies to professional management.
Manufacturers want to understand if they have the right number of distributors and if the distributors that they have can meet their needs. We recommend a four-step process to properly evaluate and optimize a distributor network.