Recent Experience in Marketing and Distribution for Office and Industrial Products

Acquisition of an industrial distributor: For a multi-billion dollar producer of basic materials which also operated a multi-branch wholesaling operation, one of Hamilton's principals conducted an extended acquisition search among several distribution industries. Industries examined included industrial bearings, electronics, electrical supplies, fluid power products, and pipes-valves-fittings. Based on evaluation along a set of ten criteria, five candidate companies were identified. As a result of the study, a pipes, valves and fittings company in the Southwest was acquired for $150 million.

Marketing audit for a plumbing and heating supplies wholesaler: The grandson of the founder of a plumbing and heating supplies wholesaler, and now its president, was faced with stagnant sales despite being in a region with strong construction activity. Soon after becoming president, he commissioned a marketing audit to evaluate operations and assess opportunities to revitalize the business.

The audit included interviews with management personnel, visits with plumbers and industrial accounts accompanied by salespeople, reviews of financial and sales data, and interviews of executives in similar firms. Primary recommendations implemented as a result of the analysis were to:

Revise the sales compensation system emphasizing incentives

Increase use of trade promotions to improve sales

Form a product screening committee to evaluate new products and pare existing lines

Initiate market planning efforts for the combined three branches

Place additional emphasis on an underdeveloped branch by building inventory and adding to the selling force

Increase involvement by the President in contacting customers

Evaluation of newsprint distribution for a railway: A Hamilton principal worked with a major railway and five cooperating suppliers of newsprint to optimize logistics costs for delivery of newsprint to major newspaper publishers. He assisted in detailing not only transport costs, but the costs of moving and storing newsprint inside the printing operations of each publisher. The upshot was a rationalization of shipments from a newsprint region to reduce overall logistics costs.

Determination of computer applications to wholesaling for a major supplier of PCs and larger computers: Hamilton investigated historical and expected future trends in wholesale distribution. Applications to supply chain management were evaluated, including wholesaler management of customer inventories as an outsourcer. Trends in information collection, bidding, and purchases on the Internet were also examined to see how much of the wholesaling industry might be replaced by the Internet.

Service organization structure for a supplier of office equipment: Using comparative analysis, a Hamilton principal investigated the pros and cons of setting up equipment service as an organization and profit center separate from sales. The advantages of focus and accountability were traded off against the need for service to support sales in major accounts. Partly as a result of the study, more autonomy was given to the service organization at the company.

Design of sales strategy for a producer of a newly patented flooring product: Hamilton researched customers and distributors to determine why sales were not expanding more rapidly. The team determined that, in fact, the new product was well regarded by existing customers and knowledgeable architects, and was selling profitably in the two geographic markets where there was intense selling effort. The company adopted Hamilton's recommendation to double the size of the sales force and focus on two primary market segments. The sales force was also directed to focus on the gymnasium installer market rather than traditional flooring wholesalers. This has resulted in increased sales and prospect generation for the company, allowing the business to move more quickly to a break-even operation.

Design of sales force compensation for a carpentry and industrial tools manufacturer: Hamilton assisted in the re-design of the sales force compensation system. The previous system had been designed to reduce sales force turnover in a recessionary period when sales volume was dropping. In an "up" market, Hamilton redesigned the quota and commission structure in a way to stimulate aggressive expansion of new business. As an aid to design, Hamilton traveled with sales people to understand the selling task and created a detailed financial model to look at the impact of different compensation designs on the bottom line.