By Bill Wade, Wade & Partners
At the recent AAPEX/SEMA Show in Las Vegas, I heard endless versions of a popular Wall Street gam: ask every CEO of every company threatened by Amazon: “What’s your Amazon strategy?”
And, the typical ‘this great industry of ours’, get me out of here corporate-speak answers aren’t helpful. Mostly a dodge to let field people take care of this annoyance.
Distributors of all sizes accosted me with another well put question. “I’ve read your Amazon article. Great job, but what the hell should I do?”
For the past two years, my partners and I (most importantly distribution guru Bruce Merrifield) have encouraged legions of distributors in various specialties to follow this service-value innovation recipe:
Self-Analysis Is Cheap!
Great questions beg for answers that can’t yet be known, but they will help new visions to emerge. Then smarter, fail-forward experiments can begin. Here’s a starter list to modify your business plan and/or vision continuously. Involve your smartest people (not necessary just top execs), research, debate and act on any insights that surface.
