As B2B offerings become increasingly commoditized, it has become more important than in any previous time in history to have a clear picture of the value proposition of your distributorship. The last 20 years - and in particular, the last two - have seen the slow but steady growth of industry behemoths that are driving commoditization of the PHCP industry.
Compounding the pressures posed by this commoditization, the number of active contractors is likely to further decline in the near future. By 2025, the youngest of the baby boomers will be 65 years old, and the ‘birth dearth’ following the Great Recession will begin a reduction in the number of new high school graduates entering the workforce. Combine this shrinkage in your customer base and the increasing difficulty in differentiating your place in the industry, and one can see that this is a critical time for distributors to have a clear, strategic, vision of the elements of value that attract, delight and retain their contractors and customers.