Our annual Distributor Advisory Council Meeting took place in Reynoldsville, PA on September 12th and 13th, 2017. We enjoyed two days of great conversation with our distributor representatives, leaving us energized and committed to continuing to improve the way we work with our channel partners.

The meeting started with an overall market review from the group. Consensus from our distributors was that 2017 has been a positive year, with recent signs of softness. Our industry is also facing some challenges, with the arrival of millennials and the increased digitalization. National distributors remain a concern for all.

Our focus for the rest of the meeting was to answer two main questions: “What can Seco do to help our distributors sell more Seco products?” and “How can we become easier to do business with?” Our Seco staff and distributor attendees split into separate groups to reflect on these questions and brainstorm areas to work on.

Among the improvement areas discussed by the council were: a stronger cultural commitment to conversions from Seco, a streamlined quoting process for custom tooling to provide a quicker turnaround, a training on Seco’s Sales Unit Transformation and Value Based Selling, an easier test tool program, and a revised co-op program.

Seco returned from the breakout sessions with three key areas to focus on: distributor training, overall pricing strategy and Niagara sales.

Last but not least, Scott Stapp, from Navasota Industrial Supply in Texas, was elected new Distributor Advisory Council Chairman. Please join us in congratulating Scott and wishing him good luck in this new role.

Scott Stapp

General Manager
Navasota Industrial Supply