Forecasting, pre-planning and pre-ordering – putting your name on things – actually helps distributors in the long-term, as well. It puts your manufacturer in a better place for buying and planning. For me, as director of sales of a manufacturing company, your distribution network better be pre-planning.
Yanik: Does it surprise you about the shift in how purchasing is being done over the last few years? Not too long ago, we were talking about the just-in-time model. Now, the trend is to plan ahead.
Russell: COVID was awful, right? But we’ve learned so much as people on many different levels. Doing virtual meetings is common. Years ago, we always had to meet someone’s face, whereas now it’s more acceptable to do a virtual meeting.
With the planning component, there are some good things that have emerged.
Yanik: One last thing about ConExpo-Con/Agg specifically: In terms of the type of customer that you saw in the booth, did you see younger people coming in? What was the level or demographic of the person who visited?
Russell: I don’t feel like there was an influx of youth coming in, which is a little bit scary. There were a couple of groups that came through with some folks in their early 20s, but I don’t feel like the people I was seeing were second generation. We were seeing a lot of first generation.
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Check out P&Q’s coverage of ConExpo-Con/Agg 2023 – and more – at the magazine’s dedicated show page.
