WHAT THE BEST DISTRIBUTORS DO

1
WHAT THE BEST DISTRIBUTORS DO

• Mark Kramer, Laird Plastics, Inc.
• NAW EXECUTIVE SUMMIT
• JANUARY 29, 2008
• WASHINGTON, DC

2
LAIRD PLASTICS

• 50 Locations 42 US, 8 Canada
• Approximately 500 Employees
• Distribute Plastic sheet, rod, tube, shapes
• 275M total sales
• PROFIT CHALLENGE
• How to consistently sell value and maximize gross
  margins within a geographically extended North
  American business handling mostly commodity
  type materials?

3
VALUE SELLING CONCERNS

• SALES REPS LACKED INFORMATION
• SALES REPS LACK OF CONFIDENCE
• HISTORICAL HABITS
• EXISTING SOFTWARE LIMITATIONS
• CONSISTENT LOCAL LEADERSHIP
• THE TRADITION OF COST PLUS
• LACK REAL TIME PRICING FLEXIBILITY

4
ONE CHANGE WE MADE

• REAL TIME MARKET PRICING DATA
• By Product/By Geography Price Tracking
• Use Actual Invoice Prices
• Look to Past 90 days, by specific zip codes
• Offer 3-Tier Presentation w/ customer history
• Low, Median High Market Price for that Product
• Contract or Set Price Override
• Enhanced special instruction and service notes
• Eliminate product cost as first reference

5
BENEFITS

• Confidence from instant, relevant information on
  every call
• Instant current customer price comparison
• Guard against validating new market low
• Instant gauge for all new quotations
• Focuses rep on our value provided, not the cost
  of our material
• One key factor in multi-point increase in Gross
  Margins over last few years