The NAED manufacturer’s council sent out its annual survey to members asking which topic is of the most concern. The reply was overwhelmingly new product launches.
But from there, the question was what should be done about new product launches? What makes new product launches so successful? Where do the fall short of expectations not just for manufacturers, but also distributors.
The council them teamed up with tED magazine and www.tedmag.com to ask questions of manufacturers and distributors about new product launches. The result was four online columns where some of the success stories along with stories about new product launches that did not meet expectations were shared.
The council has chosen this topic for its annual panel discussion at the NAED National Meeting in San Francisco at 10am on Monday, April 28.
On the panel will be two manufacturers, two distributors, and one electrical contractor.
Don Ambrose, National Sales Manager of Arlington Industries and John Hoffman, Executive V.P. of Sales and Market Development of Legrand will represent the manufacturers. Erin Koester, Marketing Manager of Van Meter, Inc. and Chris Breslin, Senior VP/COO of Crescent Electric Supply will represent the distributors. Michael Garner, Vice President of Sales for San Francisco based Cupertino Electric will be the contractor.
The panel will be discussing the comments made in the four online columns, and offer insight into how success stories can be more successful and how to overcome some of the challenges that go along with new product launches.
The group will talk about training distributors receive for new products, reluctance to stock new products, communication of new products to distributors and incentive programs. The discussion will be based on the real-life experiences of new product launches and is aimed at helping you learn from the mistakes and successes while also helping you obtain your return on investment.
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