Distribution Channels: Understanding and Managing Channels to Market [Hardcover]

Julian Dent (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 28, 2008 | ISBN-10: 0749452560 | ISBN-13: 978-0749452568

Distribution represents about 50% of the activities of almost every industry and is critical to a company’s success.  Distribution is about more than logistics; it is about accessing and servicing markets and customers, controlling brands, creating differentiation, and improving the business model.

 

This book targets those who are involved in the marketing and distribution of products and services, whether they are working for a supplier, a customer, or another player.  It provides a fast track to the issues, measures, relationships and success factors involved in bringing products and services to market, and is especially relevant for those who are looking for guidance in addressing the commercial and financial aspects of their role. It is also relevant to those who are financially literate but new to the concerns of distribution.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This is an outstanding resource presented in an easy-to-read... fashion." -- John D. Rosen, Amazon.com reviewer

From the Author

This book represents the best part of thirty years personal and shared experience working with distribution businesses of all types in a variety or roles, starting initially as a accountant with Arthur Andersen, though to the last twenty two years as management consultant with VIA International, a firm that specialises in routes to market strategy and implementation. In that time I have had the opportunity to work with some of the world's leading practitioners in the field of distribution channels. And some pretty terrible ones too. In many ways, it is from the clients and situations where things were going wrong that the sharpest lessons could be drawn.  

At VIA, we are lucky enough to spend most of our time consulting for some of the world's most successful brands and companies (yes, they still ask for help),  which means we have seen an enormous amount of best practice. Often though, these companies are challenged by sheer scale, complexity and channel overlap or conflict which prevents them from seeing the business issues quite as clearly as they might. They are usually relieved to find we can bring some clarity and objectivity to the situation and can recommend strategies that are rooted in commercial logic to deliver the outcomes they need. Many of these situations have found their way into this book, albeit usually with a cloak of anonymity. You will find many real companies and situations named and described in the book too, but these insights are based on facts already in the public domain or well known among the trade.

Even more usefully, much of our work requires us to go inside the distribution models of our client's routes to market and investigate the actual measures and business model dynamics operating in the distributors and final tier trade channel players.  This provides the basis for much of the insight into each type of channel business model laid out in the different sections of the book.

Finally, we have had the opportunity to work with many smaller companies and businesses, typically following the introduction of an injection of venture finance, which means that all concerned are expecting a sharp up-tick in sales.  This growth often has to come from a combination of new customer segments, new markets or new products, which usually means new channels too. There have been some hard lessons learnt along the way about establishing a value proposition that will attract the players in the channels needed to deliver the required growth and these are laid out for you here too.

All of the content in this book has at some time or other been taught to people in real channel roles or distribution businesses, looking for insights, concepts, frameworks, heuristics and practical lessons that they can take away and apply.  For many of the people attending these workshops, English has been their second or even third language, so the experience has been a good test of how to communicate business and financial concepts in terms that make sense to people who work in sales and marketing (and sometimes, vice versa too). --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Kogan Page (September 28, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0749452560
• ISBN-13: 978-0749452568
• Product Dimensions: 1 x 6.2 x 9.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #619,657 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #70 in Books > Business & Investing > Management & Leadership > Distribution & Warehouse Management

More About the Author

Julian Dent is author of Distribution Channels - Understanding and Managing Channels to Market, published by Kogan Page, and Chairman of VIA International, a specialist routes to market consultancy.

He has over 25 years experience in distribution throughout the world, specializing in channel strategy and implementation, working at global corporate and regional levels. His clients have included Amway, Barclays Bank, BP, Esso, Electrolux, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Nokia, Orange, Pfizer Consumer Healthcare, Philips, SGI, Stannah, Subway and Xerox.

Julian has worked extensively with both direct and indirect channels for businesses of all sizes ranging from global corporates, through family-owned enterprises to venture-capital backed businesses. He has advised on business to business and business to consumer channels and some of his most interesting assignments have involved sectors where these overlap.

Julian has also spent the last ten years immersed in the franchising sector, leading the development and management of the global strategic plan for one of the world's largest franchise systems, with over 34,000 outlets.

He has shared his experience through courses and workshops for account managers, marketing managers and general managers over many years. He has taught literally thousands of managers in the world's top companies how to apply distribution model insight to win competitive advantage.

He has also worked with clients who operate in the distribution channels, such as distributors, retailers and final-tier players. He has worked with leading channel players in re-engineering their business models and been asked by vendors to save ailing relationships and turn-around struggling strategic partners.

He is frequently asked to chair Partner Advisory Boards and speak at channel conferences for his clients. Julian has been a visiting lecturer on the MBA program at INSEAD.

Julian originally trained as a Chartered Accountant (FCA) with Arthur Andersen's London office before setting up VIA International in the late 1980s. He is a Freeman of the City of London and, more importantly, Chairman of Berkhamsted Cricket Club.

He is married with two grown-up children and, when not globe-trotting for his clients, can be found playing cricket in the summer or preparing for the next season in the winter. Surprisingly, he loves to travel even on his vacations and, having been born in Indonesia and grown up in Kenya and Uganda, he continues to find new places to visit each year.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a must for those dealing with the channel, August 27, 2008

By 

Mr. T. Sherazee "TS" (London, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Distribution Channels: Understanding and Managing Channels to Market (Hardcover)

This is an excellent summary of all the major principles involved in either running or engaging with a distribution channel. It is remarkable in this age of cost awareness the lack of financial understanding of the channel and the massive impact it can have on the performance of an organisation. This book really helps to identify the main levers that channel managers can pull to improve the performanceIt is set out in an easy to understand format and makes it easy to implement some of the basic principles.
This should be compulsory reading for all those either working in the channel of engaged with it..

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Book about Distribution Channels, January 9, 2012

By 

Vinicius - Brazil - See all my reviews

This review is from: Distribution Channels: Understanding and Managing Channels to Market (Paperback)

This book is the only one I know that presents information about the distribution business.

It is very useful to the people that work in wholesale distributors or that work in the vendors that sell to them.

It helps to identify what it is necessary to create a succesful company in this area.

It can be used as reference book in courses of Business and Economics to show how important and profitable can be to use distribution channels to address the end user.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars About a book, August 11, 2011

By 

T. Cvetkovic - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Distribution Channels: Understanding and Managing Channels to Market (Paperback)

The thing is, by reading the book, you can see that the author has a lot of experience on the subject of distribution. He frequently turns your attention on finance and analyzes how different businesses operate (wholesalers, retailers). He describes different models of distribution, players, finance, etd., by which you can base your model of distribution on (if you are a distributer or a supplier). I find this book quite useful and am going to read it once or twice again. Ough, and it isn't one of those books that you can read in one afternoon. A good pace is to read it few pages at a time and reflect a bit.

T.C,
Croatia