Part I: Traditional Marketing Must Change.(Brief Article)

Publication: Gases & Welding Distributor

Publication Date: 01-SEP-00

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COPYRIGHT 2000 Penton Media, Inc.

Traditional marketing and selling have dominated the selling process for years. Distributors have succeeded with face-to-face selling, supplemented by subsequent phone orders and walk-in business. Yet today a question hovers in the air: Is this method still viable, or is a major shift underway?

Traditions, including marketing traditions, die hard. Years ago, a sales rep earnestly tried to convince me that making cold calls at businesses "with a full lot" was the secret of success. Perhaps then, but markets and marketing techniques continue to evolve. Distributors have historically enjoyed one strategic marketplace strength -- the ability to produce and to deliver gases along with ancillary services. Has that traditional advantage also begun to erode?

"Gus" Maier, former president of Taylor-Wharton and also...

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