Yesterday, a new manufacturer asked me a straightforward question, “Why should I use a distributor?”

BURR RIDGE, Ill. — Robertson Heating Supply has purchased the first Evergreen™ boiler from Weil-McLain. 

Quietly, without a great deal of fanfare, the roles of chief financial officers throughout the corporate landscape of North American business have changed.

Let’s start with this premise: Nobody totally enjoys change. And when the change involves a price increase, most of us hate the change.

The impact of the supply side in most firms is often far more pervasive and substantive than may first be apparent. In the simplest of terms, the supply side of the business works primarily to manage investment and minimize cost.

A central pillar of EVERY customer-driven enterprise rests on several simple premises: What does a company have to offer and what does the customer want to buy? At the risk of oversimplifying, one can create the product, wind up the marketing monster and create the demand.

One of the first things you learn about this industry is that it is a relationship-based business. The more successful companies work hard to foster strong relationships with customers and suppliers alike.

Etiquette is defined as the rules of proper behavior in society and in professional practice, including actions among members of society or profession in dealings with others.