Bruce Merrifield

Bruce Merrifield has served as a consultant for the world of independent distribution channels since January 1980. He is widely recognized as a pioneering authority on both “Cost-To-Serve Economics” and “Line-Item, Profit Analytics Management” for distributors. His “Strategic Insights for Distributors” essay series reflect this work. For more information, visit http://www.merrifieldact2.com. Contact him at bruce@merrifield.com.

Pricing Efficiency isn’t Always Pricing Effectiveness

The win-win model of lower pricing

Bruce Merrifield

March 14, 2019

HVAC distributors should strive to practice good-pricing hygiene.

Are Small HVAC Customers with Unprofitable Order Sizes Doing More Damage than Good?

Ensure cost-to-serve dollars are not exceeding gross profit dollars

Bruce Merrifield

February 11, 2019

When multiple cognitive biases reinforce one another within a group, irrational beliefs will take over. This, according to Charlie Munger, is the Lollapalooza Effect.

Unmasking the Mystery of Fill-rate Economics

What’s the optimal target fill-rate percentage that balances declining service value to customers with increasing ROI?

Bruce Merrifield

February 1, 2019

About 5 percent of SKUs are extremely net-profitable. Why not target those for especially high fill rates?

The Clone Formula: How Amazon is Selling Equal or Better Quality for 50% Less

Why your guaranteed, customer-tuned, HVAC distribution service metrics must become your new brand

Bruce Merrifield

January 11, 2019

Distributors selling commodity brands must create and sell better service value solutions for the most (potentially) net-profitable customers within their account base.

How HVACR Distributors Can Overcome Online Price Shoppers

One option is to unbundle services for fees with buying rebate possibilities

Bruce Merrifield

December 7, 2018

What happens when digital-buying millennials increasingly take over B2B buying, and they find lower prices for equal or better goods from online sellers?

The Financial Blind Spot of Most Distributors

What do line-item profit analytics reveal?

Bruce Merrifield

October 30, 2018

Why do most distributors choose to not believe in and then fix the losses hiding within their aggregated and averaged-out financial numbers?

Six Steps to a More Customer-centric Sales Force

Analyzing your sales reps to ensure you’re getting the best bang for the buck

Bruce Merrifield

October 1, 2018

What is the minimum annual gross margin dollar amount an account must yield to support a rep relationship? The short answer is at least $4,000 in gross margin/year, assuming a net-profitable average order size.

Identifying and Utilizing Your Highest Profit Value Accounts

Believe it or not, the top 2 percent of your accounts range widely in net profitability

Bruce Merrifield

September 10, 2018

Using analytics and some field research, you can discover that the best accounts have some traits in common that make an account profitable.

High-margin Counter Sales Aren’t Profitable

Strive to provide the analytical clarity to move every customer to become net-profitable

Bruce Merrifield

July 16, 2018

Having two piles of inventory at two facilities with doubled handling costs loses money at wholesale list mark-up prices.

Dump the Dumb Stuff and Boost Your Profits

Do you know your firm’s No. 1 one dumb, unprofitable activity?

Bruce Merrifield

April 30, 2018

Decide what your No. 1 dumb activity is. Measure it, rank it, experiment small, learn, nudge to scale, and increase profits.

On Demand As AI workloads and high-density computing push traditional cooling methods to their limits, the data center industry is accelerating the adoption of next-generation HVAC technologies.

In this webinar, we'll walk you through exactly what to get in place before you add AI to your business. You'll leave with a clear picture of where you stand today and a practical action plan to set yourself up for real results.

Bruce Merrifield

ARTICLES

Pricing Efficiency isn’t Always Pricing Effectiveness

Are Small HVAC Customers with Unprofitable Order Sizes Doing More Damage than Good?

Unmasking the Mystery of Fill-rate Economics

The Clone Formula: How Amazon is Selling Equal or Better Quality for 50% Less

How HVACR Distributors Can Overcome Online Price Shoppers

The Financial Blind Spot of Most Distributors

Six Steps to a More Customer-centric Sales Force

Identifying and Utilizing Your Highest Profit Value Accounts

High-margin Counter Sales Aren’t Profitable

Dump the Dumb Stuff and Boost Your Profits

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