> TTI’s Michael Knight to Close ERA Conference with Focus on Tomorrow’s Customer
October 22, 2017 – Source: Electronics Representatives Association
Contact: Tess Hill, ERA Conference Coordinator, at thill@era.org / 630-327-6498
The Electronics Representatives Association (ERA) Conference Committee has announced that Michael Knight, senior vice president Americas of TTI, Inc., will close the 2018 conference with a general session focusing on the customer of tomorrow and the tools that will be needed to remain competitive in the supply chain of the future. ERA’s 49th Management and Marketing Conference runs Feb. 25-27 at the AT&T Conference Center in Austin, Texas. The event theme is “Tools of Our Trade – Constructing a Successful Future.”
Michael Knight
Senior VP Americas
TTI, Inc.
Knight, who also closed the 2017 ERA Conference, says of his upcoming presentation, “Technology is introducing new ways for people to interact, and with adoption, marginalizing traditional [in some cases, ancient] ways of interaction. This is not a new thing, but it is accelerating and has consequences for all business-to-business enterprises. The very nature of ‘doing business’ is evolving, and a key to staying relevant and successful with the business and customer of tomorrow is an understanding of how customers of the future will utilize technology to select components and suppliers, source product and engage with their supply chain.”
Through surveys, focus groups, one-on-one conversations and endless streams of questions with customers, reps, distributors and manufacturers, Knight has built a description of tomorrow’s customers and the attributes of the supply chain they will need. “If even a part of this vision materializes,” he predicts, “all of us will need to proactively adapt and re-tool to secure our link in the electronic component path-to-market of tomorrow. In the end, the objective of this presentation isn’t to provide answers, but rather to craft questions. Questions are the fundamental tool for learning, growing and prospering. The future is a product of the questions that get asked.”
Knight adds that he is formalizing a tool that conference attendees will be able to use to think critically and proactively about the future of the industry and the ramifications for their businesses.
John O’Brien, CPMR, of Coakley, Boyd and Abbett, Inc., chair of the Conference General Sessions Sub-Committee, says, “Michael has been one of the highest-rated presenters at past ERA conferences, and his subject matter is always insightful and thought-provoking. The 2018 closing session will showcase our ‘tools’ theme and provide a plan for attendees to re-tool their organizations for long-term sustainable success.”
Conference Committee Chair Rick LaPiana of the Cain-Forlaw Company, comments, “Michael is a leader in our industry in regard to strategic planning. He has motivated me to make several practical process and organizational changes in my company that have improved efficiency and enhanced customer relationships. I am really looking forward to his presentation.”
Further details about the 2018 ERA Conference, including sponsorship opportunities and the online registration form, are available at era.org.
About ERA
The 82-year-old Electronics Representatives Association (ERA) is the international trade organization for professional field sales companies in the global electronics industries, manufacturers who go to market through representative firms and global distributors. It is the mission of ERA to support the professional field sales function through programs and activities that educate, inform and advocate for manufacturers’ representatives, the principals they represent and the distributors who are reps’ partners in local territories. ERA member representative firms (often called “reps”) provide field sales services on an exclusive basis to manufacturers of related (but non-competing) products in a defined territory. For more information about ERA, visit era.org.