> ERA & Edgewater Research Announce Survey Partnership
ERA PRESS RELEASE
June 26, 2023
Contact: Clare Kluck / Communications Director / ckluck@era.org
The Electronics Representatives Association (ERA) is pleased to announce that it is launching a new Electronic Components Industry Trends Survey, in partnership with leading research firm Edgewater Research, that will be sent to ERA members on a monthly basis.
ERA members — manufacturers’ representatives, distributors, manufacturers and consultants in the electronics components industry — will have the ability to respond to this survey directly and confidentially to Edgewater Research, and only ERA members will be able to view the results.
The survey and its results will focus on valuable industry intelligence such as sales and booking trends, revenue growth trends, pricing outlook, book-to-bill ratios, end markets, inventory, lead times and more.
“I’m pleased that ERA is now offering yet another valuable benefit to our members,” said Walter Tobin, ERA CEO. “By partnering with a trusted source like Edgewater Research, we are now offering ERA members real-time, indispensable business environment data that they can use to help them plan for the second half of 2023 and beyond.”
“We look forward to our members participating in this survey and finding significance in the results,” continued Tobin. “ERA aims to continue to provide our members with real tools and data to help them navigate these uncertain times.”
The first survey will be emailed on July 3, 2023.
Important things to know about ERA’s new Electronic Components Industry Trends Survey:
- The survey will be sent at the beginning of each month to one representative only from each ERA member company.
- If you would like to delegate your response to another person in your company, that is acceptable. Please email Edgewater Research if you would like to change the survey contact person for your company.
- Your survey responses are completely and totally confidential.
- You will receive a few reminder emails until you fill out the survey. Upon completion of the survey, you will not receive further reminder emails.
- The survey will be sent from Edgewater Research, on behalf of ERA, from the following email address: no–reply@mail.client.edgewaterresearch.com. Rest assured this is not spam, so please white-list this email address in your inbox.
- ERA members only will be able to view aggregated monthly results in PDF format at: https://era.org/era-member-surveys. This link will be included in each survey email so members can peruse results at your convenience.
- ERA member email addresses are being used for this survey only and will not be shared with any third parties or used for other marketing purposes.
About ERA
The 88-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. For more information about ERA, visit era.org.
About Edgewater Research
Edgewater Research (https://www.edgewaterresearch.com/) partners with corporate clients across various industry verticals, globally. Edgewater’s offerings include research published on technology, digital advertising, ecommerce and consumer. Edgewater uses a labor-intensive research process, conducted by full-time, in-house industry experts who have spent years cultivating credible referral networks across various supply chains. Consistent participation from channel contacts stretching over a decade is a testament to the value placed on gaining access to the research and the benefit it provides.
Guest Speaker: Dennis Reed, Senior Research Analyst, Edgewater Research
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> Implementing big goals and ideas
VIEWPOINTS
by John O’Brien
John O’Brien, CPMR
Coakley, Boyd and Abbett
ERA Chairman of the Board
jobrien@cbane.com
Fresh off a record setting 2023 ERA Conference, I find myself wondering how I’m going to implement everything I learned and thought of at this year’s Conference. If you’re anything like me, I have more action items than I could ever accomplish before the 2024 ERA Conference. So here are some of my thoughts on how to prioritize what I learned:
1. Sometimes I believe less is more. If I can accomplish 2-3 of the big goals I envisioned at the Conference, that will have the greatest impact on my organization and those are the ones on which I need to focus.
2. Don’t go it alone. Find people in your organization that you can bring into the discussions and can provide valuable insight into implementation. The mark of a good leader is someone who can take inputs from the team and coordinate it all to fit within the company’s vision.
3. Define what changes are driving you and your organization and work with your team to decide how these changes will affect your organization.
a. Our principals are always changing either through mergers and acquisitions, leadership restructuring, new product introductions and industry trends.
b. Our markets are constantly changing. Whether it’s robotics/AI, electrification or 5G evolution, our customers are looking to us to help navigate these changes.
4. Realize that a good decision made today may not be a good decision three months from now. I’ve stressed the need for flexibility and adaptability in previous articles. These changes will continue and they will accelerate.
5. Embrace new technologies. I had only heard of ChatGPT immediately prior to the 2023 Conference. Now I find myself referencing it for any number of things that come up in my day to day. I’ve been reluctant to utilize video, if for no other reason than I don’t like the way I look or sound in it. I’ve gotten over that and am working on my first video shoot as we speak. The ERA Conference really provides an opportunity to not necessarily work in your business, but work on your business, so use those ideas to make an impact on your company. Embrace the changes and use them as opportunities to grow.