Distributor-manufacturer relationships in the industrial channel seem to have hit bottom, as economic conditions and customer demands have eroded levels of trust and fractured our sense of community. Business is picking up, but my meetings with distributors continue to convey real frustration. Distributors freely confess they no longer feel like valued partners. Instead, they are the object of far too many demands and far too little open and honest communication.

The market realities certainly contribute to distributors' unmet expectations. Excess manufacturing capacity on a global scale, combined with distributors that have right-sized themselves to their customer base, means there are too many manufacturers chasing too few distributors.

In our race to grab distributor mind-share, many manufacturers are guilty of assuming distributors are all the same. We act accordingly by offering up canned plans and solutions that fail to take into account each company's uniqueness in terms of size, strategic objectives, core competencies and culture. It's not surprising that distributors are left to wonder whether they are partners or adversaries.

That distributors still matter, and always will matter, is obvious. Business fundamentals ensure that distributors—with their thousands of knowledgeable, customer-service oriented people—literally cover ground no manufacturer on earth could handle alone. But on a 24/7 basis, manufacturers are ill-equipped to cope with the unending stream of immediate crises. That remains one of distributors' core strengths.

As customers have become more sophisticated and more disciplined at wringing cost out of their operations, they've put increased pressure on distributor-manufacturer relationships. Whether they are trying to go "direct" or simply play us off against each other, customers negatively impact trust. Realistically, satisfying customer needs today requires that all three stakeholders—customers, distributors and manufacturers—work together. Distributors no longer can settle for "mattering" to their suppliers; they must become indispensable.

Markets and customers continuously evolve; distributor salespeople are the manufacturer's early warning system. Distributors must become an integral part of the production and marketing process, so we're not planning in a vacuum. The more we can plan, the better service we can provide. How proactive can our distributor partners be in feeding us information, rather than reacting to our requests? That input may come in terms of anticipated demand—allowing manufacturers to improve productivity and scheduling—or in market insight.

Distributors are key to really understanding the customer's needs and idiosyncrasies and to reporting on new uses of our products and innovative applications. They know what's under development and can pass on proactive warnings about market share threats or opportunities.

The question on everyone's lips today seems to be "What have you done for me lately?" Distributors need to continually remind manufacturers and our joint customers of the value they provide to us…of just how indispensable they are to our success.