At the NAED National Meeting in Orlando, Trade Hounds VP of Marketing Jeanette Abrahamsen sat down with Stu Serota, Vice President of U.S. Electrical Distribution Sales at Leviton, to discuss how the company is adapting to new technologies and evolving go-to-market strategies.
In this conversation, they discuss Leviton’s shift to specialty sales teams, the growing focus on labor-saving products, and how AI is beginning to impact sales and operations.
I've been with Leviton for 33 years. I started off as a young sales rep covering the New York City market. I did that for about 21 years, and then I was promoted to Regional Sales Manager for the Northeast region.
On December 2, 2019, I was humbled to be afforded the opportunity to serve as Vice President of US Electrical Distribution Sales at Leviton, which is where I am today, six and a half years later. It's been an exciting run.
A day in the life six and a half years ago is vastly different from what it is today. The market has changed, and the world has changed, starting with COVID-19 and the effects it has had on many things.
The position that I thought I was taking has drastically changed in the way we go to market. The way we're using Power BI tools and dashboards has changed. And we're becoming more focused on labor-saving devices.
The entire industry has changed. If you look at the electrical industry, it's somewhat of a stoic industry. Today, I think the industry is actually taking its next step toward that kind of progress.
That's what's exciting to me. The job is different than I thought it was, but more invigorating and that much more exciting.
When I inherited the position, we were a generalist sales force. We were out in the market calling on the distributors and calling on some of the contractors that we were friends with. I recognized that we needed to do more than be just a generalist sales organization.
We set up a number of specific specialty teams, starting with our builder team. We recognized that in order to get to the builder, we needed to have builder specialists. We now have five builder specialists around the country, and we have numerous builder contracts already locked in place with those builders. From there, the builders tell the contractor which manufacturer they prefer or like to use.
We need to get sticky with those contractors, so we built a contractor technical specialist team. Initially, we did that on the residential side. Now we've added the commercial and industrial side. We've got a team of contractor technical specialists calling on the largest and medium-sized contractors throughout the country.
We continued down that road in what we call M&V, or measures and verification, for our metering system. We have specialists in that area. We have specialists for our load center products and builder development managers.
What we've done is take it to the builder, to the contractor, and now it's not a race to the bottom on price. We bring that opportunity to the distributor, quote the entire Leviton package, and then hopefully succeed in gaining market share and revenue not only for ourselves, but for our distributor partners as well.
We're introducing labor-saving devices. Those labor-saving devices are a little more costly—no question about it—than your standard device. But the labor they save by utilizing that device, getting off the job quicker, and getting to the next opportunity where they create revenue for their organization is where we're trying to lead the industry moving forward.
We think we have great solutions in that area. The trick is showing the calculations to the contractor to prove it out.
What we’re looking to do with the distributor community is show them how we’re taking not only the product to the next level, but the company to the next level.
Leviton, for those who don’t know, is a 120-year-old company, a family-owned business, and we’re on our fourth-ever president. Just think about that: four presidents in 120 years.
The way we're going to continue that growth is by evolving. I talked about new products, I talked about labor savings, but today we have AI. We’re utilizing AI not only in our factories and distribution centers, but we’re going to be utilizing it with our sales teams in the upcoming months.
When you look at adaptability in a sales organization, one would say your new, young sales rep is the most adaptable and your sales rep who’s been around for many years is the least adaptable. I can tell you it’s all over the place.
It’s actually interesting to watch because there are so many surprises along the way: who is adapting quicker, who is adapting more slowly, but does come along. The proof is, at least for myself and my group, having the sales organization tell each other about their successes.
The quoting process is where we think that’s most important. We’re also utilizing AI on the data center side of it, increasing the raw materials and finished goods products.
We think we can take artificial intelligence within the electrical industry to the next step, and I think we’re learning as we go.
We have a voice in Washington because of the power that we’re controlling with all the electrification. And the various groups, whether it’s NEMA, NECA, NEMRA, or NAED, instead of acting as separate organizations in Washington, everybody is acting together as one.
We’ve become a powerful voice for legislators to listen to what we’re saying because, without the power, there is no legislation.
Watch the full conversation below with Stu Serota to see how Leviton is adapting its sales strategy through specialty teams, labor-saving solutions, and AI adoption.