Think About It... Your Customer Doesn't Need You Anymore

Think

Dean Foods Company's—suppliers of milk and other dairy products—biggest customer is WalMart.

Last year (2016) WalMart announced that they  would build their own milk processing plan to supply their stores (less than 1/4 of stores), and Dean's stock took a significant hit. The plant is about to open (July 2017) and Dean's stock took a hit again.

Here are some questions to think about, at your next management meeting, in order to "future proof" your organization:-

What product or service does your company supply, that a customer could ultimately supply themselves, if they chose to?- What is the likelihood that a customer of yours would look to "build their own" as opposed to your losing their business to a competitor? - What is the advantage to WalMart? They are supplying approximately 600 stores, located closely together in the central US.