Jenne Distributors Inc was a modestly successful start-up
in 1986. Today it is a major national distributor of
telecommunications products and solutions.
Written by Kevin Doyle and Produced by Leslie Racer
Looking back, Rose Jenne certainly has plenty to be proud of. Correctly anticipating the need for companies to fill the distribution void following the divestiture of AT&T in 1984, she put all of her assets on the line in order to start Jenne Distributors Inc.
The strategy was simple – create a business that offered telecommunications products and solutions enabling installers and resellers to purchase all their products from a single source, as opposed to working with several manufacturers. Sales exceeded
US$2.4million that first year. Today, Jenne Distributors annually tops US$120million in revenue. Talk about being ahead of the curve.
“She saw an increasing need for companies to provide a distribution function, and she saw the need before many other companies,” says new CEO Dave Johnson, an industry veteran who joined the Jenne team in May of this year. “She correctly saw that small businesses were increasingly going to need help, and that there was a need for a company like Jenne to be formed. It’s an impressive story.”
“Building the company is something that I love doing. It’s like making a cake with all the right ingredients. And choosing the best talent has been the key to accomplishing Jenne’s goals — that along with partnering with industry-leading manufacturers, listening to customers, plus creating and providing services that are needed in order for customers to be successful,” says Chairman Rose Jenne.
“The recent addition of Dave Johnson to lead the company is most exciting. Johnson’s experience, knowledge and respect in the industry positions the company for tremendous growth in the US and global markets.”
Although he has been with the company for a short time, Johnson knows first-hand how well the Jenne business model works. Before taking the position at Jenne, Johnson was the senior vice president of global alliances and channel development at Avaya, one of the manufacturers whose technology Jenne distributes.
Rose’s sons, Ray J., executive vice president of operations and product management, and Dean, executive vice president of sales and marketing, are also integral members of the management team. “We’re trying to blend a mix of current and new talent, and we have a very experienced team across sales, logistics, warehouse, marketing, product management and training,” says Johnson.
“One of the things our vendors and resellers have come to expect is responsiveness, integrity and a strong relationship as we continue to grow.”
As a national distributor, Jenne purchases products and solutions from manufacturers and vendors. The products resell to interconnects, resellers, value-added resellers (VARs) and dealers, who then resell to end-users. Jenne’s vendors number more than 145 and include industry heavyweights, such as Avaya, Panasonic, Adtran, Aastra, ClearOne, GN, AltiGen, Allworx, D-Link, 3M, Fluke Networks, Hubbell, Motorola, Netgear, Plantronics, LifeSize and Sony. As a one-stop shop, Jenne provides everything resellers require for the end-user.
“We have a wide array of vendors and technologies that we represent. We package and bundle those technologies to a base of 30,000 resellers,” Johnson explains. “Jenne Distributors deals primarily with small and medium businesses, and what we call the mid-market. We also sell to service providers and system integrators.”
Operations
Ray Jenne Jr explains that the company has segmented its product portfolio into four distinct categories; communications systems (Avaya, Panasonic, AltiGen), data-com (Adtran, Netgear, D-Link), video conferencing and A/V integration (Sony, LifeSize, Aethra, ClearOne), and peripherals and connectivity (APC, Hubbell, Middle Atlantic).
The key to keeping that vendor base happy? “Revenue,” Ray Jr. says with a laugh. “Vendors are always looking for continual marketing support to that large dealer base in order to increase awareness of their lines. We assist the dealers in understanding the market and continue to bring new technology to those dealers.”
“We have access to the market in a way the vendors can’t reach. We bring broad coverage so they are more rapidly able to grow their market share and sales. They expect us to forecast and stock sufficient levels of inventory, and they expect us to provide pre-sales technical support, training and post-sales support,” Johnson adds.
The company doubled the size of its Avon, Ohio, office and warehouse to approximately 65,000 square feet in 2003. At that time, a state-of-the-art warehouse inventory automation system was installed. “It links into our warehouse management software and allows us to gain efficiencies on inbound product acceptance as well as outbound order fulfillment. It’s fairly sophisticated, and customer and dealer satisfaction went up,” says Ray Jr.
“There have been a lot of improvements in efficiencies. Our accuracy increased to 99.9 percent, and our on-time shipping is up to 99.8 percent,” says Dean.
The company does not own its own vehicles, relying instead on major carriers such as FedEx and UPS to deliver products.
The company also rolled out an upgraded company-wide software support platform, including ERP, CRM, warehouse management and trouble ticketing earlier this year. “The investment has enabled us to see an immediate improvement in efficiencies,” says Ray Jr.
“It has been a huge investment, but the company is well positioned for the next level of growth. We’re known for our service quality and customer satisfaction, and that remains a top priority as we continue to grow the company,” says Johnson.
Jenne University
Jenne University (JU) is a certified training location for Avaya, AltiGen and Panasonic business systems. The center was part of the 2004 expansion and has proven to be an enormous asset for the training of both the company’s internal sales team, and resellers.
“We pride ourselves not just in having industry-best technology and delivering it, but also in putting support around it. We provide training to our resellers who are then providing solutions to customers. Jenne University allows us to translate all this cool new technology into a business benefit,” says Johnson.
Jenne University is the only Panasonic-certified platform partner in the United States. The training provided at JU is so intensive that classes in Avaya and Panasonic technology have been approved for two hours of college credit toward an IT degree.
“It [JU] serves a dual role: We’re delivering training on a new product and also delivering training to our sales team so that they are always up to speed on the new technology. Each sales individual must complete 200 hours of training a year,” says Ray Jr.
“Training and education is at the core of what we do. We’re constantly educating our customers, and we take great pride in the knowledge transfer process,” Johnson adds.
The future
Communications technology continues to evolve at a dizzying pace, and Johnson sees no slowdown in sight.
“Voice and data have converged into one technology. Customers are now buying integrated solutions. Everyone has a mobile device or two, and they are now able to operate remotely just as if they were in the office. It’s not technology for technology’s sake, but rather improves productivity and enables small companies to operate just like larger companies. I think it will keep improving and evolving and getting better every day,” says Johnson.
With its national strategy firmly in place, Jenne’s plans to investigate its expansion into international markets is not surprising.
“Our infrastructure and our management team are poised for tremendous growth. We know the industry, we know the trends and we know the technology,” says Dean with great conviction.
Such statements must make a mother proud – after all, it’s the same conviction Rose had when she started the company 22 years ago.
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