I have been selling to x-ray dealers, large and small, since 1981. During that time I have seen at least four major technology changes and four or five major attempted consolidations of dealers and/or suppliers. The original products that brought me fame and fortune (perhaps that’s a bit of an overstatement) were x-ray viewboxes. I am beginning to have to give long explanations of what those are to people who ask me how I started in the business. Our own sales of viewboxes are less than 10% of what they were at their peak and I bet most of you dealers have not sold a viewbox in years.

Each time there has been a consolidation or a technology shift the question of how and if the x-ray dealer will survive resurfaces. It is as relevant a question to vendors as it is to dealers. Vendors ask questions like, “who is going to survive,” “is a dealership channel still the right distribution strategy for my products,” and “what skills do the surviving dealers need to have to help me sell my current and future products?”
Dealers ask similar questions but from the other side of the fence. You ask questions such as “should I sell out to the consolidator now or later,” or “should I wait to see if I can take market share from other selling dealers and not sell out,” or “can I hold on to my major product lines or will I have the opportunity to take on an even better line?”

And, of course, we all ask when will this rollercoaster end?

I can’t say that I have done a quantative analysis of our industry’s history (as my University of Chicago Business School training should make me do), but think we can all see some interesting patterns. Those selling out first to the consolidators for cash seem to do the best. Consolidators do not appear to be able to hold on to marketshare in the long term. Consolidators seem to lose focus after a few years.

The key decision to sell or stay seems to be one of what can you get and does that fit into your life plan. In the latest consolidation wave, I think some of our friends have used consolidation as a great personal exit strategy. Other have chosen not to sell and are actually looking to grow. With the Diagnostic Imaging wave decades ago (yes it was decades), there was some real money to be made, but I’m not sure how true that is in the current environment.

In summary, I don’t think the consolidator is the killer of the x-ray dealer, if there is one. I think that technology is the real concern. Or, better said, how you deal with the technology challenges.

The technology shifts since I entered this market have not only disturbed what we sell but how we sell. The general shift to an internet-based ecomony has also changed who our competitors are and the expections of what a sale is from our customer’s persective. It is how we deal with the challenges of the technology shifts that will answer the question.

More about that next time. I’d love to hear from you: your support, your criticism and your comments.
I hope that this continuing discussion provides at least one interesting idea to each of you.