NAW National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors

Description

Al Bates of Profit Planning Group has spent 30 years analyzing distributor financial statements. His findings boil down to this conclusion: Much, and possibly even most, of what distribution managers know about improving profitability is wrong. Good economic times mask this fact, while challenging times make this fact absolutely dangerous! Bates wants you to change the way you think about your business. Some mind-set changes are: 

• Replacing GMROI as a measurement tool because it almost always leads to incorrect decisions about inventory
• Appreciating that bad debts may not always be bad 
• Understanding that lowering inventory is frequently a bad idea 
• Accepting that sales growth can be too fast as well as too slow 
• Identifying why most sales force commission plans don’t work the way they are supposed to.

What Readers Have to Say

"Al Bates cuts through the dry accounting to get to the bottom-line benefits: good horse sense and implementable concepts that are not always apparent (and are even counterintuitive) in the everyday lives of most branch managers."

— Douglas Fink, President, Pennsylvania Paper & Supply

Extended Description

Al Bates gets to the heart of what he calls “profit myths” in the premise of this book: both decision quality and decision consistency are influenced by some very bad information. He points out that the problem is exacerbated by the fact that the bad information sure looks good on the surface.

Bates replaces conventional wisdom with a combination of sophisticated analysis and empirical information. This book promises to give you an eye-opening experience if you accept that much, if not most, of what you have been told about distribution finance issues is wrong.

This book is chock-full of exhibits pertaining to a hypothetical firm. The concepts in each exhibit are applicable to all wholesaler-distributors, and you should view them in the context of your own firm. Also included with this book is a Microsoft© Excel file that allows you to enter data for your firm and then print exhibits from this book with results specifically for your firm. These exhibits should serve as a valuable tool in understanding how the conclusions in this book impact your business.