Distributing Ideas, The NAW Blog
What Distributors can Learn from Amazon’s AI-Powered Product Recommendation Strategy
Amazon is a sales powerhouse. The company generates billions in revenue every year selling to both consumers and businesses. This B2C behemoth entered the distribution space when it launched its online B2B marketplace Amazon Business in 2015. This service offers specialized product listings and bulk purchasing options catered to small- and medium-sized businesses. In 2018, Amazon Business [...]
Push Beyond Your Traditional Pricing Challenges – Intelligent Sales and Profit Acceleration #12
Everyone knows that distribution is a thin-margin business, with net operating profit averaging around four percent of revenues. Even elite distributors struggle to attain or sustain double-digit levels (aside from those in certain specialty market segments). With these thin margins, every point counts. A four-percent company that consistently gets one margin point more across thousands of [...]
Why an Integrated Supply Chain Is Critical for Recovery
The entire supply chain has taken a major hit. As the world works toward moving forward post-COVID-19, the global supply chain is still trying to recover too. During the pandemic, multiple national and international lockdowns halted manufacturing. At the same time, customers began demanding certain health and wellness products, which resulted in retailers doing the same. Although some demand [...]
Creating a More Productive Sales Team Post-Pandemic
You know the age-old saying, “There’s no I in team”? That same concept applies to a high-performing sales team. Consistently meeting sales goals is a team effort. Each sales rep might set and meet their personal goals, but reaping the rewards as a business requires the whole company to be on board. Unfortunately, the way sales reps spend their time can be a significant roadblock to [...]
Why AI is the Technical Keystone Businesses Need to Compete in the 21st Century
Imagine running your business today without electricity. It would be impossible. Just as electric power transformed every industry in the late 19th century, Artificial Intelligence (AI) will have the same impact on every business in the 21st. According to Forrester, companies with data-driven business capabilities are 2.8x more likely to report double-digit year-over-year growth than [...]
Optimize Pricing and Improve Profitability – Intelligent Sales and Profit Acceleration #12
Marketplace pressures continue to evolve and change the competitive landscape, ranging from commoditization to eCommerce to the changing workforce. These factors are beginning to negatively impact the bottom line for many distributors. Distribution is traditionally a thin-margin business to begin with, so these new pressures are challenging many distributors. What is your company’s [...]
Data-Driven Selling: 3 Common Mistakes (and How to Stay on Track)
Data-driven selling can be incredibly powerful for distributors. The right insights and information, packaged the right way, provided at the right time, and launched with proper training can be a game-changer when it comes to driving profitable sales growth. This approach: Aligns the entire company around key performance metrics. Reduces perpetual firefighting and leads to more [...]
The New Normal of Vendor Cost Increases – Intelligent Sales and Profit Acceleration #11
The current economic environment provides a once-in-a-generation window of opportunity for manufacturers and distributors to take pricing actions that boost profitability – significantly now and compounding into the future. Due to the overwhelming demand, supply-side constraints and monetary inflation, both manufacturers and distributors are experiencing an unprecedented frequency and [...]
When Lean Meets Sales Management: 5 Tactics That Boost Value-Based Selling
Lean principles state that to eliminate waste and optimally use resources, we should spend more time on customer-value-add (CVA) activities rather than business-value-add (BVA) and non-value-add (NVA) activities. Based on the Lean logic, we can call CVA the excellent business we must stretch and protect, or the "business we want to do." Customer relationships that are important but less [...]
Preparing for the Next Phase of the Business Cycle
Planning and budgeting season is upon us. As you strategize for 2022, keep in mind that a different phase of the business cycle ̶ Phase C, Slowing Growth, ̶ will characterize the overall economy for the majority of 2022. Adapt your budgets, strategies, and preparation in accordance with and in anticipation of the shifting economic environment next year. Where We Stand [...]
