The No. 1 Reason Not to Buy a CRM? You Haven’t Defined a Sales Process
Without a sales process, even a purpose-built distribution CRM won’t deliver. In this article, Benj Cohen shares tips for how to guarantee CRM ROI.
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Home Depot’s SRS Acquisition a Wake-Up Call for Distributors: Big Retailers Are Coming for Your Business
With its deal to acquire SRS Distribution, Home Depot is now more of a distributor than a retailer. And it’s not the only major retailer that sees potential for growth in the $8 trillion U.S. distribution market. In this article, Don Davis looks at how the SRS deal fits into Home Depot’s growth strategy, the inroads other big retailers have made in distribution, and what’s likely to come next.
Framing Lumber Prices
NAHB tracks the latest lumber prices and futures prices and provides an overview of the behaviors within the U.S. framing lumber market. The information is sourced each week using the Random Lengths Framing Lumber Composite which is comprised using prices from the highest volume-producing regions of the U.S. and Canada.
Read more at NAHB
The State of New Salespeople in Distribution
In research for his latest book, “The New Sales Guy Project,” Frank Hurtte interacted with over 200 new sellers from all over North America, who had a wide-ranging set of credentials and grew up with diverse backgrounds. The one common link was they worked for knowledge-based distributors and had less than one year of experience in sales. In this article, Hurtte looks at six challenges he identified facing new sellers.
OSHA Clarifies Worker Walkaround Rule for Inspections
OSHA’s final “walkaround” rule will go into effect on May 31st, allowing any third party to accompany an inspector as an employee representative during an inspection under certain conditions. In this article, Louis Cannon and Ashley Strittmatter of Baker Donelson break down the changes in the final rule and encourage employers to be wary of union efforts to exploit these changes.
Distributor Business Model Innovations: Where the Wins Are
Distributors are increasingly bullish on business model innovation. The latest MDM research on this topic finds wholesale distributors are prioritizing investments in new innovations that fundamentally redefine where they play and how they win, developing significant new revenue streams while doing so.
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Buyer Preference for a Detached Home Remains Strong
A recent study from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) on home buyer preferences found that a single-family detached home remains the first purchase option for two of every three buyers. Far smaller shares are looking to buy a townhome (16%), a multifamily home (10%), or a manufactured home (5%).
Cobots in Manufacturing: A New Era of Human- Robot Collaboration
The manufacturing industry is undergoing a significant transformation thanks to the advancements in robotics and automation. While traditional industrial robots have played a crucial role in automating repetitive tasks, their large size, complex programming, and safety requirements have often restricted their practical application. Collaborative robots, also known as cobots, are revolutionizing the industry, bringing in a new age of human-robot collaboration in the factory setting.
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Key Supply Chain Management Strategies for OEMs, and the Questions to Ask
In this article, two VPs from fasteners distributor and manufacturer Optimas Solutions discuss personally vetted supply chain management strategies for OEMs.
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What Distributors Should Know Before Adding AI to Their Toolboxes
Everyone knows AI is the future of business, but how can distributors get the most out of it? The key, according to Digital Commerce 360’s Mark Brohan, is not thinking of AI as the “holy grail,” but rather a tool that can be applied to a company’s most pressing problems. In this Q&A, he talks about the disconnect between what companies say they are prioritizing with AI and what they are actually dedicating time, money and staff to.
