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One of the core themes from the 2023 NAW Executive Summit was that businesses must shift focus from top line revenue and market share growth to creating strategies for promoting growth with profit. The post-COVID economy taught businesses a harsh lesson – without sufficient liquidity, companies cannot navigate and adapt to market disruption. As a result, businesses […]

Creating an experience that keeps your customers satisfied and loyal to your distribution business requires more today than it did 20 or 30 years ago. Back then, proximity alone generally meant customers were unlikely to defect to a competitor. Today, customers are more educated with more choices than ever, and they are swayed by criteria far […]

Key Themes from the NAW 2023 Executive Summit At the recent NAW Executive Summit, one overarching message was clear: the next frontier of the wholesale distribution industry will require pioneering business leaders to navigate a still uncertain future with a steady hand and a willingness to adapt. For three days, attendees mingled, networked, and collaborated […]

There are many aspects of Industry 4.0 that may lead some to the opinion that the role and contribution of ERP will progressively diminish over time as the means to apply Industry 4.0 concepts continue to become more readily available to the marketplace. ERP’s stranglehold as the central repository of data will be broken as […]

How Companies Can Capitalize in a Challenging Economy. SPEED* is a methodology defined by the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors (NAW).  Leveraging the insights gained from a Customer Stratification analysis, SPEED can help your wholesale/distribution business grow sales more profitably and sustainably in 2013, as follows: Start by modeling what your Core customers tend to buy from you. Then, […]

Best Practices for Boosting Sales Margins. A survey by Earnest & Associates (E&A) has affirmed the critical need for distributors to spend less time with their poor, profit-draining customers – a key to boosting sales margins. Over one hundred decision makers at small to medium sized businesses (SMBs) in the wholesale/distribution trade participated in the […]

A survey by Earnest & Associates (E&A) has affirmed that price haggling remains a problem in the wholesale/distribution industry. Over one hundred decision makers at small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in the wholesale/distribution trade participated in the survey. 61% of respondents agreed with the statement, ‘Too many customers haggle with us over price’. In fact, […]