Indian River Consulting Group's distributor Pandemic Revenue Index showed a sales decline of 14.8% for April 20-24 compared with a year earlier. "So far, all but one participant has realized an aggregate sales decline over the past five weeks with an average decline of 22.4%," said IRCG partner Mike Emerson.
Listen Now: Own Your Marketplace Strategy Join Adobe and Gorilla Group on the Commerce Talk podcast for a fast-paced discussion filled with strategies, tactics, and ideas for making the most out of owned and 3rd party marketplaces. Listen now and uncover new opportunities to grow your business.
The coronavirus pandemic has caused upheaval in supply chains and persuaded companies to look into new technologies, writes Jennifer Smith. Interest and investment in robotics and digitized paperwork processes have increased as firms seek to improve logistics operations and protect workers.
SPI Health and Safety has created a dashboard to visually display key performance indicators for executives each Tuesday so they can respond to business challenges during the coronavirus pandemic. Data from each department is collected on the Friday before the weekly meetings.
It's best to hire salespeople with an eye toward sales skills and experience than to focus on product or service knowledge, writes Mark Thacker. Sales managers should also consider cultural fit, previous performance and the ability to foster personal relationships when hiring new sales representatives, Thacker writes.
Companies should make permanent any crisis communication teams they have created during the coronavirus pandemic because of the benefits for media training and overall organizational response capacity, writes Terrence Tracy. "Organizations are quickly realizing that robust risk management planning and crisis protocols are essential," Tracy writes.
According to Mark Dancer, NAW Institute Fellow and author, "As distributors imagine business after the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a growing consensus that the crisis will lock in a trend toward customer preferences for virtual experiences. While a sustained shift in buying habits is very likely, that outcome does not reflect the full impact on the future of business." Read his post.Subscribe to the NAW Blog to receive a new post each week and stay up-to-date on industry insights.
Are you well-informed about different best practices and knowledge in our industry? If not, NAW's Top 10 E-book List can help get you up-to-speed quickly so you and your business can stay competitive in these challenging times.
