NAW among groups seeking PPP forgiveness guidance | NAW submitted comments to the Small Business Administration in response to the agency's "Interim Final Rule," urging changes to the Paycheck Protection Program. NAW urged the SBA to abolish the requirement that 75% of a loan be spent on payroll, to extend PPP loan maturity and defer loan payments as permitted by the statute, and to clarify how "payroll" is calculated. | Amazon eases waitlists, adds Whole Foods "dark store"
The National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors and other associations are asking the Small Business Administration to provide additional guidance about Paycheck Protection Program loan forgiveness. "Small businesses need consistency and certainty, and applicants need to know that they will be held to the same guidance that was in place at the time the business applied for a loan," the groups said.
NAW submitted comments to the Small Business Administration in response to the agency's "Interim Final Rule," urging changes to the Paycheck Protection Program. NAW urged the SBA to abolish the requirement that 75% of a loan be spent on payroll, to extend PPP loan maturity and defer loan payments as permitted by the statute, and to clarify how "payroll" is calculated.
As the initial surge of online delivery demand caused by the pandemic begins to subside, Amazon will remove waitlists and invite-only delivery requirements in many cities, aiming to return to its one- to two-day norm. The retailer also plans to end pay increases for workers on May 30, and has converted a sixth Whole Foods Market location to a "dark store" that will only fill online orders.
Building business resilience in times of change Few businesses, if any, were prepared to face the current environment brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. But the businesses that have reacted quickly and incorporated planning for times of change into their strategies for the future will be the ones that emerge successfully in the age of COVID-19. Hear from prominent industry leaders in this webinar.
Supply chain disruptions are a certainty but businesses can mitigate the effects by diversifying sources, building excess reserves, learning to anticipate issues and being prepared to make changes on the fly, writes Adeel Najmi. He also stresses the importance of continual assessments, data integrity and digital sourcing transformation, which can boost margins and reduce risks.
Voice technology can be used in conjunction with multimodal work, big data and robotics to improve efficiency and decision-making in logistics operations, writes Anton du Preez of Korber. Employees also benefit from getting "a comfortable, safe, and ergonomic way to do their work," he writes.
Distributors responding to the coronavirus pandemic should remove compensation worries; focus on people, process and performance; and improve the quality of customer information available to salespeople, writes ActVantage co-founder Senthil Gunasekaran. Sales teams also need to be retrained with a focus on customers, Gunasekaran writes.
No matter how hard salespeople work to complete a sale, it won't make a difference if they can't help buyers see the need for their products or solutions, writes David Brock. "Regardless how strong our need to sell is, until we have a customer with a compelling need to buy, we are wasting our and our customers' time," Brock writes.
Employers have changed interviewing practices amid social distancing, company leaders say. They say they rely more on references and multiple rounds of screening before deciding which candidates to invite for video or phone interviews.
Due to the fluidity of current economic conditions, Alan Beaulieu will present a second NAW webinar on Thursday, May 28, 3:00-4:30 p.m. EDT. He will walk through the newest data to show how bad the falloff in April really was. He'll identify the timing and slope of contraction/rise by industry segment so you can effectively pivot your business. He'll then paint a longer-term view for Post COVID-19 conditions to help you make your strategic plans. Purchase your seat.
NAW guest blogger Benj Cohen writes: "Many distributors have been on pause for the last few weeks. But, as businesses reopen, the competitive landscape will begin changing quickly. Some distributors will recover smoothly. Others will struggle to adapt. Ending up on the winning side is a matter of preparation. Distributors need to create a winning game plan before competition resumes." Read his post.
