MRC Global's digital transformation has allowed the company to keep up with the evolving needs of its customers, says executive Robert Stein. The distributor's MRC Global Online allows a platform for customers to quickly and easily make purchases, track orders or consult with live support agents, he says.

Distributors will need to automate the ordering process to meet customers' needs for fast fulfillment in the future, while logistics optimization will be essential as distributors attempt to reduce shipping times while managing delivery costs, Bridget McCrea writes. Distributors should keep suppliers informed of demand forecasts and work to fill gaps in Amazon's business-to-business distribution services whenever possible.

Amazon can provide a simple purchasing experience and quick delivery, but it lacks inventory control solutions, Mark Hill writes. This leaves an opportunity for distributors that use vending to improve inventory visibility, revenue and customer loyalty.

Lead bots can generate business-to-business leads if companies make sure to use conversational language and immediately route leads to live representatives when a qualifying question is answered, writes Meg Prater. Other simple ways to rack up B2B leads include answering relevant questions on Quora, contributing to Twitter chats and participating in LinkedIn groups.

Sales enablement should expand past training and development into areas such as marketing content and campaigns, writes Pam Didner. For best results, sales managers should map specific marketing content to their sales process by introducing relevant information to sales representatives during opportunity reviews and other meetings.

Feedback is ideally immediate, positive, specific and development-focused, among 10 tips offered by leadership coach Naphtali Hoff. "People most appreciate feedback that helps them solve problems and improve," Hoff writes.

Planning and preparation should allow room for change, uncertainty and flexibility, writes Jane Perdue. "Recognize that always sticking to the plan provides a false sense of security that obscures new opportunities," she writes.

NAW Institute for Distribution Excellence Fellow Mark Dancer advises distributors: "If you want to leverage artificial intelligence to achieve game-changing results for your business, or if you want to truly differentiate your distribution business from your competitors, you must do the hard work to master these five capabilities." Read his post.

Reserve these dates now so you don't miss the next NAW Executive Summit, Jan. 28-30, in Washington, D.C. You'll join with other best-in-class distributors who aren't your competitors from across the industry and find out what the future holds for wholesale distribution. Add the NAW 2020 Executive Summit to your calendar!

Billion Dollar Company CEOs, CFOs, operation executives, CHROs, CLOs, and CIOs attend these roundtables to benchmark solutions and strategies from distribution executives who are at the top of their game. The companies invited into this community are from distribution firms that exceed $1 billion in annual sales. Participating in this 24-hour, results-focused business meeting is one of the best ways to learn from your C-suite peers in distribution -- who aren't competitors! Register today.