Sysco has helped restaurant customers during the pandemic by converting many into grocery operations and helping businesses apply for Paycheck Protection Program loans, President and CEO Kevin Hourican says. Sysco has also altered its selling approach by consolidating into fewer regions, as well as introducing pricing technology, he says.

Employees at Grainger's customer service center in Waterloo, Iowa, "have a great deal of pride in our company" and work well together, says center director Bob Bries. "It's important for our team members to be able to come to work and be themselves and help us determine better ways of supporting our customers, as they are the closest ones to the customer experience," he says.

More than 33% of business leaders surveyed by The Conference Board don't know when they'll reopen offices, although only 3% said they'll stay remote permanently. Most respondents expect to install safety equipment and do some sort of health monitoring whenever they reopen workplaces.

Smartphone apps and sensors can help distributors manage inventory and satisfy customers without forcing unnecessary in-person interactions, writes Rock Rockwell, CEO of eTurns. Sales teams "probably won't be as welcome as they once were, and today's technology allows distributors to monitor inventory counts from afar and visit only when they need to do so," he writes.

Executives at trucking companies in New Jersey are concerned about an aging workforce and difficulty finding younger drivers. "I think, for a lot of younger people, they're finding the idea of working remotely attractive, and that's not something truck drivers are at all able to do," says Trans American Trucking & Warehouse executive Craig McGraw.

Forward-thinking marketers will look less toward individual technology to advance consumers through the buying journey and will instead socialize their brands by melding social commerce into the customer experience, writes Mediaocean's Aaron Goldman. He points to the rise of increasing targeting capabilities of shoppable ad formats and social e-commerce features that enable brands to "collapse the length of the funnel between awareness and purchase."

Poor social media marketing could ruin your company's reputation, lose you followers or bore your audience, so Inklyo has shared a list of 15 things not to do. Of the 15, bragging tops the list, as too much self-promotion is a turnoff, as is sloppiness, so make sure to proofread your posts or invest in an editing service, if needed.

You can likely skip meetings where you're not the decision-maker or providing key information, especially if you can be informed after the fact, writes Scott Eblin. Don't let a fear of missing out keep you from reclaiming your time, he writes.

Managers can't avoid difficult conversations just because they are worried about upsetting employees or assume improvement isn't possible, writes Marlene Chism. Consider the focus of the employee's problem -- skills or resources are two possibilities -- and make these conversations more personal than email or texting, she writes.

Old school distribution is about stocking inventory, taking orders and serving demand. New school distribution is about innovating through customer services and working side-by-side with customers in the real world. The future of distribution is about solving problems in your customer's business -- often before your customer even knows a problem exists. Innovate to Dominate provides breakthrough ideas, lessons from leading distributors who are innovating and inspiration to help you lead your customers into the future and sustain your competitive advantage.

As an Emerge client for two plus years, International Wholesale's John Boji states, "Emerge has been a key resource for all our transportation needs here at International Wholesale. Not only have we saved time for everyone in the office, but we have brought down our freight costs at the same time. I recommend Emerge for any shipper that needs a portal to streamline their transportation needs." Read more about how NAW partner Emerge helps curb freight market volatility.

Designed for C-suite executives, these virtual roundtables provide actionable strategies that will help put your COVID-19 recovery plan in place! Companies belonging to this community are from distribution firms between $100 million and up to a billion in annual sales. You'll engage in robust conversations with your peers and hear from industry experts on topics to help your business transition to the new normal -- all in the comfort of your own office/home! Register today.