United Natural Foods, SpartanNash, Hy-Vee, Associated Food Stores and others are readying for potential sales increases this winter caused by increasing coronavirus cases and holidays. "We will never again operate our business as unprepared for something like this," says Associated Food Stores executive Darin Peirce.

SRS Distribution has purchased family-owned construction material distributors in Louisiana and Washington state for undisclosed amounts. CB Wholesale in Washington has two locations, and RSI Building Products has five Louisiana locations and one site in Texas.

Distributors are staggering employee shifts, increasing cleaning and reconfiguring workspaces to reduce the risk of coronavirus infection, writes Eric Allais, president and CEO of PathGuide Technologies. "What we have found in past recessions and we're hearing again this time is that distributors -- often out of necessity -- use these slowdowns to prepare for the future," he adds.

Distributors should encourage customers to install industrial vending machines but shouldn't charge for installation or demand control over product offerings, writes Mark Hill, founder of 1sourcevend. Distributors that regularly check vending inventory and adjust reorder points will "uncover additional sales opportunities or find solutions to other customer problems," he writes.

Make sure sales content is based on customers' needs and follow up even when customers don't immediately reply in order to improve the results of your sales campaigns. Focus on metrics such as booked sales meetings and marketing qualified leads instead of email open and reply rates, writes Jacob Turner.

Confidence and gravitas aren't the same thing, but gravitas is important for being taken seriously in your organization and with clients -- and it can be learned. Gravitas comes "from deep interpersonal trust that you build by being clear about the impact you want to make on others, empathizing and finding out about the people you work with, and adhering to your sense of integrity," writes organizational and social psychologist Rebecca Newton.

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.

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.

What will be the impact of AI on distributor sales and operations? While AI hasn't transformed distribution yet, the change is coming soon. Integral to research being done by the NAW Institute is hearing directly from distributor executives. Will you please spare 5-10 minutes to help ensure that we get the most accurate data to inform this research? All individual answers will be kept confidential. In return for your time, we'll send you benchmark data on your AI readiness, and an AI opportunity analysis upon your request. Take the survey.