Grainger is helping customers during the pandemic by using data and better search results to direct buyers to the most relevant products, Chairman and CEO D.G. Macpherson says.

Indian River Consulting Group's Pandemic Revenue Index of 12 distributors declined by 0.7% the week of Sept. 14 to 18. "When looking at average daily sales, this is the first decrease since the beginning of August," IRCG says.

Amazon Business' revenue will surpass $31 billion within three years as it continues to expand its logistics operations, says RBC Capital Markets Managing Director Mark Mahaney. "They are building out the lowest-cost distribution business out there, whether they are serving customers in their home or serving businesses," he says.

Artificial intelligence can't stop zero-day or advanced threats, generates too many false positives and can't learn fast enough to keep up with cybercriminals' malware, writes Peter Margaris of Skybox Security. Margaris instead suggests context-aware automation because "resources are tight and complexity abounds."

Salespeople often claim they want to partner with potential clients when what they really want to do is simply sell a product or service, writes David Brock. True partnerships should include shared risk, resources, rewards, vision and values, Brock writes.

Distribution salespeople and customer service representatives can "flip the script from price to value" by understanding how your company can affect specific aspects of customer operations, writes Debbie Paul of Distribution Strategy Group. "Instead of focusing on today's sale, they should be asking about customer pain points and finding real solutions," she writes.

Strategy starts with how you work on yourself, including core beliefs, being accountable, understanding your reliance on other people and seeking self-improvement, writes Cam Caldwell. After all, most business problems start with intrapersonal issues and then expand outward, writes Caldwell, citing Stephen Covey.

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.

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.

Every executive wants to optimize efficiency, increase output and decrease costs. Join the discussion and learn from NAW Trusted Partner Creditsafe how automation and integration of data, financial insights, analysis and credit reporting provide a multi-tiered approach to achieving each of those goals while adding value to finance, accounting, credit, collections, sales and marketing departments.