Comparable sales at Genuine Parts' Motion Industries business fell by 8.7% in the third quarter when accounting for the divestiture of EIS. Motion Industries did post $125.6 million in operating profit, although that was also down from a year earlier.
A sound IT governance strategy covers not only regulatory compliance and risk management, but also policy enforcement and an approach that offers scalable solutions, writes Scott Cameron, senior architect for cloud and data center transformation at Insight Enterprises. He looks at how a holistic governance approach can be applied when looking at cloud options, the value organizations can expect and multi-cloud environments management options.
PPE Procurement Best Practices The need for PPE has grown exponentially, and will only rise with the reopening of stores, businesses, and workplaces. Most everyone is procuring PPE, but not everyone will receive the same quality products nor pay the same prices. Fit your budget, while considering shipping, logistics, customs clearance and other factors that will impact cost and quality. WATCH THE WEBINAR HERE
Amazon and its Amazon Business unit have successfully used artificial intelligence to make product recommendations, generate relevant search results and provide advertising for third-party sellers, writes Benj Cohen. He writes that distributors can do the same and should take advantage of their "multichannel sales structures, decades of data and hard-earned customer loyalty."
Converting to an electric truck fleet is more complicated than using conventional trucks and requires an infrastructure with multiple partners, industry experts said at a recent educational session. The conversion is often rewarded with government incentives, but it requires installing charging stations and coordinating with utility companies.
How retailers should embrace the new normal The pandemic has reshaped consumer behaviors and the customer experience, most likely permanently. As we look to 2021, retailers need to focus on planning for the future with strategies that meet both the immediate and long-term needs of their customers and maximize the potential of all their sales channels. Join SmartBrief and retail industry experts to explore how the retail landscape has changed this year and how retailers can succeed in 2021.
Creating a superior customer experience is critical for driving business-to-business sales, writes Sam O'Brien, who describes how to do so with five tips. Start by reviewing the current customer experience to identify improvement areas, adopt an omnichannel strategy and increase personalization, O'Brien recommends.
Sales managers who worry about which activity to prioritize among prospecting, account development, opportunity management and other tasks are missing the point, writes David Brock. "None of these areas stands alone -- each impacts the other, each cannot exist without the other," Brock writes.
Wally Bock writes that his mother always asked, "What good can we make of this?" even when she was diagnosed with cancer, as a way to see possibilities in challenges. Asking this question is a way leaders can wisely help their employees adjust to the changes brought on by the pandemic, Bock writes.
One quarter of workers have considered leaving their jobs due to pandemic-driven stress, according to a study by SAP and AP-NORC. The survey reveals 80% of respondents said they felt positively about their employer's response to the pandemic, and 62% of Black employees said the pandemic is a major cause of stress, in comparison to 39% of white employees.
According to David Bauders, CEO of SPARXiQ Intelligent Sales and Profit Acceleration, "As modern buyers have embraced self-service (via internet searches, social media and e-commerce platforms) for much of their buyer journey, the need for traditional sellers who provide product information -- and even application insights -- has dropped radically. Buyers complete 70 percent of their journey before they even engage with sellers. COVID-19 has accelerated the pressures to boost productivity and elevate sales teams' value-add." Read his post.
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.
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.
