Roughly two-thirds of US distributors and wholesalers sell online, although most companies surveyed by Digital Commerce 360 generate 25% or less of total sales through e-commerce. Many distributors lack the proper investment of time, focus or technology, said Karie Daudt, senior commerce consultant for Perficient Digital.

Small- and medium-sized businesses are one of the hot markets for Tech Data, CEO Rich Hume says. "[W]e're very focused on cloud, analytics, IoT, security and services, and we believe that those are the growth areas for the future moving forward," he says.

Pricing training for sales, a dedicated pricing organization and margins-focused incentives are among the ways distributors can create more value through pricing, write Alex Abdelnour and Walter Baker. One electrical distributor's "pricing 'war room' evaluates requests for exceptions, tracking their frequency and depth, analyzing deal economics, and providing sales reps with real-time guidance on prevailing prices," they write.

Distributors should look to have quick access to error-free data in one system with storage that can scale, says Mark Simoncelli of Frost & Sullivan. "We encourage distributors to be creative, analyze some new data, and test a new promotion, for example," says Niraj Tenany of Netwoven.

Marketo Engage's Brian Glover talks about why business-to-business and business-to-consumer marketing are now overlapping and what that means for engaging B2B buyers. "Regardless of whether it's a personal purchase or purchase for work, people are not buying a product or service, they're buying an experience," he says.

It's important to build rapport with prospects, and sales representatives can do so by getting them to talk about themselves, writes Mike Schultz. Focus on being authentic instead of presenting the image of a hyper-polished salesperson and create shared experiences that allow for mutual connections with customers, Schultz advises.

Face down uncertainty by writing out your fears, considering your biases and preparing as best you can for any outcome, writes LaRae Quy. "Most of our really hard decisions come down to values and how we weigh the ones that are most important," Quy writes.

Real companies are finding real solutions and practical steps to attracting and keeping their best employees with "Optimizing Human Capital Development." You've got to have the right arsenal to keep your top performers and build your competitive advantage. Grounded in research and a data-driven approach with 18 leading distributors, this study includes 25 sets of talent best practices, 16 action steps and 62 real-world distributor examples. Read the table of contents and introduction.

NAW Institute for Distribution Excellence Fellow, J. Michael Marks, says: "For many distributors, growth has been stagnant. The question is -- why? Partly because of their sales-oriented mentality, a senior executive may hear responses such as 'we need to hire more sales reps' or 'increase sales calls.' However, the real solution to market access is understanding what's occurring in your markets and responding appropriately. It's about running from the one-size-fits-all approach and reconsidering your position in the supply chain." Read his post.

Two things are clear: Major portions of the sales process will be digitized, and the sales force isn't going anywhere. What portions will be digitized and what new value-add will be created? What will remain in the hands of the sales force? Find out the answers to these questions and more by joining this cutting-edge NAW and Texas A&M University consortium, and you'll be ahead of the rest of the industry. Get details and sign up.