Indian River Consulting Group's Pandemic Revenue Index of 13 distributors increased by 12.1% the week of Nov. 30-Dec. 4. It was "the largest non-holiday increase the index has experienced," IRCG's Mike Emerson writes.

Optimas OE Solutions CEO Marc Strandquist is a self-described "fastener rat" with decades of industry experience. He discusses why he took on this role, where Optimas can expand and the state of the fastener industry.

Embracing electric vehicles can help the trucking industry save fuel costs and better deal with new regulations by avoiding retrofitting older vehicles. "Once you move beyond the initial investment that accompanies purchasing an electric truck, these vehicles may end up paying for themselves," writes Emily Folk.

Grow an engaged and loyal audience with a business-to-business marketing blog that uses the power of transformational storytelling, Tamar Weiss writes. Weiss suggests that B2B marketers use blogs to tell stories about overcoming setbacks, share original research or data and feature real stories from customers.

Collaboration is key in sales meetings, and it's important to use presentation tools to engage buyers and retain their interest during video calls, writes Mike Schultz. "You may only have a limited time for your meeting, but make sure you let the presentation breathe so buyers can think and ask questions, and they're not just being bombarded with information," Schultz writes.

Exhaustion can't be overcome by determination, only by admitting the problem, cutting back and finding something besides work to fill your day, writes Scott Eblin. "When you're feeling exhausted, you need to step back and assess," he writes. He offers a checklist, inspired by the advice of his wife, Diane, of ways to mitigate exhaustion.

One way for leaders to improve team productivity is to conduct a skills gap analysis so that they understand strengths and weaknesses before attempting any sort of training or other assistance, writes Naphtali Hoff. Leaders also need to be tracking trends in automation, future skills and emerging jobs, he writes.

NAW's first Digital Summit, Jan. 27-28, will be an event like none other hosted in the history of NAW. As we turn the page on 2020 and enter 2021, our event will focus on "Leading in a Time of Transition." This highly interactive virtual event will capture your attention from start to finish. We're including some surprise content and speakers you'll only experience if you attend our event. All of these are reasons for you to bring more team members to this event. Register today!

Attend NAW's free webinar, "Value-Added Services as a Survival Strategy: Real Value Isn't Free," on Dec. 15, at 2 p.m. Eastern. Many distributors historically gave away services as part of selling products. Now that assortment and availability have been commoditized, they find that a strong service menu can differentiate them from their competitors. However, "free" services are usually poorly developed and managed and they include costs without clear revenues. There is a better alternative; join us to learn all about it.

Are you well-informed about different best practices and knowledge in our industry? If not, NAW's Top 10 E-book List can help get you up-to-speed quickly so you and your business can stay competitive in these challenging times.