Jamie Ferullo took over Ingram Micro's Buffalo, N.Y., campus just months before the pandemic hit, and under his leadership, the office has made contributions to local charities and helped its employees transition to new work environments. "I think adversity is an opportunity to see one's true character, and I think this gave us great unity to band together and support one another," he says.

This summer, Walmart will test deliveries via drone using Zipline International. The pilot program will offer deliveries to customers in Arkansas and Missouri for online orders fulfilled in Pea Ridge, Ark.

Warehouse simulation technology can help businesses optimize their space, staffing and overall operations, writes Simon Shore of Korber Supply Chain. He recommends using exact computer models and fine-tuning data for the greatest possible accuracy.

Using point solutions for different on-premises and cloud environments merely "creates an ever-growing web of complicated data silos," writes Zeus Kerravala of ZK Research. Kerravala recommends data-management-as-a-service tools, citing cost efficiency and reduced burden on IT departments.

Salespeople should make a habit of sending an email to buyers before sales meetings to recap previous conversations and set a road map for the upcoming meeting, Chris Dankowski writes. A recap email also organizes the sales process nicely and creates an opportunity for buyers to pull in other decision-makers, if necessary.

Marketers should focus on customer retention and reducing churn rates to propel growth, writes Petra Odak, who outlines five steps to winning back customers using targeted content. Odak explains how to identify the most valuable customers before targeting them with personalized content addressing the reasons why they left your business.

People seeking fulfillment should identify their intrinsic drivers, seek those qualities in other people and look to serve others, Arthur Brooks writes. "And lest you think this makes a person passive or unambitious, note that there is a significant body of evidence showing that a focus on the good of one's institution (as opposed to oneself) enhances career success as well," he writes.

We're expecting record attendance, including more than 150 first-time attendees, at NAW's first-ever Digital Summit, Jan. 27-28! Get your registration in now. Use NAW's special 5- and 10-pack registrations to bring your team. Join with CEOs and senior leaders of leading distribution companies from across the industry. Hear from industry leaders and experts and discuss topics relevant to your business, including learning from distribution CEOs on our "Leading in a Time of Transition" panel, and share in peer-to-peer networking and idea exchange. Register here.

NAW has just completed its 7-part series, How Technology Will Transform Wholesale Distribution -- 7 free research reports and 7 free webinars, with Ian Heller and Jonathan Bein of Distribution Strategy Group. Based on new research conducted with wholesaler-distributors, manufacturers and distributor customers, this series provides the intelligence you need to formulate new strategies for 2021 and ensure that your company thrives through this era of technology disruption and transformation. If you missed any part of this series, you can catch up now.

Are you prepared for the largest interchange rate increase to impact B2B credit card payments in more than a decade? Stream the informative webinar from NAW Trusted Partner Unified Payments Group to see a demo of modular cash application solutions for ERPs and 0% Cost Credit Card Acceptance with compliant surcharge technology.