Sysco will hire warehouse workers, drivers and other positions to meet expected demand growth and to recover headcount that's been reduced since the pandemic began. "We are intentionally retaining drivers, despite the volume decline in December, to ensure we have them available for our pending volume recovery," says President and CEO Kevin Hourican.

Cardinal Health reported earnings of $629 million on revenue of $41.54 billion for the fiscal second quarter, with both up from a year earlier.

Sally Beauty reported a 19% increase in hair color sales during the quarter ending in December from the same period in 2019, as more consumers have covered their grays at home and experimented with new shades in the past year. Sales of pink, purple, blue and other vivid colors soared 50%, continuing a trend that started before the pandemic.

US warehouses employed a record 1.29 million workers in December, and those workers were also working more hours, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Finding supply chain labor remains a leading concern, according to a survey by Resilience360.

Business-to-business marketers say the most important marketing channels since the start of the pandemic are, in order, webinars, search engine optimization and email, according to a FINITE and 93x survey. Respondents listed their biggest challenges as finding a balance between quality and quantity, digital fatigue, and measuring the correct key performance indicators.

Salespeople shouldn't waste their time constantly trying to convince their customers to think differently, as prospects won't change their minds on an issue until they open themselves to thinking differently, writes David Brock. The same applies to sales managers, who must listen effectively and understand their teams before getting them to change behaviors, Brock writes.

Leaders who don't communicate can destroy employee trust, respect and morale, writes Lolly Daskal. "It can also keep you from reaching your full potential as a leader, alienate those around you, and have a negative impact on the performance and results your leadership is judged by," she writes.

During this 90-minute open discussion, you'll exchange ideas with a trusted network of C-suite peers in distribution. Companies belonging to this community are from firms between $100 million and up to $1 billion in annual sales. There is no formal agenda or speakers -- just you and more than a dozen of your friends in distribution discussing today's pressing issues. Last year, participants shared how they were protecting their employees during the pandemic and more. Don't miss this opportunity. Register today!

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.

Pradip Krishnadevarajan, co-author of NAW's "Pricing Optimization: Striking the Right Balance for Margin Advantage," discusses how "pricing" is one of the most complex day-to-day decisions in any business environment, and the distribution industry is no exception. In fact, pricing is the most critical profitability lever for distributors due to their position in the supply chain, ever-increasing competition, and other business forces like commoditization and globalization. There are six primary pricing variables that he calls, the Six Faces of a Pricing Cube. Read his post.