D&H Distributing reported 19% sales growth for the most fiscal year that ended April 30, with cloud sales up 160% year over year and value-added reseller sales up 34%. "At times our business can seem transactional, but relationships matter, both with the manufacturers and the reseller partners," says co-President Michael Schwab.

Distributors in North America, Europe and elsewhere reported a myriad of disruptions since the pandemic began, with rising costs, increased competition, more regulation and uncertain customer demand among the leaders, according to a Sage Group survey.

A new Prologis report illustrates the need for additional warehouse space and highlights trends such as restocking of inventories and increasing consumer confidence. "Structural demand tailwinds, including e-commerce and resilient supply chains, mean that economic growth requires more logistics space than ever before," says Prologis' Heather Belfor. "At the same time, rising barriers to new supply will limit the number of deliveries in the most in-demand locations."

It's easier to sell a solution when you can illustrate the operational value of what you're offering, writes Colleen Francis. Operational value consists of the tangible and intangible side benefits of a product or service, many of which can help improve the buyer's performance, simplify processes or reduce costs, she writes.

Facebook has launched a downloadable 10-page guide, focused on Workplace, to help businesses use live video for internal events. The guide discusses six key areas, including event planning, promotion, audience engagement and host authenticity.

Companies implementing organizational change should establish a plan, assign leaders, clearly communicate to remote workers and build in training programs, writes Simki Dutta. "It's also important to make way for two-way communication where employees can be encouraged to ask questions about the recent changes," she advises.

Workplace experiments should start with visualization exercises and be organized in a way that allows for ongoing adjustments, writes David Bland. You want as few experiments as possible running simultaneously, or else you risk not completing any of them.

The pandemic is nearly over and it's time for distributors to apply the lessons from the last year so they can grow their businesses faster in the future. Join NAW and Distribution Strategy Group for our free webinar on May 19 at 2 p.m. ET. Watch this 1-minute webinar preview. Find out what distributors said about their sales in the pandemic, what their 2021 forecasts are, their work-from-home policy, how their website and digital tools performed, which digital tools they'll invest in, and more. Sponsored by Oracle Netsuite and Conexiom. Register here.

According to Benj Cohen of Proton.ai, "If you're not adopting AI because you're concerned you won't get ROI or you're waiting for the technology to mature, stop procrastinating. You already have the data. If you prioritize alignment in the organization and invest in a solution that checks the right boxes, you will be far along the path to getting ROI from AI." Read his post.

How have distributors been innovating their business during the pandemic? Find that out and much more from 10 distributors who tell their stories and share ideas for both surviving and thriving in a drastically changed business environment. Author Mark Dancer shares up-to-the-minute ideas and insights from distributor leaders based on their experiences and lessons learned from the coronavirus pandemic. Order this just-released e-chapter, "Distribution Leans In: Stories of Resiliency and Innovation During the COVID-19 Pandemic."