Grainger came in No. 1 on Industrial Distribution's 2021 Big 50 List of distributors ranked by 2020 sales. Airgas, Genuine Parts subsidiary Motion Industries, Fastenal and Winsupply round out the top five.
HP Hood continues to evolve its marketing and product development while finding new ways to attract and keep dairy consumers. "While consumers are increasingly exploring alternative beverages to find what meets their needs, milk remains an important part of households -- particularly among families with young children," President Gary Kaneb says.
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Distributors can add value to contractors by offering services and training, particularly in relation to the pandemic. "We discuss what they need in terms of proper staffing and the correct tools and equipment to complete these new types of tasks," says Gary Rubin of Imperial Dade.
Distributors can make e-commerce platforms more valuable to customers by thinking about their needs and mapping their buying journeys, say Sam Gupta of ElevatIQ and Kristina Harrington of GenAlpha. Harrington provides several questions to ask about customer personas, including "What are their responsibilities?" and "What is all the information they need from you to make a purchasing decision?"
Most salespeople have embraced social selling, but they must be careful not to hurt their credibility by misusing this valuable tool. Salespeople should make sure their online profiles are crafted to appeal to ideal customer personas and use social selling to earn trust, not to pitch solutions.
The pandemic has given employees time to rethink their careers, and leaders should likewise rethink how they can engage and support employees, even if that means encouraging some of them to depart, says Tania Luna, co-founder of management training company LifeLabs Learning. "One of the things that I have been continuously surprised by is that both managers and organizations that have the highest retention encourage conversations with their team, with their employees about leaving,"
Big leaps in life don't happen by feeling secure but rather by "stepping into doubt, fear, and confusion," writes Dan Rockwell, who offers four things to try. "The greatest risk during breakthrough moments is the risk of doing nothing," he writes.
