AmerisourceBergen reported $132.6 million in fiscal fourth-quarter earnings on $45.64 billion in revenue. During the fiscal year, AmerisourceBergen's earnings totaled $855.4 million on $179.59 billion in revenue.

Aiming for better demand forecasts and a more streamlined operation, Hickory, N.C.-based Alex Lee is employing artificial intelligence at its subsidiary, Merchants Distributors. "Our primary goal is to ensure that MDI customers continue to grow profitably and create loyalty with their customers - so we needed technology that helps us more quickly understand market trends, react faster and invest in the right products," said Anita Harris, chief information officer of Alex Lee, which is also the parent company of Lowes Foods.

EBP Supply Solutions updates its strategic plan each year while retaining signature characteristics within leadership such as hustle and determination, Andi Curry writes. "We are consistently looking for new ways to delight our customers in an environment of changing expectations, different buying habits and unlimited information," CEO Meredith Reuben says.

Companies must consider what they want customers to say about their experiences and how employee behavior can enhance the customer experience when creating their cultures and hiring people, according to former Disney executive Dennis Snow. "Be the company that actually does something about [barriers to top customer service] by engaging your folks," Snow says.

Avid Chief Marketing Officer Melissa Puls talks about the importance of proving marketing's return on investment and marketing to both business-to-business prospects and consumers by taking a human, personal approach. "[W]hether you're an enterprise buyer or you're an individual creative, you're a person," she says.

Business buyers prefer to do research before making a purchase, with 34% of purchasing managers researching at least four websites, according to a Digital Commerce 360 B2B survey. Just 25% of B2B purchases are made by a single individual, and 37% of B2B buyers said they spend at least a month evaluating a specialty product purchase.

Teams tasked with heavy workloads and pressing demands need transparent communication amid the onslaught, writes David Banger. "[L]eaders and senior team members can lead by example ... by making communication a priority," he writes.

Successful companies always watch industry trends and take calculated risks on new innovations instead of relying on past products and practices, writes PathGuide President and CEO Eric Allais. "Keeping your ear to the ground is always a better strategy than being blindsided and frantically reacting to an unforeseen pivot from a competitor," he writes.

NAW Institute Fellow Mark Dancer and Mike DeCata, President and CEO of Lawson Products, will have a lively and informative discussion about how distributors can lead in the age of B2B innovation, defeating disruption and reinvigorating our business economy through digital transformation. Register for NAW's Nov. 14 "Welcome to the Age of B2B Innovation" webinar, sponsored by PROS. Can't attend? Register anyway and we'll send you a webinar replay link.

Billion Dollar Company CEOs, CFOs, operation executives, CHROs, CLOs, and CIOs attend these roundtables to benchmark solutions and strategies from distribution executives who are at the top of their game. The companies invited into this community are from distribution firms that exceed $1 billion in annual sales. Participating in this 24-hour, results-focused business meeting is one of the best ways to learn from your C-suite peers in distribution -- who aren't competitors! Register today.

In this blog post, NAW Institute Fellow and Author Mark Dancer and his co-author on this post, Magnus Meier, Global Vice President for Wholesale Distribution at SAP, explore how distributors can leverage their understanding of why new experiences matter for customers and go beyond merely matching what virtual transactions offer. Read their blog post. For much more on this topic, replay their SAP-sponsored webinar, "Reboot the Real World: Beating Disruption through Human-Centric Innovations."