Graybar reported net sales of $8.8 billion and net income of $262.4 million for 2021, both setting records. "Though global disruption will likely continue, we remain focused on investing in growth and innovation to move our company forward, while we live the core values that have been the foundation of our success for many years," said Chairman, President and CEO Kathleen Mazzarella.

Walmart has focused on aggressively growing its third-party marketplace over the past year, more than a decade after its launch, with new perks for sellers including free storage and discounts on fulfillment services. Third-party sellers report mixed experiences selling on the site, from Illuminate Labs, which pulled its products after a year because of low sales, to Ria's Beauty Collection, which grew sales by 50% after launching on the platform.

SpartanNash, working with disaster relief agency Convoy of Hope, has begun shipping food and other essential supplies to eastern Europe to help Ukrainian refugees. Using its global supply network, the Grand Rapids, Mich.-based retailer has vowed to deliver $1 million in goods, including bottled water, baby formula and personal care items, and has also donated an additional $25,000 in cash to Convoy of Hope to get meals to families.

Terminal operators at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach attribute a steadier flow of containers from Southern California ports to inland destinations to a seasonal lull, decreased COVID-19-related absenteeism and increased port space, but expect supply chain bottlenecks to resume later in the year. There were 48 vessels waiting to unload at the ports on Sunday, down from the record high of 109 in January, but up from the average of one or two pre-pandemic.

Now that many B2B operations have shifted their focus from products to customers, it's time to personalize the experience for those customers, even if an actual person is not the target, writes Scott Gillum, founder of the B2B consultancy Carbon Design. "Don't rest on thinking you have the right content, at the right place in the buying process, in the right channel," Gillum writes.

Sales project management has five key benefits, including helping salespeople understand what they're responsible for and on what timetables, writes Jay Fuchs. "Leveraging project management tactics to support your sales org's objectives and broader goals makes your sales efforts more manageable, productive and efficient," Fuchs writes.

Sales training is difficult because of the cross-disciplinary nature of the profession, which requires salespeople to go beyond specialization and learn about other functions to truly succeed, writes Mary Shea. Sales managers sometimes make it harder on themselves by using "gut instinct" to determine sales strategy, Shea notes.

A popular management approach is to look at other industries for ideas your business can use, but putting this into practice is difficult when managers don't feel empowered to do so, writes Graham Kenny, CEO of KMS Education and Strategic Factors. "Lack of mandate and lack of authority are overcome by establishing an empowered team," Kenny writes.

Help your company develop strategic thinkers and an agile team when your employees participate in this one-week course. The NAW Distribution Leadership Program draws on the latest business practices, tailored to the distribution industry, and those business practices are delivered by award-winning faculty from The Ohio State University's Fisher College of Business. Register your leaders today!

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