Tech Data's IT, marketing departments focus on collaboration | Univar agrees to sell environmental sciences unit | Dancer: Innovate based upon the customer experience
Tech Data's IT and marketing departments have learned to work together as part of the company's ongoing digital transformation, says Chief Information Officer John Tonnison. "If any company at this point is thinking that technology is a department, they're at least 50 years behind," he says.
Univar Solutions will sell its environmental services assets for $195 million, with that business rebranding after the acquisition closes. AEA Investors, through affiliates, is the purchaser.
What's on tap in manufacturing and distribution in 2020? [Webinar now on-demand] Experts from Netsuite and Deloitte discuss 2020 trends and technologies that will drive business, how to respond to a growing demand for price transparency, why now is the time to invest in updating back-office systems and more. Watch now.
Distribution employees at all levels must show curiosity and use data to evaluate ideas as part of a culture of innovation, says NAW Institute for Distribution Excellence Fellow Mark Dancer. "If you really want your innovations to knock the ball out of the park, focus on success measures based on how customers judge you," Dancer says.
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Brian Brodeur describes why social video should be an integral part of business-to-business marketing strategies and outlines what works best with audiences, such as emotional storytelling to showcase brand values. He also explains the benefits of social video to educate prospects, connect with mobile users and boost lead generation.
Successful salespeople tend to have a sense of personal responsibility and look to their mistakes for ways to improve instead of blaming others, writes Colleen Francis. When hiring, ask about lost sales or specific challenges from the past to see how well job candidates take responsibility for failures and learn from them, Francis writes.
For small businesses dealing with high shipment volumes or complex products, having to fulfill every new order in-house can quickly become overwhelming. But given their limited resources, how can small businesses grow more efficient without depleting their budget or overwhelming their staff? The answer might just be on-demand warehousing.
As businesses like Amazon and Walmart introduce streamlined services for e-commerce fulfillment and distribution, customer expectations are evolving in-kind. But without equal funding, how can small and mid-sized companies optimize their supply chains to remain competitive? For a growing number of firms, the answer is on-demand warehousing.
American culture values long hours, but individuals can put habits and limits into place to minimize the risk of burnout, writes John Baldoni. One step is to "[i]temize things you can stop doing immediately without affecting your performance," he writes.
Southern Towing Company President and CEO Ed Grimm has a long career on ships and winning patents, and he took the CEO job as a way to pass on his knowledge to executives and new hires alike. The company shares all the requirements for each job and emphasizes qualifications over seniority, which "really reinforces that our focus is on quality and what you put in is what you get out," he says.
Called the "Master class in innovation for distributors," "Innovate to Dominate: The 12th Edition in the Facing the Forces of Change Series" has arrived. A roadmap for innovation, it helps distributors connect the dots between the forces of change and how distributors can change their business to capture opportunities -- and defend their business when necessary. The best innovations are about getting ahead instead of catching up. Order your copies to read over the holidays.
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This study brings together best practices from leading distributors and their suppliers that were developed through a consortium on Optimizing Channel Compensation. The resulting Channel Alignment Framework is the first-of-its-kind map that seeks to build optimal manufacturer-distributor channels. Distributors need to read this book and buy it for their manufacturer partners. Then they need to sit down with those suppliers and properly plan effective processes to get the supplier market access while meeting distributor investment needs.
