Distributors can navigate recession fears and ongoing inflation by using industry-specific data to inform decisions, as well as keeping enough free cash on hand and retaining employees, says Michael Guckes, senior economist at ConstructConnect. Companies also should have multiple suppliers and ask customers to pay a little more for products "if you can assure availability," Guckes says.

The nature of distribution jobs is changing, thanks to automation and other technology, so the sector must learn how to promote "less repetitive and more interesting jobs" to younger people, writes Magnus Meier, global vice president for wholesale distribution at SAP. To ensure staffing levels, Meier recommends emphasizing the economic value of distribution, partnering with universities and community colleges, and upskilling interested employees for "higher-level, more cognitively demanding -- and fulfilling -- work."

Supply chain professionals' expectations regarding technology have peaked, and adoption has slowed due to high costs and challenges in realizing returns, according to Gartner's Hype Cycle for Supply Chain Strategy, 2022. Gartner predicts that newer technologies such as blockchain and advanced analytics will achieve a "Plateau of Productivity" in five to 10 years and will "become essential for organizations that want to advance their supply chain resilience."

Companies can strengthen their e-commerce operations by choosing a distribution partner that provides "an integrated solution with e-commerce shipping software," writes Lynne Roof, product marketing director at QAD Precision. E-commerce partners and technology should also support real-time tracking, multiple return options and multilingual capabilities, among other things, Roof writes.

Weak sales pitches, incomplete personalized information on sales targets and inadequate sales decks are among this year's top seven reasons for losing a deal, writes Henry Spitzer, vice president of sales for Lusha. Focusing on volume over quality no longer works, plus it "alienates buyers and wastes valuable time" needed to gather data for a finely tuned sales strategy, Spitzer writes.

Business-to-business marketing leaders talk about what needs to change for the industry to realize its potential, including an agency model revamp, a focus on brand experience and more investment in branding. "Familiarity drives consideration, and it drives all perceptions that underpin consideration," notes Gravity Global's Fran Gibbs, while Chris Bagnall, CEO and founder of Transmission, asserts, "From the point of view of attribution, unification between channels and the customer journey, the whole historical view of how agencies have been set up has been wrong."

Top leaders always strive to show up at their best, prepared and aware that every situation could hold bigger opportunities than they may know about, writes Kevin Eikenberry. "Showing up with a positive expectation of both our performance and the result plays a big part in our success," Eikenberry writes.

Avoid the pain of "quiet quitting" among your team members by listening to their unique needs and restructuring their jobs to increase engagement, satisfaction and flexibility, write business professors Anthony Klotz and Mark Bolino. "[L]eaders must prioritize creating an environment in which workers feel safe speaking up, in which they believe that the organization cares about them, and in which they can have confidence that leadership will hear and address their concerns," they write.

The NAW Large Company Roundtables are an exclusive community of thought leaders from Large Company distribution enterprises who congregate to network with non-competing peers in multiple lines of trade on key issues. The companies invited into this community are from distribution firms at or above $100M and $999M in annual sales. Register today!