Fastenal tallied earnings of $178.7 million on $1.28 billion in revenue during the fourth quarter, with sales up 3.7% from a year earlier. Annual earnings totaled $790.9 million on $5.33 billion in revenue, as sales increased 7.4%.
Distributors should understand that Generation Z will prioritize "great work cultures," says Jagoda Wieczorek, HR manager for Resumelab. Small and medium-sized distributors will find that Generation Z employees can be valuable collaborators, particularly because they are comfortable with technology and learning new concepts with little outside help, adds Marcie Merriman of EY.
Business-to-business marketers must improve their efforts at the awareness and post-purchase stage of the funnel to cultivate leads seeking problem-solving advice and maximize customer loyalty and retention, Danielle Block writes. Employing behavioral data based on psychological buying drivers is one way to put the customer at the forefront of solution-based messaging, she advises.
Zen Media CEO Shama Hyder explores three trends in business-to-business experience marketing, including the integration of corporate social responsibility into experiences and opportunities offered by augmented reality, automation and artificial intelligence. Sensory experiences incorporating taste, touch and smell should also be on B2B marketers' radars, she writes.
Research suggests that leaders with high levels of discipline and love have better-performing teams and less turnover than leaders who try to please or rule over employees, writes John Eades, CEO of LearnLoft. "Leaders whose style is to elevate their employees report having high-performing teams at rates better than all other styles combined," he writes.
Improve your conversations by thinking about what the other person needs -- do they need advice or problem-solving, for instance, or do they just want to be heard? "My opinion might be well reasoned, deeply thoughtful, and based on years of experience, but it is still just my opinion," writes John Spence.
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Designed for C-suite executives, these roundtables provide actionable strategies and best practices that will increase your company's competitive advantage. Member companies belonging to 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.
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