Marketing Moment: Keiretsu (pronounced kā-rĕt′soo͞ ) By Desiree Grace Healthy eating. Cleanliness. Politeness. Respect for elders. These are traits we often associate with Japanese culture, and they’re worth admiring. But Japan’s business culture offers equally powerful lessons. After World War II, Japan partnered with the United States to rebuild its economy. (If only that level of civility and collaboration were common practice today. Imagine the progress we could make if adversaries worked together for the greater good.) From that partnership came LEAN manufacturing, Zero Work in Process, and other best practices still shaping global industry eight decades later. One of the most compelling concepts from this era is Keiretsu . What is Keiretsu? Loosely translated, Keiretsu refers to a deeply connected, intentionally cultivated business partnership, one that transcends a standard vendor-customer relationship, and certainly not anything underhanded. Instead, it is an eleva...

Gardening Your Way to Sales Growth By Desiree Grace I love raspberries. I love them so much that I’ve planted, nurtured, and harvested them at three different homes. But raspberries aren’t easy. They demand time, patience, commitment, and an understanding of what they need to thrive. Growing raspberries reminds me a lot of business development. That connection came to me recently as I picked my second massive basket of berries in just two weeks. Lesson One: Understand the Needs We won’t dive into targeting today. That’s a topic for another post, but once your target is clear, the real work begins. My target was raspberries. Yours might be local contractors, the transportation sector, or power utilities. Business development, like gardening, takes research, homework, and a lot of questions. Know your target. What do they like? What helps them grow? Raspberries need sunlight and room to spread. Your contractor might thrive on good pricing, fast delivery, and reliable em...

A Distributor Channel Marketing Moment Omnichannel or Bust: The Future of B2B Sales By Desiree Grace Your best contractor customer? He may not be your best customer for long if you can’t meet him where he’s at, be it the office, the job site, or somewhere in between. He’s busy and looking for solutions, expertise, and value. And value? It’s no longer just about price and product quality. It’s about the ease of doing business. In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, B2B buyers aren’t just searching for products; they’re demanding seamless experiences. That’s where omnichannel sales come in. It’s not just a marketing buzzword; it’s a strategic shift that’s transforming how businesses connect, sell, and grow. It’s how you maintain loyalty and earn repeat business. What Is Omnichannel Sales? Omnichannel sales is the practice of offering customers multiple integrated ways to interact with your business, across digital platforms, inside sales, in-person meetings, phone calls, video cha...

  Surviving the Sales Zombie Apocalypse: Is Your Team Brain Dead? By Frank Hurtte, River Heights Consulting In honor of Halloween and all things creepy and unsettling, let’s talk about a truly frightening business epidemic: Sales Zombies . You’ve seen them lurching around in the wild: salespeople moving through the motions, cold-calling without purpose, and chasing the same tired deals. Driven by habit instead of strategy, they slowly drain profits, eat away at customer loyalty, and leave a trail of missed opportunities. Here are four telltale signs your sales team might be showing symptoms of zombification, and how to bring them back to life. 1. Sales Zombies Don’t Understand Their Customers The best salespeople know how their customers make money, manage costs, and stay competitive. The undead ones? They don’t. Without understanding key business drivers like labor costs, inventory control, and waste, they can’t offer meaningful solutions or position themselves as tr...

From Hothead to Harvard Business Review: An EQ Journey By Desiree Grace Ever screw up in a tense situation with a colleague and kick yourself afterward? I just did that. I was irked that something got missed and was harsher with my colleague than I should have been. (J, you know who you are.) That got me thinking, it's time for a refresh on EQ, emotional intelligence, as much for my benefit as for yours. Like a lot of skills, it's use it or lose it. So, without further ado... 1. Great Leaders Have It By "great," I mean dynamic, charismatic, popular, people who build businesses and get things done. Mark Zuckerberg (Meta), Richard Branson (Virgin), Indra Nooyi (Pepsi) all have it. The ability to read a room, connect with people, and adapt to the audience— that's EQ . It's not the same as IQ, which we're all familiar with. Researchers have found that exceptional leaders have high EQ compared to average leaders and get better results. For exampl...

Your Brand Called. It Wants a Story. A Distributor Channel Marketing Moment By Desiree Grace Remember Aesop’s Fables? Perhaps you recall the story of the Tortoise and the Hare. These short tales deliver powerful lessons in a fun, memorable way. That’s the heart of content creation. When you tell a story about your brand or product in a fun and engaging way, you bring it to life. Video, music, and visuals can enhance the experience, tapping into your audience’s five senses and imagination. This not only improves brand recall when customers need your product or service, but also builds positive emotional connections. Content creation is a team player. Much like the lion in Aesop’s fable needed a friend to pull a thorn from his paw, your content creators support your overall marketing strategy. They work alongside your advertising and your copywriting—but content creation is not the same thing as copywriting. Examples of content creation include podcasts, blogs, newsletters, In...

Behind the Glamour: The Foundations of Trade Show  Success By Desiree Grace House porn. You know it when you see it, those home remodeling shows that suck you in until, suddenly, you’ve killed an hour and started planning an outdoor kitchen, a fancy mudroom, and garage storage that would make your local mechanic jealous. But here’s the thing: those shows conveniently gloss over two essentials, the cost and the infrastructure. The foundation, plumbing, electrical… all the not-so-glamorous parts that actually make the remodel possible. Trade shows and association meetings are no different. From the outside, they look easy and glamorous, you know, schmoozing with buddies, smoking cigars, swapping stories. What you don’t see is the foundation, the prep work that makes the event worth the investment. Just like a solid remodel, what happens before the spotlight determines success. Here are ways to make sure your foundation is level and watertight before your next event: Rev...

Reflections from a Road Warrior: The Power of Clean Bathrooms and Good Coffee A Distributor Channel Marketing Moment By Desiree Grace Early in my career, I logged a lot of miles in a company car across the Midwest. One of the first lessons I learned was where to stop, and where not to stop, for coffee, fuel, and the inevitable bio break. I quickly became a fan of Casey’s, and there’s a lot we can learn from them. Casey’s understands how to deliver what matters. It’s not just the gas. It’s the clean bathrooms, the fresh hot coffee, the decent beverage selection, and the surprisingly good pizza. For road warriors, those details add up. Some aspects of their customer experience aren’t obvious, but they clearly figured out what their travelers value. Let’s be honest: not all rest stops are created equal. For those of us who prefer a non-unisex bathroom, ample paper products, and reliable soap, Casey’s is a safe bet. I’ve had more than one unpleasant surprise in less-than-sanitary gas...

Supply Chain Whiplash: Survive It, or Use It to Pass the Competition By Frank Hurtte   A few years ago, I closed a six-figure deal in a gas station bathroom. Seriously, it’s no joke. How? The timing was super deluxe because the customer was ready, and I was nimble enough to close in an unusual spot. That kind of agility matters more now than ever. The supply chain is doing somersaults. One day, freight is cheap. The next day, there’s a two-week backlog. Factories shut down. Regulations shift overnight. It feels like whiplash, and everyone’s rubbing their necks. And if you’re sitting there thinking, ‘It’ll smooth out next quarter,’ let me save you the wait...it won’t. But here’s the kicker: when your competitors freeze, that’s when the real winners move. You don’t win by waiting out the chaos. You win by preparing, adapting, and spotting the openings that others miss. Let’s talk about how distributors can turn volatility into opportunity.   1. Map the Weak Links First Let's f...

AI’s Closing Argument: Frank Hurtte Remains Guilty  | By Frank Hurtte (and AI) Forward I have been a proponent of Artificial Intelligence for a very long time. In fact, one of the reasons I am sitting here today was a book I read when I was 8 years old called “Danny Dunn and the Homework Machine.” This late 1950s book for kids told the story of a young man programming a computer to do his homework. That has been my life’s dream. With that in mind, is it any wonder I have closely followed the development of ChatGPT and other platforms for the past couple of years?    I believe AI will be a game-changing tool for our industry. Those who embrace it early will definitely have a competitive edge against the “laggers.”   Last weekend, I scheduled “play time” and researched some of the new features of my favorite AI platform. After burning through a rainy morning of experimentation, I had the silly thought of testing what ChatGPT knew about me. I was working on an...

Fast Cars, Smart Marketing: The Mix That Works By Desiree Grace Lamborghinis. Maseratis. Bugattis. Ferraris. Alfa Romeos. They all make my heart race. Who doesn’t love an Italian sports car? What these brands have mastered is the Marketing Mix , the essential combination of Product, Price, Place, and Promotion that shapes their go-to-market strategy. Yes, they’re expensive. But oh my goodness, are they a joy to drive. Speed, traction, handling on the curves of a racetrack, the product is superb. The value is there. For someone who loves sports cars, the exchange of money for product makes perfect sense. Place? Highly selective distribution. You can’t just stroll into any dealer in any small town. You must journey to an authorized dealership. That exclusivity adds prestige. Promotion? If you know, you know. These aren’t brands advertised during average TV shows. Instead, they lean into prestige, exclusivity, performance, and emotion. This is not your average mass marketing plan...