North Stars: The Distributor’s Original GPS In Defense of My North Stars Why I Still Trust My North Stars (Even in the Age of AI) By Frank Hurtte Forgive the extra titles, I just couldn't decide on the perfect one to reflect this post! I’m not exactly sure when the concept of “North Stars” first became part of my thinking. It may have been from Peter Drucker, whose books-on-tape I devoured back when I was a young sales guy working through an MBA reading list on the road. Drucker hammered home the importance of enduring principles and mission-driven leadership. Later, Jim Collins in Good to Great reinforced this idea, showing how great companies cling to their core values even as they navigate massive change. For me, North Stars are those steadfast principles that offer clarity and direction, especially when markets shift and trends whirl around like the weather here in the Midwest. Never one to let a solid idea slip by, I developed my own set of North Stars for distributors...

Tariff Troubles & Supply Chain Scandals By Desiree Grace & Frank Hurtte The plot twists are enough to give you vertigo. Your friends are now your enemies, or are they frenemies? Your cousin next door is persona non grata, and your old arch-nemesis is now your bestie. The pairings and couplings get stranger and stranger. No, we are not talking about daytime drama, aka Soap Operas. It’s “Tariff-Time!” What to do? You can’t change the channel. Eating popcorn and sitting on your couch isn’t advisable, either. Let’s break down some of the challenges and talk about how to cope. While the numbers and countries impacted change by the hour, directionally, we know that products and components sourced from the bid C, China, are most impacted. This impact will flood downstream from manufacturers to distributors and end-users, with potential impact on rep agents, too.  Major issues and concerns – Manufacturers: • Manufacturers are concerned that tariff prices will impact their market ...

Last week I had the opportunity to meet with a number of distributors at the EPICOR INSIGHTS conference in Las Vegas.  Actually, I had the honor of speaking to the group on the future of distribution.   Just to give you an idea of the content, we covered four main topics: ⦁ Technology Power and the need for distributors to quickly embrace cloud computing technology. ⦁ Artificial Intelligence and how to start using it today instead of waiting five years. ⦁ Demographic Trends and how to profitably ride the shifting tides. ⦁ Positioning for the next Recession.  The economists are saying 2022, so we have a couple of years to prepare. During conversations, I had the chance to meet up with several distributors who had read my book, The Distributors Fee-based Service Manifesto , and followed the principles laid out in the book.   These folks had successfully moved low-profit customers to the right side of the profitability charts and were enjoying the...

Just in case you happen to be one of the three people on the planet not familiar with the term AI (or Artificial Intelligence for long), the topic seems to be the subject of thousands of blogs; technical, political and otherwise. Based on a few of the headlines I have seen, AI is destined to: • Take jobs away from millions of people (ranging from drivers to cardiologists) • Destroy the Earth (which kind of reminds me of a million old drive-in movies) • Change Human Relationships (where people seek robots for companionship) • Replace people in Burger Joints (I wonder if a robot will ask if I want fries?) If time permitted, I could go on and on with other examples of scary headlines. I won’t. Before I proceed further, allow me to say, a 1950s kids book about AI launched me into my career in technology. Even at age eight, I thought AI sounded like a pretty cool concept. Allow me to digress. Danny Dunn and the Homework Machine changed the course of my life. A brief recap of t...

Research by industry consultant Brent Grover indicates the typical distributor invests over $150,000 before a salesperson generates profit for the company. Here’s an attention grabber, that new guy out there struggling to figure things out is burning through dollars like a forest fire. A couple of months ago, I hosted a meeting of new distributor salespeople. Their common link; they all had fewer than 18 months experience in the outside role. We asked which of them had any training when they hit the road. Unfortunately, most were introduced to their new job the same way as their bosses: “Here’s the key to the company car, there’s your territory, go forth and sell.” Despite high costs and financial mounting financial pressures, most distributors start new salespeople off without a well thought out onboarding process. One of the critical points of bringing on any new salesperson comes in setting process expectations. They start their career without truly understanding some ...

Created by Kues1 - Freepik.com Looking back at American manufacturing, a New Renaissance took place in the latter two decades of the 20th Century.  It started slowly, but by the mid-1990s, companies large and small began to apply principles tied to lean manufacturing and the related quest for continuous improvement. Coming out of the movement was the “Black Belt.”  Initially, Black Belts worked entirely within the manufacturing process; leading teams through what was once viewed as the hazy world of plant floor work and material flows. By the turn of the new millennium, the concept had been pushed to other processes. Things like order flows, procurement systems and even human-centric processes were scrutinized.  Similar to the manufacturing world, massive improvements were made.  Companies enjoyed new found efficiencies and gained a competitive advantage. One person saw the advantage of putting the same principle to work on the pricing process.  Enter ...

Last week, we explored the distractions presented to management during solid growth economies. Process breakdowns and loss of strategic initiative focus were on our minds.   This week we cover a couple of people related topics which can create roadblocks to success in distribution.  Since people represent the biggest single expense for distributors – actually something like 60 percent of our gross margin dollars go to employees – it’s prudent to explore the potential pitfalls. Issue Three:  Good Economies Drive up People Costs One byproduct of growth economies is an overall increased call for good people; the law of supply and demand kicks in.   Since distributors are notorious for poaching employees rather than developing themselves, the prevailing wage goes up.  Sales departments are heavily affected because the business level gives commission paid guys a lift in compensation.  Hiring someone during the upswing mostly sets a new base-li...