Industrial Distribution Magazine has a fun short video feature that provides insight into the world of distribution. This is perfect for someone who doesn't have time to read lengthy articles.  Frank had the honor of being featured recently as he discussed the reasons behind his book, The New Sales Guy Project. Check out 5 Minutes with ID  HERE .

Last week Industrial Distribution Magazine’s Jack Keough put out a recap the Alan Beaulieu economic report as delivered to the National Association of WholesaleDistributor (NAW) Executive Summit.  I was immediately attracted to the article for three reasons.   First, Alan and his team at ITR Economics actually tracks indicators tied to our industry; we’re not talking pie in the sky stuff political puffery (as seen on TV.)  They have no political axe to grind.  For instance, they continue to make the point, the winning President has almost zero impact on the economy for the first 18 months they are in office. Alan and ITR Economics are accurate.  I have been following them for something like twenty years.  During that time, they have accurately predicted the ups and downs of our industry with the greatest of ease.  Further, they called the “Great Recession” of 2008 to within 30 days and very accurately predicted a number of other ups and...

www.inddist.com I just had the opportunity to review Industrial Distribution Magazine’s annual survey .  This year they focused on distributor value and quite frankly, I am not shocked by the results.  I am, however, deeply disappointed.  The survey question asked “Which are the primary reasons your customers do business with you?”  The respondents reported the following reasons: 85.17% Relationship 74.16% Product Availability 68.42% Technical Support 62.20% Delivery Time 50.72% Price 31.10% Engineering Capabilities 30.62% Vendor Managed Inventory 28.23% 24x7 Support 3.35%    Other This was the 69 th edition of this survey; meaning the very first edition fell well before my father started in the distribution business back in the 50s.  Silly me, but somehow I imagined our industry had progressed. With a couple exceptions, the results look like something straight out of 1965.   I am disenchan...