A note from River Heights Consulting: Frank is somewhere warm with a drink in hand, pretending not to check email. While he’s off the grid, he’s handing the mic to our friend and industry colleague, Chuck Kitchen, for a sharp look at the Mutual 3 Cs. Beyond the Model: The Mutual 3 Cs of Channel Performance Editor’s Note: This article explores the “Mutual 3 Cs” framework, a practical approach to aligning manufacturers, independent representatives, and distributors. By moving beyond one-sided expectations toward a shared commercial reality, channel relationships can operate with greater consistency, clearer coordination, and stronger long-term stability. In a recent article by Desiree Grace , Choosing the Right Sales Model , she outlines key considerations in selecting between direct, rep, and hybrid sales organizations. Once that decision is made, manufacturers must focus on how effectively the chosen structure performs in the market, particularly when independent representatives a...

Against the Grain: How Guinness Wins in a Declining Market By Desiree Grace If you’re still recovering from St. Patrick’s Day or catching your breath after your March Madness bracket busted, it’s the perfect moment to appreciate a bit of irony. After the Super Bowl, St. Patrick’s Day, and the biggest tip-off of the year, overall beer consumption in the U.S. continues to decline. But not all beer. Guinness is growing, up roughly 14% in some markets, and in some areas...demand has even outpaced supply. Not bad for a beer that’s been around since 1759. In a shrinking category, Guinness is going against the grain. Why? Most explanations stop at surface-level observations: lower alcohol content, strong branding, social media buzz. All true. But they miss the deeper point. Guinness hasn’t just sold more beer. It has turned a commodity product into a controlled, shareable experience. That distinction matters. Guinness Isn’t Just Selling Beer, It’s Selling the Pour Yes, younger consumers, esp...

Your Greatest Competitive Advantage Is Your People. Are You Investing Accordingly? In distribution, people are not just an expense line. They are the business. Depending on your trade, employee costs often account for 60–70% of operating spend . When acquisitions happen, buyers rarely start with the building or the trucks. They start with one question: Will your people stay, and can they perform? Without the team, a distributor is an empty warehouse, aging equipment, and a customer list worth less than a well-run operation. Yet many distributors still treat workforce investment as secondary to equipment, software, or expansion. That’s a mistake, especially in today’s market.   Growth Mode Requires Talent Strategy Economists continue to point toward growth phases across many distribution sectors. Growth periods are the ideal time to strengthen capability, not just infrastructure. But too often, “investing in the business” translates into buying things. T...

Evolution of the Customer Care: Modernize or Get Left Behind By Desiree Grace Much like Neanderthals evolved into modern humans, Customer Care is evolving. No longer a knuckle-dragging, clerical, reactive role, Customer Care has become a smart, analytical, strategic business partner, and a true competitive differentiator. Whether you call this role Customer Experience, Customer Operations, Customer Service, or something else, the role itself is now modern and mission-critical. Why? Increasing Complexity of Customer Expectations Customers now expect faster, more accurate, and proactive communication. Traditional clerical tasks are no longer sufficient. Customer Care Units (CCUs) must be equipped to analyze customer behavior, anticipate issues, and support increasingly complex order management scenarios. Customers have been “trained” through B2C interactions to expect advance shipping notices, tracking information, and real-time updates. For large bills of material (BOMs) an...

When Things Go Wrong, Here’s Your Moment to Shine By Desiree Grace and Frank Hurtte Scientific research backs up something every seasoned distributor already knows: a perfectly smooth transaction doesn’t build loyalty, but a problem handled exceptionally well does. In Human Sigma: Managing the Employee-Customer Encounter , Gallup’s John H. Fleming and Jim Asplund found that customers who experience a problem that is fixed quickly and effectively become more loyal than customers who never had an issue at all. Think about this: the customer with a headache becomes your strongest advocate if you handle the recovery right. And let’s be honest, problems will happen. Back-orders appear. Pricing loads incorrectly. Freight gets damaged. Manufacturers sometimes send the wrong firmware. Instead of hiding these ugly moments, smart distributors embrace them as opportunities to display competence, character, and commitment. Because the truth is this: A flawless transaction doesn’t reveal who you ...

Ho Ho Hold Up! Santa Has Advice for Distributors By Frank Hurtte Santa Claus and I go way back to when I was knee-high to a short elf. One year at the Eagles’ Club, Santa greeted my grandfather with, “Hey Red, how late were you out last night?” and that was all the confirmation my three-year-old brain needed: these two weren’t just acquaintances. They were pals . Santa always knew my name, too, and we’ve kept up the friendship ever since. According to him, I’ve made the “nice list” five times in seventy-some years, a statistic he brings up more often than I’d like. But during a rare quiet spell at the mall, the Big Guy pulled me aside and said, “Frank, distributors need to hear this.” Think of it as Santa’s masterclass in business disguised as holiday cheer. Let’s unwrap Santa’s six lessons. Lesson 1: Segment Your Customers Santa learned early that segmentation matters. Once he started dividing his audience into “naughty” and “nice,” operational efficiency skyrocketed. ...

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...