Let’s start with two quotes from great thinkers from different and definitely not distribution backgrounds.      "A favorite theory of mine is that no occurrence is sole and solitary, but is merely a repetition of a thing which has happened before…"                  Mark Twain   “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”              Winston Churchill   There are no history books for those of us in the Knowledge-based distribution world.  While I consider myself to be a history buff, I am certainly not an official historian.  But, to quote the popular commercial, I did spend the night in a Holiday Inn Express.  Probably more than a thousand nights in various hotel rooms while earning a living in the distributor business.  So here is my attempt at writing history.  ...

True Confessions:  I have never really cared for the use of the term “adult” as a verb.  Over the past few years, after h earing lame and seemingly made-up excuses from several people, I have decided it is appropriate in many ways, especially in the field of Sales.  We know we all got a little too comfortable with working remotely in our PJs and some are still fighting the return to normal. You see, I spent my entire life in one way or another tied to the selling process.  I self-categorize myself as a salesperson. I love everything about the whole concept of asking questions and presenting potential solutions to engaged customers.  I have made it my job to help others get started and grow in the business.  In the process, a trend has surfaced. I would call it a lack of Adulting. "Alexa, order me an alarm clock on wheels" Adults get to appointments on time. Let’s start with the simple premise, you tell someone you will be at their office at 9:00.  Cool...

Who needs to read this book, who doesn’t, and why? Ask any authors and they will freely tell you about the inspiration behind their penned masterpiece.  They will also give you a list of reasons to buy (and read) the book.  It’s unheard of for an author to tell you NOT to make the purchase.  But, I’m not just any author.   My motivation for writing this book. I have been personally involved in the sales process for Knowledge-based Distributors for a very long time; forty-five years at last count.  I have assisted new salespeople in some way or another for at least thirty years. As a Knowledge-based distributor salesperson with over 45 years of experience, I acknowledge that most of the skills and methodologies I learned early in my career are outdated.  While most experienced salespeople do not have as much experience as me, it’s safe to say sales leaders who started their journey after the launch of the iPhone in 2007 have a completely different exper...

We are well into January which means many of you have given up on your personal resolutions.  And maybe you gave up on your professional ones as well, but I have a feeling you didn't make any!   Wait, did I touch on a nerve there?  Never fear, I have some questions you can ask yourself to give you a jump on 2023.  Much like in 2022, we are still dealing with a "new normal" in a post-Pandemic world.  While some things in life are back to 2019 standards, many are not.  Some will never be the same and it's time we started seeing the good in that change...or at least try our best not to resist the changes.  I'm talking to those of you nearing retirement who thought you could just ride things out under the radar. But as your younger counterparts will tell you, adapting is critical to survival in the new year.  After all, buying eggs will set you back quite a bit these days! So here they are, Top 10 Distributor Questions that Demand Answers in 202...

Everywhere you turn, people are talking about inflation.  Whether you're out to dinner, in line at the grocery store, or filling up at the pump, rising prices are hitting everyone like a punch to the gut.  So what do we do?  Eat out less often, buy cheaper cuts of meat, work from home a few days a week?  Those seem like feasible options for a temporary problem.   But what if inflation is more of a long-term, possibly permanent problem? Here's what we know in Distributorland... Fuel prices are through the roof Logistics costs are escalating We must continue investing in our people We can't just sit idly by and hope for the best So, now what?   My recent article in Industrial Supply Magazine attacks this issue head-on.  Click  HERE for the rest of the details. Frank Hurtte, Founding Partner of River Heights Consulting, shares his personal experiences with 28 years of "in the trenches" training and 17 years as a consultant.  He serves ...

The State of Distributor Sales 2022 COVID-19 made its dramatic world debut in 2020.  When the subject of Global Pandemics comes up in some far-flung future dinner conversation, I plan on citing Friday, March 13 th as the day any normalcy slipped out of my life.  It would be an understatement to say, “A lot of water has passed under the bridge since then.”  The Distribution Model has undergone a lot of external pressure. The past fifty years or so have repeatedly demonstrated a major point – distributors can change with their environment.  The distributor business model today bears very little resemblance to the business operated by my parents a half-century ago.  I started this project as keenly interested in exactly what has changed and established a benchmark for distributors to consider as they moved into the future. The result of the research concluded with a whitepaper and a presentation titled: 2022 State of Distributor Sales: Rewriting the Distr...

I have been a fan of Al Bates for the past three decades.  Nobody understands the financial drivers of distribution like Dr. Al Bates.  Those of you who have worked closely with me have probably heard me talk about Al and his efforts on behalf of distributors.  Further, if I ever mentioned the “Whale Chart,” which demonstrates how over half of the typical distributor’s customers subtract from the bottom line, that is a concept I discovered through his work and conversations with him.   I am currently reading his latest book, and rather than give you a book report, I have asked him to share his thoughts on the book. Please welcome as a guest blogger, Dr. Al Bates.  Smaller distribution businesses have three important characteristics:  1) They are fun places to work since they aren’t bureaucracies, 2) they are highly innovative because they have to be to survive, and 3) as a group they don’t make anywhere near the profit that they should. My work with small d...

As we conduct voice of customer type activities, one thing has become obvious:  It’s hard to get good unbiased information from every customer type.  When an opportunity arises, distributors must be all ears.  Sometimes the message brings a smile to our faces, other times… well, it’s a hard pill to swallow.  But still, it is the voice of the customer.  Listen, ponder, think, and if appropriate, react. Recently, a good friend and client sent me a link to a post from Reddit.  My friend is a technical guy, and a distributor, so one post jumped out at him and certainly intrigued me.    This should be required reading for every distributor regardless of the product you sell.   Why?  This post provides an unvarnished view of how customers see distributors.  Some of the comments posted in response are painful while others will make you smile, but it must be read. For those of you who perhaps don’t follow such things, Reddit is the se...

Below is a snippet from the latest issue Industrial Supply Magazine (May/June 2021).  This focuses on how to thrive in a post-pandemic, death of the 9-5 workday, New Normal world.   Making decisions about the unknown can be frustrating and costly.  We'll help you make your choices carefully to get on the right path. From Industrial Supply Magazine:   After the Pandemic by Frank Hurtte We have been thinking a lot about life after the pandemic and the reality of the new normal. One thing that keeps surfacing is working remotely. For instance, a recent post by famed CRM provider Salesforce stated, “The 9-5 workday is dead.” Office buildings will no longer house the thousands of workers once important to maintaining operations. Salesforce categorized the future of their workers this way: Flex:  When it is safe to return to the office, employees around the globe will work flex. This means they will be in the office one to three days per week fo...

I use Friday, March 13th, 2020 as the official start date of the COVID crisis.  Looking at the calendar, we are pushing toward the one-year mark of this little Global Pandemic.   Much has happened in our industry during this time.  For the first couple of months, we hunkered down expecting the winds of change to sweep this virus off to the side.  Optimistically, most of us felt the storm would pass by end of summer.  As the reality of the situation persisted, we carried on and survived.  Distributors found new and innovative ways to keep in touch with their customers.  Sales turned in an upward direction and businesses who were once down 30-40 percent versus pre-COVID times managed to end 2020 with a much smaller downward trend.  A few even managed to eke out a narrow margin of growth. I believe one thing fell to the wayside through all this illness and mayhem, that being full-blown product launches.    Amidst all the other struggle...