Being Proactive Still Matters Why Distributors Should Ask Manufacturers the Hard Questions Now Years ago, when I was a young rookie factory salesman responsible for a dozen or so distributors, a cornerstone requirement of my job was providing each distributor with a customized, semi-formal annual review. While many of my coworkers treated the exercise as a simple “check-the-box” activity, I saw it differently. To me, it was a rare opportunity to step back, take stock, and outline how each distributor could be a better partner to my employer, and, frankly, how we could be better partners to them. As a young guy who still had a few dark hairs remaining, those annual reviews also gave me something just as valuable: time. Time to sit face-to-face with distributor owners and managers who had been in the business far longer than I had. It gave me a chance to show them that while I was part of a different generation, often viewed as “green as the grass,” I was serious about the work. ...