From NAW:

There is no time like the present to explore the future. And that is what the NAW Institute for Distribution Excellence, along with Ian Heller and Jonathan Bein of Distribution Strategy Group, are doing to help wholesaler-distributors plan for their future. Through a series of seven research reports and seven accompanying webinars, you’ll receive the intelligence you need to formulate new strategies and ensure that your company thrives through this era of technology transformation.  As a member of (put your association name or acronym here), you are welcome and encouraged to download these reports as they are released and participate in each accompanying webinar.  There is no charge for download or participation.

From the NAW blog:

From NAW blog:

Today NAW released Episode 5: Gut Check: A Distribution Point of View on Disruption and Change to subscribers of the NAW Podcast Series: INNOVATE TO DOMINATE, sponsored by PROS.

In this episode, Mark Dancer, Author of NAW’s Innovate to Dominate: The 12th Edition in the Facing the Forces of Change Series, and Richard Blatcher of PROS interview Ian Heller, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Distribution Strategy Group. Among the many ideas and recommendations for the distribution industry that Ian offers, he argues that every distributor must have a strategy for virtual marketplaces, and that the industry may need to create its distribution-centric platform. Ian’s insights are essential for every distributor’s plans for surviving the COVID-19 crisis and emerging stronger than before.

A few weeks ago, NAW launched the NAW Podcast Series: INNOVATE TO DOMINATE, sponsored by PROS. So far we’ve launched three episodes in this limited series to help distributors face the forces of change through innovation: Check out Episode 1: An Introduction to the Innovate to Dominate Podcast Series to get an overview of the series and highlights from subsequent episodes.

All the remaining episodes in this series can only be accessed by subscribers, so please subscribe today! As a subscriber, you'll receive exclusive episodes directly to your inbox. In addition, every subscriber has a chance to win a FREE electronic copy of NAW’s Innovate to Dominatebook with compliments from PROS!

Here is a preview.

As distributors respond to COVID-19, they are noticing the limitations of traditional recessionary responses such as cost reduction and working capital preservation. These responses may not be optimal due to the inherent constraint of this recession: social distancing. This constraint directly affects face-to-face sales. Transitioning sales teams to work successfully in this new environment is key to revenue recovery.

From the NAW Blog

Distributors are a strategic go-to-market asset for manufacturers and many are stepping up to reinvent the traditional distribution business model for the digital age. My recent conversations with manufacturers indicate that many suppliers have not noticed and very few have actively engaged with even their most influential distributor partners. The partnership between distributors and manufacturers remains as crucial as ever, but it will die without proactive collaboration around emerging innovation opportunities.

From the NAW Blog

The United States is entering a new phase of crisis management. For the first time in weeks, restrictions are easing instead of intensifying. The economy is reopening. And for distributors, that means the biggest changes are yet to come.

From the NAW Blog

“Technology is capable of doing great things. But it doesn’t want to do great things. It doesn’t want anything. That part takes all of us.” — Tim Cook, CEO, Apple

From the NAW Blog

Distributors may avoid outsider disruption by being human, but only if they make concrete plans to work with customers where they live and work — in communities. A new mindset is required. Segmenting customers is about selling. Serving communities is about collaborating. Relationships are built on trust, and at its core, building trust is a very human endeavor. As distributors transform digitally, they risk losing touch with customers. A distributor’s innovation plan needs to include human-centric innovations, and community outreach is the most powerful place to start.

From the NAW Blog

Many distributors have been doing things the same way for years. In some cases, what worked then still works now. Yet, part of preparing for the future is preparing for the unexpected — whether that is economic volatility or other industry disruption, such as the coronavirus.

From the NAW Blog

The conduct of business will change as the coronavirus crisis recedes, but it’s too early to know the new normal with certainty. Just as first reporting in any emergency often proves to be inaccurate and wrong, so too may early predictions about a new normal for doing business miss the mark.

From the NAW Blog

As distributors imagine business after the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a growing consensus that the crisis will lock in a trend toward customer preferences for virtual experiences. While a sustained shift in buying habits is very likely, that outcome does not reflect the full impact on the future of business. Yes, social distancing has forced remote working and online ordering. However, the crisis also reveals that we are all members of cherished communities, and the path forward is about people working with people to solve problems.

From the NAW Blog

The hard truth about the Coronavirus is that extreme, unexpected events are becoming an essential new requirement of effective supply chain planning. In the current crisis, distributors are doing the crucial work of delivering critical products to essential businesses. As the virus peaks, distributors will play a leading role in rebooting our economy. As industries recover, a new normal will set it. It will be one where customers judge supply chain performance not only on efficiency, but on the ability to predict and mitigate risk.

From the NAW Blog

The defining characteristic of a crisis is uncertainty. First-line managers are a powerful force for surviving a crisis, but only if leaders help them embrace a new role. Every employee wonders how long the crisis will last, which work is most important and if their job is secure. Leaders don’t have all the answers, and employees know it. The role of first-line managers shifts from directing activities that drive performance to gathering ideas that may help the company survive.

From the NAW Blog

With modern organizations moving away from the traditional hierarchical structure to embracing more project-based operations, working in teams is no longer an alternative choice for employees, but an essential consideration to ensure successful business outcomes. In this article, we’ll look at the five key components that affect team effectiveness, and what types of people you need to bring on board your team.

From the NAW Blog:

In 2015, researchers at Forrester estimated that B2B e-commerce would reach $1 trillion by 2020. They were wrong: B2B e-commerce topped $1 trillion two years ahead of schedule. The industry is changing quickly, and distributors rarely get the chance to step back and plan for the future. In this first post of 2020, I’ll review the biggest development of the last few years and offer a cutting-edge strategy that distributors can use to dominate in the next decade.

From the NAW Blog:

Our research for NAW’s just-released Innovate to Dominate, The 12 Edition in The Facing the Forces of Change® Series revealed a powerful new opportunity for distributors — the future of business is up for grabs! There is a race to leverage technology and human-centric forces of change to help business customers reinvent how work is done and how individuals and organizations learn.