Month: May 2021

By Mike Marks and Dan Horan, Indian River Consulting Group Customer expectations have been changing for years, and the COVID-19 pandemic simply magnified and accelerated them in 2020. Being on the defensive is only a strategy if you want to lose slower. For distributors who are willing to play offense, there are three major trends to watch and take advantage of in 2021. B2B customer expectations have changed online Customers are no longer happy to only have a basic online buying process; they expect their experience to be as good as the experience in their everyday B2C life. As a…

By Paul Bernier and David O’Guin With many years of experience in the Industrial Gas/Welding supply industry, I have learned that many companies do not truly offer safety services and supplies in their product mix. It is understandable, since the margins are not in line with what we enjoy in gases. But, if you are not providing safety products to your industrial customers, who is? Our main marketing objective is to try and provide as many products as possible to our customers, adding more line items to our invoices, truly striving to be a one-stop provider, as much as possible.…

by Frank Kasnick, IWDC President and CEO I have not met an Independent, whether part of our group or not, who isn’t struggling with their e-commerce strategy. Usually, the discussion starts with “should we sell online?” The prospect is quite tempting – put up a webstore and sit back and take credit card orders. If only it was that simple. That is not to say there isn’t opportunity in the B2C arena. If done correctly, it can lead to some incremental sales with a fairly low fixed cost. Members who are committed to this customer segment are leveraging their existing…

When it comes to a digital presence, the first go-to-market tactic is typically organic search engine optimization (SEO). SEO involves configuring your website to rank at the top of the search engines for free (also called organic). Establishing high rankings is about two things: relevance and authority. In this article, I’ll focus on relevance and provide you four tips and one free gift to help you capture valuable traffic for your website. Tip 1 – Your URL Should Contain Your Target Keyword Let’s say you want to rank for the term “welding training Syracuse, NY.” The first thing you should…

By Deanna Pelligrino Now, more than ever, we rely on the digital world to keep our businesses moving. But with the ever-increasing use of email, social media and other forms of digital communication comes equally increasing concerns about keeping our information safe. Here are a few tips! 1. When in doubt, delete! Follow your gut. If you receive something and wonder, “Why am I getting this?” there’s probably a good reason to be suspicious. Don’t click on links or open attachments from emails or senders that you’re not expecting. The damage that could be done from opening a malicious link…

By Paul Banuski What is the responsibility of a manager when he/she suspects an employee may be struggling with depression, anxiety or other mental health challenges? It’s not an unreasonable question, and it is one that every supervisor should be prepared to answer, considering that 1 in 5 Americans will be diagnosed with a mental or behavioral health issue this year, according to the Center for Disease Control. Whether it’s an anxiety disorder, PTSD, post-partum depression, bipolar or any other number of conditions, mental health issues can be a disruptive part of an employee’s life that can lead to struggles…

The CGA sent a letter to all 50 state governors asking that essential workers be prioritized in vaccine distribution By Rich Gottwald and Steve Guglielmo On December 23, 2020, the Compressed Gas Association sent a letter from CGA President & CEO Rich Gottwald to all 50 U.S. governors and the Mayor of Washington, D.C. urging that portions of the essential medical, food, and industrial gas workforce be included in each state’s Frontline Essential Workers (Phase 1b) prioritization to receive COVID-19 vaccines. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the CGA has been an indispensable resource for the compressed gas industry. Its COVID-19 Industry…

2021 will see the return of two Regional Meetings after all were postponed in 2020. The 2021 Spring Management Conference and Annual Convention will not be the only opportunities for GAWDA members to network and learn in-person in 2021. After all the 2020 Regional Meetings were postponed in 2020 due to COVID-19, this year will see the return of the Northwest Regional Meeting in Sunriver, Oregon, from July 21-23, and the Seven Springs Regional Meeting in Seven Springs, Pennsylvania, from August 24-26. Previously scheduled Regional Meetings in League City, Texas (Southwest Region), Galloway, New Jersey (Northeast Region), and Oregon, Ohio…

Professionalism, Productiveness, and Safety How DeLille Oxygen’s three-tiered system has allowed the distributor to thrive for nearly a century. DeLille Oxygen Company was founded in 1924 by W.C. DeLille. Originally, DeLille supplied coal and ice. However, shortly after its founding, DeLille shifted its focus to the welding supply industry, becoming a supplier of gases and hardgoods to the industry the company still serves nearly a century later. As the company found success in the gases and welding industry, W.C. DeLille continued to grow the company’s footprint. He added multiple locations throughout Ohio and continued to service different areas of the…

We’re all living through unprecedented times. On a Zoom call with a large California distributor, I learned that, with four employees out with COVID, one owner was driving a route truck and the other was manning a branch store. Sound familiar? The pandemic has forced us all to be more flexible. The need for new safety protocols and innovative ways of dealing with everything from employee absenteeism to supply chain outages and customer closures, have left us struggling to maintain effective operations. On top of the extraordinary pandemic events, the long-term outlook for traditional distributors continues to be under threat.…