Author: Art Waskey

Things are changing fast. Virtual online channels are moving the bar for efficiency in distribution ever higher. Customers are demanding fast fulfillment, real-time inventory visibility, and highly personalized service. Legacy distributor systems cannot meet these demands. If the independent distributor is not collecting real-time data with up-to-date technology, the gap between his business and alternative channels may soon become insurmountable. The Tools Here are the tools you need to meet customer expectations in 2025. State-of-the-art ERP – Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is the foundation upon which you build your digital business. ERP software streamlines and automates functions such as finance,…

Selling is a transfer of trust. Our selling methods must evolve with the changes in the world around us. In my lifetime, introducing new technologies has radically changed how one succeeds in sales. Consider this. I became a salesman in 1972 at a time when the internet was still a research project. My first job title was Sales Engineer. I lived in North Texas and called on independent welding and gas distributors in Dallas, Fort Worth, Wichita Falls, Abilene, Sherman, Austin, and San Antonio. My means of connecting with clients involved the telephone and driving just over 20,000 miles per…

Have You Considered AI? I recently finished a Zoom training session with a distributor sales rep. As I started the Zoom, I received notice of a software update. I was asked if I wanted to add Artificial Intelligence (AI) to the session. When I accepted, I had no idea of what was going to happen. At the end of the training session, I received a pleasant surprise. Zoom AI had captured, classified, and cleaned our entire interaction. The results were amazing. I forwarded them to the trainee and the distributor owner. The trainee was able to review our session. The…

ADAPTABILITY  As I start the New Year, I like to make observations about the previous year. Looking back, 2023 was a year replete with some big challenges for business. Stubborn inflation affected pricing. China’s post-COVID chaos continued to exacerbate supply chain issues and accelerated attempts to reshore manufacturing. Labor shortages plagued many business sectors. The third-worst year of global economic growth this century (behind 2009 and 2020) slowed sales, and geopolitical tensions made us all uneasy. And, finally, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) accelerated the pace of change in how business is conducted.   The secret to success in 2023…

The Customer Relationship I consult primarily with distributors with revenues of $10 million and below. This is a group that succeeds based on its ability to provide exceptional customer service along with its products. Technology has dramatically changed the way these services are delivered. The salesperson’s one-time habit of regular customer visits to catch up on personal and professional information has been replaced by online communications. With so much material available on the internet, salespeople find it difficult to add something technically significant to a sales discussion. Also, digital interactions broaden the time between sales calls, diminishing a rep’s ability…

According to a report from Digital 360 Commerce (“B2B marketplaces are shaping the future of B2B ecommerce,” Digital 360 Commerce, Oct 18, 2022), sales in B2B marketplaces shot up 131% to $56.5 billion in 2021. They are projected to increase at a similar pace to $130 billion in 2022. How do we, as distributors in that marketplace, increase our customer share? Distributors may find themselves overwhelmed by the idea of trying to compete with the internet giants. Sales industry guru Mark Dancer says, “Many distributors are slow to embrace online marketplaces because they assume that their offering is similar to…

By Art Waskey In his book Thriving on Chaos, Tom Peters states, “If you’re not confused, you’re not paying attention.” The rate of change in the sales world has been accelerated by digitalization and I have noted that this has caused a lot of confusion. To put the chaos in order, I find that taking the time to plan a solution to the problem is the best approach. As Collin Powell said, “There is no secret to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.” Let’s look at how to build a successful sales team…

Proverbs 11:14 — “Where there is no guidance, the people fall, but, in abundance of counselors, there is victory.”  I find these words inspiring. The periods of greatest growth in my own career have occurred while I have been under the guidance of wise, mature leaders. Today, I work as a mentor to the owners of mid-sized distributorships, guiding the next generation of leaders to success. The people I work with appreciate that my counsel is borne out of years of experience in the distribution industry.  The objective of a mentoring program is to pass on the skills and knowledge…

When Steve Guglielmo advised that this was Welding and Gases Today’s anniversary edition, I was excited. As it happens, the magazine’s landmark issue coincides with an anniversary of my own. I started my career in the gases and welding business 50 years ago on June 1, 1972. From Floppy Disk to the Cloud My long and fulfilling career has been punctuated by the digital changes that have transformed society. I still have my first calling card that bears the title, “Sales Engineer, North Texas, Airco Welding Products.” In that position, I called on distributors. As part of my training, I…

Digital transformation involves the strategic adoption of new technologies in the marketplace. It’s used to improve processes and productivity, deliver better customer and employee experiences, manage business risk, and control costs. Myriad tools, solutions, and processes are used in digital implementation and today, we are all unavoidably part of the transformation. With past experience in helping to grow a distributor business from $10M to $65M, I am now a consultant to small and mid-size businesses (SMBs). I find that digital transformation can seem daunting to this group. Smaller companies often feel they are at a competitive disadvantage to larger distributors, who…