PHCP and PVF Technology & Operations

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According to a recent McKinsey report, more than 90% of B2B companies have shifted to a virtual or hybridized sales model due to COVID-19. Though dramatic, this shift reveals an emerging trend away from face-to-face sales.

When it comes to digital presence — e-Commerce, ERP software, social media, websites, etc. — the wholesale-distribution sector is somewhat all over the map. A recent survey conducted by Supply House Times asked several industrial PVF distributors to anonymously comment on their company’s utilization of and plans for adopting e-Commerce.

In the early 1980s, I bought a multi-location, contractor-supply distributor. The employees were panicked about a new owner from outside the industry. But — thanks to Customer Advisory Boards (CABs) — we all won big.

AD hosted its virtual Finance, HR & IT Summit from June 7-8, welcoming a record 310 attendees from 133 member companies across all of AD’s 13 divisions in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

So what do 130 leading PHCP-PVF distributors all have in common? They are all engaged in taking advantage of the continually growing value that ASA University offers to train their teams.

Early in my career, I was exposed to what I consider a very important leadership concept: Leadership comes from every chair.

When it comes to developing a growth strategy, distributors must be mindful of their actual capabilities in each of the seven essential process groups regardless of current market conditions. 

Several years ago, ASA volunteer leaders were challenged with identifying three key issues that will affect members over the next decade.

The internet is just as accessible to a builder with an office one block from your showroom as it is for a builder hundreds of miles away. Popular e-commerce sites do not think of regional boundaries when they create business plans. These digital companies focus on market segments that can be located anywhere — anywhere the internet reaches.

Our economy was shut-down for a year, then rebooted with massive, blunt, stimulus and build-better funds. It will take months for the supply-and-demand for both products and labor to rebalance. And it’s no secret the country is facing major labor shortages.