Following forms that make no sense, guessing at your prices or setting your prices based on what others charge is the wrong way to establish your rates.

The success of any new employee is enhanced when we take the time to show what the company is about, how it fits into the supply chain.

Recently, I interviewed the CEO of a distribution-based co-operative group. This gentleman is a longtime veteran of the distribution industry and has spent the last 20-plus years working to improve the relationships between his member distributors and their preferred suppliers.

In 1920, a master plumber by the name of Harry Chernick recognized a need and an opportunity to serve his community in the City of Detroit.

The association of leading independent HVAC commercial contractors encourages members to share best practices and learn about new technology that can help save time and money within their organizations.

Regardless of whether you are a sole owner, partner or employee of the business that pays you for your labors, your attitude is vital to your future.

Today, the only selling point is an exceptional, over-the-top customer experience executed with empathy, respect and honesty.

If we want our people to perform at a high level, we must show others how to remove obstacles. We must give our people the latitude to make operational decisions. We must make the goal, not the path, the most important principle in our success.

Being busy in a successful operation is quite different from being busy due to days of screw-ups and fire drills. There still seem to be some wholesalers who are surprised and feel the need to celebrate when they can ship a standard stock order — complete, without errors and delivered as promised.

Jen Schmitt, newly named president of Schmitt ProfiTools Inc.