Spoiler alert: In this column, I will be sharing my perceptions of the content and what I see as the greatest lessons for distribution leaders.

If a person can articulate reasons for doing the desired behavior, you are steering him toward the desired outcome because people believe their own reasons more strongly than the motives of others.

Let’s face it; the notion of product exclusivity is nearing extinction.

One of the biggest components of customer service is having the right stuff at the right place and at the right time. Use your distribution software package to ensure your customers’ most-used items are well-stocked.

When evaluating systems such as this, ask yourself if they build credibility with your team or send folks to greener pastures.

Over the years, I have had the opportunity to work with hundreds of organizations in several vertical markets. I can say this one thing about all of them: They each have a unique language when it comes to describing the products resting on their shelves.

So here we are at the start of the new year. While some of you might be optimistic about your potential, I suspect a few of you feel remorse over unrealized goals and aspirations.

As we all know, somewhat painfully, most hardgoods distribution results in a net profit percentage of 5 percent or less. Yes, there are some of you rock stars who roll into the high single-digit percentages but most privately held distributors are known for a bit more humble results. 

Over the past several years, I have focused on helping distributors become more profitable than they ever thought possible. In this mission, I realized how important the operational managers are to the success of the organization.

Lack of operational oversight is a glaring problem in the distribution industry.