“It was a line-of-duty death that created this business,” says John Tragiai, former owner of Keeprs, a law enforcement supply company based out of St. Cloud, MN. A s origins stories go, Keeprs stands as the most heartbreaking ever featured on Distribution Talk. John’s arc within that history - from broadcasting major to police office to successful businessman - is one of the most inspiring.  “It gives me goosebumps right now when I’m sitting here talking about it,” John says while relaying the events that eventually lead to the creation of Keeprs. “Like a lot of entrepreneurs, planning isn’t always part of the process when you get into a business.” And failure is rarely an option - especially when you’ve set out to serve those who protect and serve.  If you’re like me, you probably assume that all law enforcement agencies outfit their members with the gear they need to do the job. More often than not, however, officers are given a stipend to purchase their own supplies. Like any gear-heavy industry (think restaurant chefs or construction workers), they’re motivated to supplement the basics with customized items.  Enter Keeprs, the shop created by law enforcement pros for law enforcement pros. They sold everything from boots to holsters to body armour and they did so with a highly personal customer service ethos. The company expanded beyond individual consumers to become a multi-state business. Eventually, their clients included whole agencies looking for a supplier who could reliably deliver bespoke uniform and patch combinations in bulk. Although Keeprs operated within an uncommon niche, John faced challenges inherent to most distributorships. At one point, he found himself at the helm of a growing company but with little experience combatting bloated inventory, outdated software, and non-existent cash reserves. “I was a cop that was supposed to be a broadcaster,” he laughs. John’s solution was to lean into his vulnerability and rely on trade organizations for guidance. “I don’t mind being vulnerable and asking for help. When I came onto Keeprs, I didn’t know the difference between AR and AP!”  That changed with assistance from the National Association of Police Equipment Distributors and the National Shooting and Sports Foundation. “You know, you have to be vulnerable so you can go out there and just learn. Find the resources and learn. That’s it.” Two decades later (and wiser), John successfully sold Keeprs to a motivated buyer. Looking back on his wild ride as he puts it, would he do anything differently? You’ll have to listen in to find out.   *** Distribution Talk is produced by The Distribution Team, a consulting services firm dedicated to helping wholesale distribution clients remove barriers to profitability, generate wealth and achieve personal goals.     Edited & mixed by The Creative Impostor Studios. Connect with Jason on LinkedIn. Connect with John on LinkedIn.   Thank you to our sponsor, INxSQL, software built for distribution. Learn more at http://www.inxsql.com.

“Every business has to change.” That’s what Brenda Puckett, president at West-Lite Supply Co. says when asked about navigating turning points in the wholesale lighting industry. West-Lite Supply was founded in Los Angeles, CA in 1981 with the purpose of becoming America’s premier distributor of lighting products. What was then a commodity based business selling lamps and fixtures, has now transformed into a rapidly changing electronics-driven service specialization.  “Now we're not even in the lighting business. I tell all my customers and my sales reps that we're in electronics now. Think about it --  LEDs… we're controlling these things with our phones. We're controlling the colors of them. We're controlling how we interact with them… lighting really is turned into an experience rather than a commodity.”  Being ahead of the curve at West-Lite is important to Brenda. The challenge lies in how you manage inventory when you are selling less of a particular item and you don’t want to get stuck with cases of outdated product, yet you have to balance that with keeping items in stock for your best customers and contractors.  In order to compete with the bigger companies in lighting, Brenda coaches her sales force to focus on the consultative side, providing a high level of customer service. She says, “Don't go in looking for an order. Don't go in wondering what they need. You have to go in and educate them and show them and give them the options.” Another big challenge is recruiting top talent. Lighting isn’t historically the industry that students are coming out of school and running toward. But that is shifting a bit as the industry becomes more electronics-driven. The concept of engineering environments with customized lighting for particular events or moods is appealing to the younger generation.  In terms of hires, Brenda’s looking for people with a little bit of experience and a lot of willingness to get out there and help customers. Sales isn’t just about going out to see customers -- it’s about doing your research, pre-qualifying and finding out exactly what they need. Of course, it wouldn’t be an episode about wholesale lighting distribution without a discussion on SPAs, or special pricing agreements, which Brenda says can be both a nemesis and also an opportunity for companies like hers. (And we gather that Jason really isn’t a fan!) Brenda also shares her personal journey from college, to the New York Times, back to the family business at West-Lite. She surprises us with the story behind why her son does NOT work in the family business and shares what’s lighting her up most about the future of the industry. *** Distribution Talk is produced by The Distribution Team, a consulting services firm dedicated to helping wholesale distribution clients remove barriers to profitability, generate wealth and achieve personal goals.     Edited & mixed by The Creative Impostor Studios. Connect with Jason on LinkedIn. Connect with Brenda on LinkedIn.   Thank you to our sponsor, The Distribution Team’s seminar: Turning Branch Managers Into Business Managers. November 14-15, 2019  in Atlanta, GA. Get details & register: http://www.distributionteam.com/training

Carolyn Quinn never wanted to be known as a child employed by the owner of a business -- she wanted to be the chief executive officer.  Now president at Pike Systems, Inc, a cleaning supply and equipment company based in Illinois, Carolyn leads an effective sales team that is intensely focused on providing value for their clients. From support tools to on-site training, Pike Systems is committed to find the proper program for the proper client to ensure their ongoing success. “I've read all of the materials on inside sales teams and how that should function and our janitorial supply industry is just not there yet…  people still don't know how to use our products and until they know how to use them, we have to be out in the field.” Listen in to hear how Pike divides their sales process into three distinct roles, the importance of building strategic bonds both within and outside of the industry, and how Carolyn believes in contributing to the success of her customers through education every single day. “We have to know more than the manufacturer does and not only know that, but know how to integrate one manufacturer’s products with another… the amount of satisfaction in knowing that program that you put together is producing results, saving money, in some cases saving lives, and just making things easier for people is really rare.”   Get the full show notes at distributiontalk.com.  *** Distribution Talk is produced by The Distribution Team, a consulting services firm dedicated to helping wholesale distribution clients remove barriers to profitability, generate wealth and achieve personal goals.     Edited & mixed by The Creative Impostor Studios. Connect with Jason on LinkedIn. Connect with Carolyn on LinkedIn. Thank you to our sponsor, The Distribution Team’s seminar: Turning Branch Managers Into Business Managers. November 14-15, 2019  in Atlanta, GA. Get details & register: http://www.distributionteam.com/training

Third-generation leaders face challenges -- if the business survives long enough for them take the helm at all.  Lauren Roberts, president of cfm Distributors, Inc. of Kansas City, is one such leader who’s applying digital native solutions to her company’s customer experience challenges. But she’s not stopping there. She sits down with me to discuss why it’s good for everyone in the industry succeed -- and what she’s doing to make that happen. What Lauren’s good at is dovetailing old with new, melding tech with legacy, and serving her peers. To that end, she’s on the board of directors for Women in HVACR and is an active member of HARDI. “I’m passionate about giving back. I also believe that if we all improve, all the companies in our industry collectively, we will all succeed together.”  Listen in to hear more from this remarkable leader including how this employee-owned company weathers potentially contentious decisions and what it’s like to operate out of a hundred-year-old, seven-story building.  Get the full show notes at distributiontalk.com.   “When I first joined the company… it was always, you know, you’re the boss’s daughter and… you’re just here to hang out and you’re going to have an easy ride. I had to work very hard to prove to everyone that I was here to work and I was going to add value.”  ~Lauren Roberts   *** Distribution Talk is produced by The Distribution Team, a consulting services firm dedicated to helping wholesale distribution clients remove barriers to profitability, generate wealth and achieve personal goals.   Edited & mixed by The Creative Impostor Studios. Connect with Jason on LinkedIn. Connect with Lauren on LinkedIn.

I caught up with Gian Marco Palazio, a serial entrepreneur, author, and business leader based in Managua, Nicaragua. Our conversation is packed with insight into measuring success and learning through failure, creating rituals that invite growth, and nurturing a legacy that honors the past while serving the future. “[It’s] a lot of trial and error, you know? University doesn't teach you how to be an entrepreneur, at least they didn't back then. They taught you how to solve problems but you had to get into [those] problems on your own.” Gian Marco laughs now, decades after graduating from Georgia Tech. And why not? He’s built several successful businesses, written a book, and is an active part of a family legacy.  In 1997, however, he found himself headed back home to a country he hadn’t lived in since he was an infant to work in his father’s agricultural business. Enter an uncle with a duffle bag full of safety gloves and a need for a distributor and Gian Marco’s vision for what is today CASCO Safety took off.     He’s also proud of the legacy he and his family have created with Café Las Flores, a coffee farm, roaster, and eco-tourism business. Vulnerability is not a word that you hear often on Distribution Talk. Gian Marco says it’s the key to his success. Listen in as Gian Marco delivers distribution life lessons, including candid talk about his personal struggles and the steps he took to get where he is today. Get the full show notes at distributiontalk.com.   “I highly recommend if you don't have a morning ritual that takes you to a place of gratitude...and also be able to find spaces for your darkness of your fears of your doubts of whatever holds you back, I highly recommend you start finding a process to do that. It's never too late.” ~Gian Marco Palazio   *** Distribution Talk is produced by The Distribution Team, a consulting services firm dedicated to helping wholesale distribution clients remove barriers to profitability, generate wealth and achieve personal goals.   Edited & mixed by The Creative Impostor Studios. Connect with Jason on LinkedIn. Connect with Gian Marco on LinkedIn.

Think your DIY customer survey produced the data you needed? Are you confident in your ability to analyze that information and implement those client recommendations?  I sat down with Martha Brooke, chief customer experience analyst and founder of InterAction Metrics, to find out how better questions translate into meaningful customer insights. “Just because you have a platform like SurveyMonkey doesn’t mean you have a good survey.” Take Martha’s word on that; she’s been in the business of creating customer listening mechanisms since 2004. She’s also used her LinkedIn blog to call out some of the biggest companies in the world for their abysmal client questionnaires.  Beyond the questions, there’s the mechanism; not all businesses benefit from surveys.  Martha says that companies with inside sales, tech support, or customer service find call recordings or client interviews more helpful. “That’s a great way...because the customer will drop little clues about what they’re looking for.”  Interested in eliminating bias from your DIY surveys? Looking for simple ways to encourage worthwhile feedback from your best customers? Martha shares more tips and tricks in our conversation so listen in. Get the full show notes at distributiontalk.com.   "Honestly, without getting those kinds of insights...you're sort of running rudderless... you're in the dark and it's hard to steer the ship.” ~Martha Brooke   *** Distribution Talk is produced by The Distribution Team, a consulting services firm dedicated to helping wholesale distribution clients remove barriers to profitability, generate wealth and achieve personal goals.   Edited & mixed by The Creative Impostor Studios. Connect with Jason on LinkedIn. Connect with Martha on LinkedIn.

When things go badly, rest assured the situation can always get worse. That’s what happened to Steve Cohn, president of Premier Beauty Supply.  If you think salon sales has nothing in common with your distribution business, hang with this episode. My conversation with Steve yields some great advice for everyone, regardless of industry, about resilience and reinvention -- especially when things go from bad to worse. It’s impossible to hear Steve talk about the challenges his company faced in 2007 without feeling retroactively panicked for Premier. “We had one manufacturer that wound up selling [their] business to another and, at the end of the year, that manufacturer told us they were gonna go with their own distribution chain.”  The situation at Premier was difficult at best; a disaster at worst. But challenges are a part of doing business. “You know, things happen,” says Steve. “We didn’t do anything wrong here and I just felt we had another one left in us.”  With that mindset, he and his wife set out to start from scratch again, rebuilding on top of the hard lessons of that year and a strong foundation of twenty years in business. Steve shares tips, talks letting go of staff (78 team members in one day!), and what he loves best about having a kid in the business.   Get the full show notes at http://www.distributiontalk.com Thank you to our sponsor INxSQL, software built for distribution.   “At the end of the day, the salesperson’s role is to sit with the customer and really help them grow their business. We know the more we can help them grow...the more they want to do business with us.” ~Steve Cohn   *** Distribution Talk is produced by The Distribution Team, a consulting services firm dedicated to helping wholesale distribution clients remove barriers to profitability, generate wealth and achieve personal goals.   Edited & mixed by The Creative Impostor Studios. Connect with Jason on LinkedIn. Connect with Steve on LinkedIn.

What have you done to secure your company’s future? Beyond upgrades to your tech, your  warehouse space, and your fleet, what investments have you made in your people? Michael Meier, VP and COO of Meier Supply Company, discusses how his own professional growth has translated into a passion for training company talent and clientele.  Michael laughs when he tells his origin story and it probably resonates for a lot of listeners. He spent his post-college years as an HVAC tech, happily turning wrenches for six years when...  “My dad offered me a position at the company. I took the job - and a $2 an hour pay cut!” After six months, the then 26-year old Michael told his father he needed to get back out into the field and turned in his two week notice. A week later, his brother had convinced him to stay.  Since then, he’s been a champion of professional development. “I realize the importance of coaching this next generation, this wave of employees,” he says, pointing to his own challenges as the impetus for his drive to educate the future. “I originally struggled calling on customers and that wasn’t my specialty. I really had to learn to talk and to deal with people.”   Get the full show notes at http://www.distributiontalk.com Thank you to our sponsor INxSQL, software built for distribution.   “The better we make our contractors, our customers, the better it’s going to be for us and, of course, for them...It’s about what can we do to make a contractor more profitable, what can we do for them?”  ~Michael Meier   *** Distribution Talk is produced by The Distribution Team, a consulting services firm dedicated to helping wholesale distribution clients remove barriers to profitability, generate wealth and achieve personal goals.   Edited & mixed by The Creative Impostor Studios. Connect with Jason on LinkedIn. Connect with Michael on LinkedIn.

Want to know the secrets to a successful expansion? For Dan Esch of Esch Construction Supply based in St. Paul, Minnesota, a company’s mission is just as important as the advanced field work and the financial analysis.  “This business is all about service.” That’s a sentiment you’ll hear Dan repeat throughout our conversation. He’s positioned Esch within the concrete cutting niche as a key collaborator, the customer’s go-to source for products, service, and information. “We go out and solve problems and ask contractors how we can help them. That deep knowledge of that niche is where you can really add value and that’s really where the fun of this business is.” Service may be one of Dan’s guiding principles but he’d never intended to make his mark in distribution.  Listen in to find out how low unemployment is affecting Dan’s future recruitment plans and why the company’s successful rapid fulfillment service is a bit of a dual-edged sword. Get the full show notes at http://www.distributiontalk.com Thank you to our sponsor INxSQL, software built for distribution.   "That deep knowledge of that niche is where you can really add value and that’s really where the fun of this business is." ~Dan Esch   *** Distribution Talk is produced by The Distribution Team, a consulting services firm dedicated to helping wholesale distribution clients remove barriers to profitability, generate wealth and achieve personal goals.   Edited & mixed by The Creative Impostor Studios. Connect with Jason on LinkedIn. Connect with Dan on LinkedIn.

Ankit Sharma, CEO of Kitply Industries LTD. in Vancouver, British Columbia, didn’t just take a leap of faith when he started his distribution business a decade ago; he set fire to all of his bridges for good measure. I caught up with Ankit to find out what motivates this award-winning entrepreneur and why he’s on a mission to make wood sexy. His strategy to attract the same employees that typically head into consumer marketing and high-end tech companies is to operate more like those businesses - inside and out. His blog, makewoodsexy.com,is a modern hub for woodworkers and way to connect with young people in colleges and high schools, to reach them in a style that they can relate to. Ankit’s working on scaling his business, seeking out areas for expansion and opportunities where he might purchase existing distribution companies, all while adhering to the core values that got him here. “Everyday’s a journey of gratefulness.” Want to know why he’s an advocate for professional organization membership? How recruiting scorecards can help your hiring process? What punching above your (business) weight class can do for your business? Listen in!    Thank you to our sponsor INxSQL, software built for distribution.   *** Distribution Talk is produced by The Distribution Team, a consulting services firm dedicated to helping wholesale distribution clients remove barriers to profitability, generate wealth and achieve personal goals.   Edited & mixed by The Creative Impostor Studios. Connect with Jason on LinkedIn. Connect with Ankit on LinkedIn.

What are you selling? Beyond the parts and pieces, what differentiates you from your competitors? Don’t answer, at least not until you’ve listened to my conversation with Paul Reilly, president of Tom Reilly Training. His company has been on a 40 year mission to show sales teams that value-driven conversations can help them sell more profitably. The message has never been more relevant than in today’s market. “My father Tom started the company back in the early 80s. What really got us started was that value-added selling message and, in distribution, it’s all about finding unique ways to add value, create value for your customers.” Technology has changed many of the physical elements required to make a sale since Tom Reilly wrote the first edition of Value-Added Selling. But tech hasn’t gone so far as to disrupt the general principles outlined in the book and taught at Reilly Training seminars. “People try to convince you that things have changed,” Paul says. “They’re stirring the pot a little, saying that everything’s changed in sales and you can’t go to market the same way.” He doesn’t buy it. Distributorships have faced pricing pressures since the beginning and the companies that have survived make relationships their goal, not price.  Paul put that value-driven principle into practice before joining the family business. He worked at Hilti for six years, selling products priced 20 to 30 percent higher than the competition’s. “You have to learn how to communicate that message of value and translate not only the product and services and what they do, but you have to translate that into meaningful impact to the customer.” The fourth edition of Value-Added Selling blends Paul’s fresh experiences with new insights and ideas developed through Reilly training seminars. As with previous editions, however, the company aims to move sales teams past price. How? “I would say the first tip is to just have better conversations with your customers.” he says. For instance, make a point of showing your clients how you can help them reduce their total costs, be they logistical, labor, time, etc. “Cost is a much better conversation to have than price.” Paul shares a few more tips in the episode including strategies for shifting a customer’s short-term gain mentality to one where the long-term solution benefits both you and your client. “Asking these questions gets the customer thinking bigger, thinking long-term and all the while they’re taking the focus off price.”  Ready to experience the bottom-line benefits of value-added sales for yourself? Then you’ve got to listen in! We talk about the number one attribute customers look for in their sales people as ranked by Reilly’s internal research, what Aristotle had to say about Millennials (yes, Aristotle), and add two authors to your summer reading list: Mike Weinberg and Daniel Pink.  Thank you to our sponsor INxSQL, software built for distribution. *** Distribution Talk is produced by The Distribution Team, a consulting services firm dedicated to helping wholesale distribution clients remove barriers to profitability, generate wealth and achieve personal goals.   Edited & mixed by The Creative Impostor Studios. Connect with Jason on LinkedIn. Connect with Paul on LinkedIn.

What does your sales force look like in five years? In ten? If you don’t have an answer yet, my chat with Eric Wessinger, president of Richards Supply, will definitely spark some ideas.  Officially, he’s lead the company for a little over six years. Unofficially, Eric’s been in and around the distribution business since childhood. As a second generation leader, he’s drawing on his decade of outside work experience as well as his lifetime of insider knowledge to tackle the company’s million-dollar sales question. “We’ve talked about it a ton with both the leadership and the management team,” Eric says regarding the future of sales and service. Challenges inherent to smaller businesses can thwart creative problem solving, especially when overshadowed by the seemingly limitless reach of the national brands. In search of guidance, Eric looked to Richards Supply’s core values. “We’ve been around for eighty-five years so we’re doing something right already. So how do we take that foundation and move it forward?” Communication has always been key for the company. “I think outside sales, and face-to-face relationships, is still a differentiator for us.” To that end, Eric and his sales force check in with its customers and refine the partnership by asking clients how they want to interact with the company. “I talk to customers all the time,” he says. “If you looked at the top fifty, top one hundred customers, we do business with each one of them very differently. I think that’s been a strength for us...being able to ask the right questions and listen to the answer and try to adjust accordingly.” Although customization looks vastly different today from when the company began, the principle has stayed the same: meet the customer where they are. “If you ask a customer how they want to be served, you better be ready to say ‘yes’ to whatever the answer to that question is.” For Richards Supply, that means an omni-channel approach to service options: outside sales, counter service, and a newly revamped website with a robust presence all its own. “You have to consider your website as an extension of your business, basically as a branch,” Eric says. “You would never open a branch without inventory in mind or a sales methodology or a plan.”   The company’s relationship driven, tech minded culture is a modern, practical approach to figuring out the future of sales. “It’s a massive challenge and exciting. And it’s fun but it’s definitely something that’s not snap of the fingers kind of thing.” It’s clear, however, that Eric and his staff have given Richards Supply a good head start.  Dive deeper into the company’s massive website overhaul and find out how Eric’s years as a recruiter have helped him bolster the company’s hiring process. Listen in!  Thank you to our sponsor INxSQL, software built for distribution. *** Distribution Talk is produced by The Distribution Team, a consulting services firm dedicated to helping wholesale distribution clients remove barriers to profitability, generate wealth and achieve personal goals.   Edited & mixed by The Creative Impostor Studios. Connect with Jason on LinkedIn. Connect with Eric on LinkedIn.

Yes! It’s possible to remain laid back and move your business forward. Bill Morse, former owner of Constar Supply out of Clovis, California, is proof. Bill sat down to discuss the philosophies that have lead him to create solid banking relationships, honor employee freedoms over management scrutiny, and find the right corporate fit for his company’s next chapter.  There’s a lot to learn from a guy who’s been around since the dinosaur years, when deals were made over coffee and a handshake and banks came calling with capital to lend. “We moved banks two or three times in the early years,” Bill says, “because banks were wooing us back then...and we wanted to keep the pace of growth going.”  It became apparent that building relationships with the people who greenlighted loans was crucial to avoiding the curse of a successful failure. Like many of us, Bill found that capitalizing on those relationships wasn’t one of his strengths. “If you don’t know it or if you’re not comfortable with it or you just don’t want to do it,” he says, “find somebody who does...because that’s essential!”  Regardless of how friendly you are with your banker, Bill admits that the Great Recession has changed the banker-business relationship. Still, some aspects of applying for funds have stayed the same. “In every business, whether you’re a doctor, a professional, or just a contractor, you really are in some part salesman and you have to sell your whole idea.”  To that end, Bill says that the work put into creating a forecast and outlining your vision comes down to selling yourself, otherwise, “they’re not going to buy into it. And banks these days are especially tough. You really have to give them a real argument.” Personnel is another challenge that’s been a near constant since the beginning. When he started out, Bill says, “I had connections so I was able to pull some people away that had been in the industry for a long time.” But there’s a difference between finding an employee and finding the right employee.  Once found, Bill gives his outside sales team their independence. “I don’t put our salesmen on call reports. I don’t track them. I don’t give them too many barriers to making the sale.” The payoff for Constar has been staff loyalty and a healthy bottom line - as well as a successful corporate buyout. If you’ve been in the industry for decades or are just starting out, give this episode a listen. It’s a quick half hour of amazing insight on what it takes to stick around and stay successful. There’s even a barista analogy. Thank you to our sponsor INxSQL, software built for distribution. *** Distribution Talk is produced by The Distribution Team, a consulting services firm dedicated to helping wholesale distribution clients remove barriers to profitability, generate wealth and achieve personal goals.   Edited & mixed by The Creative Impostor Studios. Connect with Jason on LinkedIn. Connect with Bill on LinkedIn.

If the prospect of business growth makes you uneasy, you’ll find a lot to relate to in this episode. Jason chats with Michelle St. John, owner and president of IBS Incorporated, a self-proclaimed risk-averse leader whose company continues to find creative solutions to industry challenges in spite of, or perhaps because of, her conservative mindset. Maintenance, repair, and operational supply has proven to be an almost recession-proof market for IBS. “When there's a recession, people are maintaining their own equipment and we get business. When times are booming and people are building their breaking bolts and tearing up roads, we're making sales in that environment.” But Michelle is acutely aware that when challenges arise, they may require solutions that exist beyond her comfort zone. “What we're experiencing right now is some growth to a degree that has caused us to sort of expand at a rate that is a little bit uncomfortable.”  It’s a space that IBS wants to be in, however. So Michelle, who shares leadership duties at IBS with her brother Derek, relies on the lessons learned while watching her parents who started the company in the family’s basement. “Derek and I both watched our parents really closely and we took a lot of lessons away from my dad.” One of the most important was the 72-hour rule, the idea that if you haven’t implemented an idea within 72 hours of learning it, the tendency for it to produce any change at all become zero the longer time goes on. “So, by the end of the 72-hours,” she says, “chances are good  It's not going to influence your culture your environment.” The rule is a core value that IBS impresses upon its sales management team. “It’s really important that they’re in the field with our reps as soon as possible to reinforce that training.” To that end, IBS has committed to putting people in leadership positions who’ll challenge the status quo and help the company reach the next milestone. Michelle says, “We’re challenged with making sure that we’re surrounded by people that can continually stretch us and expand us.” Michelle recently wrapped up one of the greatest experiences of her life, a year-long tenure as president of STAFDA, Specialty Tool & Fasteners Distributors Association, proving that not all growth has to leave you feeling anxious. Trade associate participation has played a key role in her family’s professional development from the beginning. “We devoured the education. We took advantage of all the consultative access.” That access and exposure are just two of the reasons why she’s enthusiastic about association membership. “I know for me, times are evolving so quickly and keeping pace is really important,” she says. “We need ideas from people who are in the trenches and figuring it out every day.”  Michelle has so much insight to share that you’ll definitely want to tune in! Find out how IBS private label products created customer loyalty, learn which assessments her team relies on to gage candidate potential, and how her experience in the corporate world enhanced her leadership abilities. Thank you to our sponsor INxSQL, software built for distribution. *** Distribution Talk is produced by The Distribution Team, a consulting services firm dedicated to helping wholesale distribution clients remove barriers to profitability, generate wealth and achieve personal goals.   Edited & mixed by The Creative Impostor Studios. Connect with Jason on LinkedIn. Connect with Michelle on LinkedIn.

“If you live by that example, those around you will do the same and the more people live that philosophy, the stronger your team becomes. And the stronger the team is, the stronger your business becomes.” ~Cameron Overacker When it comes to the family business, there’s the clan you’re born into and the people that you surround yourself with. Jason talks with Cameron Overacker, president of Canadian flooring distributor Primco, to learn how DiSC assessment has helped his company get the very best from both. It’s not easy to step into a family business. But, as Cam points out, many of the challenges that second or third generation leaders face come from self-doubt rather than external forces. “You always felt like you were being measured...because you were in the family business. Everybody expected you to be perfect.” In truth, however, Cam says that he was probably harder on himself than anyone within the company. “That’s not the way most people were thinking [about you]. And those that were probably didn’t have good intentions for the relationship they had with you anyway.” Still, he didn’t take the easy road back into his father’s company. He credits manual labor work for the oil and gas pipelines as well as the year he spent back-packing around the South Pacific for providing invaluable life lessons. The years he spent outside of Primco helped him develop his leadership style. “Different people mature at different ages,” he says. And life experience has a lot to do with what someone brings to their role. “I don’t have a post-secondary degree. My father quit school at grade eleven yet he was very successful in setting up this company.” Cam built upon his father’s success by facing challenges with honesty and humility. “The biggest thing is to surround yourself with good people and ensure that those people have your back and you have their backs.” But it can be tricky blending old-guard employees, those that have the experience in years, with fresh hires. An executive coach has helped him better utilize the unique talents of each group by asking him to evaluate his own behaviors first. DiSC assessment helped Cam recognize his strengths and weaknesses and the effect they had on Primco’s culture. The exercise had such a profound effect on him that now everyone in the organization, not just the sales team, takes the assessment. The DiSC profile doesn’t just highlight weaknesses. The questionnaire also helps participants understand how their skill set fits within the team dynamic and to appreciate the unique contributions of their fellow employees. “Always be humble and willing to learn from anybody and everybody, at any level of an organization,” Cam says. It’s a strategy that’s worked well for Primco.   Thank you to our sponsor INxSQL, software built for distribution.   *** Distribution Talk is produced by The Distribution Team, a consulting services firm dedicated to helping wholesale distribution clients remove barriers to profitability, generate wealth and achieve personal goals.   Edited & mixed by The Creative Impostor Studios. Connect with Jason on LinkedIn. Connect with Cameron on LinkedIn.

“Most business owners try to grow our way out of our problems. But the result is simply a bigger monster. You can't grow out in your profit problem. You need to fix the profit first, then you grow.” -Tully Brewer In this episode, Jason and Tully Brewer, president of Littlejohn, Inc., chat about the profit first approach and planning for a healthy succession. Littlejohn, Inc. began selling tank trailers in the 1930s but it wasn’t until the family firm opened its parts business in the late 80s that things really took off. Eventually, opportunities gave way to challenges and Tully admits to having had a myopic view when it came to finding solutions for his middling bottom-line. ”We try to grow our way out of problems, hinging salvation on the next big sale customer or investor.” He credits Profit First: Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine by Mike Michalowicz for helping him refocus and post record profits. “You need to fix the profit first,” Tully says, “Then you grow.” To sustain that growth, Tully has cultivated a mindful, hands-off approach for developing the company’s next generation of leaders, which includes his son Zach, 31, and son-in-law Thomas, 29. He offers them guidance, support, and works through management books like Ego Is The Enemy by Ryan Holiday with them. For the most part, however, “they make decisions and move on,” he says. “It allows them to grow and develop and think strategically without me having to be there to tell them what to do.”   What would Tully do differently if he could go back to his early years at Little John, Inc? Listen in to find out.   Thank you to our sponsor INxSQL, software built for distribution.   *** Distribution Talk is produced by The Distribution Team, a consulting services firm dedicated to helping wholesale distribution clients remove barriers to profitability, generate wealth and achieve personal goals.   Edited & mixed by The Creative Impostor Studios. Connect with Jason on LinkedIn. Connect with Tully on LinkedIn.