We haven't heard much about Y2K lately. The original 'bug' was supposed to cause computers to crash and shut down the entire country, including the economy. To avoid the predicted disaster, we all fixed our computer systems. Billions of dollars were pumped into the economy as we purchased updated technology which improved the way information was processed.

We worked frantically toward January 1, 2000 and it passed without consequence. By the fourth quarter of 1999, we stopped spending and started reaping the rewards of our new and improved systems.

The demand for new technology dried up overnight, however, resulting in the spiraling cause and effect scenario that has taken the economy to its current state. The real Y2K bug wasn't about dates and computers, but about a heated-up economy driven by technology to fix the date problem.

In the 1950s, automobile manufacturing drove the economy. Today, information technology is the driving force, but both are vulnerable to changing market dynamics.

With such economic upheaval, what's a distributor to do?

The same strategies that got us this far will get us through this slowdown. Focus on the three points of the distribution triangle: our customers, the suppliers we represent, and our employees. Our ability to leverage these relationships and add value to the products and services we move through the channel will allow us to prevail.

The dot-com models that failed missed one of these factors. Someday people may be happy doing business with computers, but the hardest, meanest buyer that we deal with still wants to confront a person. Internet browsers have a difficult time adding value to a relationship.

Our customer relationships are critical. Some will say that distributors don't mean much to customers any more. I say, "We lose customers because we fail to identify what they perceive as value." If we try to impose our own value proposition, a competitor may hit on what they really wanted, and get the business. Maintaining a close relationship with customers is the only way to understand their value proposition and respond with goods and services that match.

Supplier relationships are also of paramount importance. Not just purchasing and re-selling, but establishing true partnerships with open communications and shared goals. We must have a clear understanding of each other's concerns and needs. Together, we must create a common value proposition that will match that of our customer.

The most important relationship is with our employees. Establishing a culture focused on the value-added mission forges sound employee relationships. As with our suppliers, our employees become partners through open communications and sharing common goals. I don't make or break my company. We — my people and I together — do. The most important thing leaders can do is surround themselves with capable people, communicate a clear mission, and let them make you look like a genius.

So, welcome to the year of the real Y2K bug. It won't be an easy one, but I believe we will prevail. If we continue to focus on our relationships and our value-added proposition, we will emerge from these trying times strengthened by the challenge.