More than 930 attendees turned out for the association's 24th annual meeting, slightly above last year's turnout in Victoria, British Columbia.

“We're very pleased with the turnout,” NAHAD's executive vice president Joe Thompson said during the meeting, pointing to a 9 percent increase—to 130— in the number of exhibitors at this year's contact table program compared to last year.

Speakers at the convention identified some of the many challenges and opportunities facing distributors and offered suggestions on overcoming channel difficulties. The subjects included tips on achieving business excellence in distribution; how to provide a valued-added sales culture; human resource issues and tips to effectively use technology to improve distributor operations.

One of the highlights of the meeting came on the first day when association members received an update on the Hose Assembly Guidelines (HAG). A panel of distributors and manufacturers described how they've successfully used the guidelines as a sales, marketing and management tool.

The guidelines are a comprehensive set of minimum performance recommendations for the design, fabrication and specification of industrial, composite, hydraulic, corrugated metal and fluoropolymer hose assemblies.

Rob Lyons, president of Maryland-based Tipco Technologies, told fellow members the guidelines have opened doors beyond customers' purchasing departments.

“We've had a lot of success in selling to engineering [departments],” he said. “It's a way to differentiate yourself from the competition.”

Chuck Connors, president of Massachusetts-based Omni Services, called the NAHAD guidelines “purposeful.”

“You get points from the customer when you have something other than what your competitor has,” Connors said.

Jim Reilly of Houston-based distributor GHX said promoting the guidelines is a good way to get your company “in the door” with a customer and let them know you're adhering to a specific, high-level standard.

Meeting and exceeding customer needs was the focus of a presentation by Christine Corelli, a consultant specializing in customer service. She told attendees that in today's competitive environment “just” customer satisfaction is not enough—loyalty is what sells, she said.

“Customer satisfaction leads to only 8 percent loyalty and it takes five times as much time and effort to attract a new customer as it does to retain them,” she said.

She also noted that 98 percent of the time customers won't complain about bad customer service but will instead just go to a new supplier.

Tom Reilly, a nationally known sales trainer and columnist for INDUSTRIAL DISTRIBUTION, told attendees how to deliver a solid value-added sales effort and noted that distributors need to “truly” differentiate themselves from the competition.

“People are the last frontier for differentiation,” he said.

Though people may be the great differentiator, consultant Bill McCleave said finding those qualified people is one of distribution's biggest challenges.

McCleave, who authored a study on distribution released last year, unveiled preliminary results of what he referred to as a “daughter” study focusing on the quest for human talent. The study examines distributors in two lines of trade; NAHAD members represent one portion.

Results for the full study are still being compiled, but McCleave said the data from NAHAD members shows that termination is the top reason employees leave their companies.

“This shows that you're not hiring the right people,” he said.

The study of NAHAD members also shows that nearly 50 percent are “somewhat pessimistic” about hiring and retaining “great” talent for their organizations.

The right talent and a properly written strategic plan go a long way toward building “distribution excellence,” said Dr. Kathy Newton of Purdue University. Specifically, a strategic plan should include a mission statement, a list of opportunities and threats to your business, broadly stated goals and specific objectives, she said.

Newton also noted the importance of establishing an implementation plan that includes items such as tactics, names, dates and a follow-up system. She said managers should use the plan to make day-to-day decisions and emphasized the importance of involving employees to help build distribution excellence.

“Could your employees tell you the top three things you need to work on to improve this year?” she asked.

The role of technology in the distribution sector was discussed by another speaker, Bob DeStefano, president of SVM E-Business Solutions. He told attendees how to implement a successful online marketing strategy.

DeStefano noted that in several recent studies, 80 percent of distributors indicated they intend to increase their budgets for online marketing.

He offered suggestions for conducting a successful search engine optimization plan, including such methods as “pay-per-click,” keyword terms, link building and advertising.

He also told distributors and manufacturers to make their Web sites more “search crawlable” by using keyword-rich copy and creating “killer title tags” and URL's by using relevant terms in titles, directory names and file names.

“Update your Web site regularly, do it either twice a month or monthly,” he said.

In other convention news, Chuck Connors of Omni Services received the George W. Carver Award for his outstanding service to NAHAD and the industry. Connors, a former NAHAD president, has been involved in association activities for many years.

NAHAD's new president is Jack Kacsur of General Rubber Co. in Milwaukee, Wis. He succeeds Joe Lark of Monroe Rubber & Plastic Supply Co., Monroe, Mich.

You can read more about the convention at ID's Web site at www.inddist.com /Keough's Korner.