Industrial Distribution

I retired after 40 years in industrial distribution and know a thing or two about success. I'm seriously over simplifying, but great people are the key to success. Keep employee morale high, listen a lot, and get rid of employees, especially executives who act and talk like they are better than everyone else, even if they are. Do what you say you will do, or more, but absolutely no less. Establish fair but challenging employee performance measurables and recognize the best preformers lavishly and reward them well. With the top people working for you, let them do their thing and give plenty of room for them to maneuver and make some mistakes. Don't hire your friends and relatives. Don't re-hire anyone who quit you for "any" reason. Give your people the best equipment to work with and the best products available. You get what you pay for. Fire customers who abuse you and your company and/or who refuse to pay you according to the agreed upon terms. Legal boycots of these players would be a good start. Train, train, train, and don't forget to test for what was learned. Let the "old-timers" mentor the newbies with some structure. Be critical in private. Don't believe you are right all the time. Have confidence that you are right most of the time. Smile. Take off your tie. Throw away your cell phone. Answer your own phone. Make your own calls. Say Thank You a lot.

Terry is right on. There are enough thoughts here to form the basis of many comments – and I will shamelessly build on what he has started. Thanks so much for your insights. We all need to step back and recognize the lessons we have learned. More importantly, we need to pass them on. As I like to say: “we learn from our mistakes, I only wish I didn’t learn so much so often.”

I work for a 102-year old family-owned industrial wholesale company based out of the midwest (Nebraska, Iowa, Colorado). The company is full of tradition and employees who have been here for most of their lives. We don't shy away from technology and how it may help us continue to grow and succeed. However, there is a constant struggle between those who welcome the technology and those who think we are moving too far away from our traditional mode of operation. I would assume this is a natural struggle, but do you (or Terry) have any advice on how to better balance the two extremes?

Tonja, I wonder, are the company principals happy with where you are and the rate of growth, profitability, etc? Change is good, but to change too quickly or just for the sake of change could be disastrous. I would wager to guess that your customers do business with you because of the way you are and the way they are treated. A sudden change in the "look" and "feel" of your company could cause your customers to see you as "just one of the other guys" instead of the distinct look you have today. Taking advantage of technology that makes employees tasks go more smoothly and provides data that leads to improved efficiency without bogging down the day to day tried and proven techniques is the way to go. Involve all employees by getting their input in the selection and technology choices and upgrades and cherish the traditalists for their input so any changes benefit all employees, management, and customers. There will always be some who see the new ways as the devils ways, and I bet they are good people who can still contribute with their own strengths. Match those to what they do best but don''t let them keep the train from leaving the station.

Now that you mention it, the technology pursuits our company has made over the last few years have been more related to broadening our geographic reach and our product offerings and less about improved efficiency. Perhaps that is where the balance may lay.

Steve--it has been my observation in our midwestern industrial distribution company that although we have made various attempts to bring technology to our customers, they either weren't ready for what we had or found it easier to use traditional methods of getting what they needed. We were often frustrated by this, but felt we had to keep trying regardless...thinking sooner or later the time would be right and that we were better off being ready than trying to catch up.