This week's top items included articles on the sales front and discussing why distributors should look to grow through the oil & gas market, as well as announcements from Big 50 companies Fastenal and Interline Brands, and buying/marketing group Affiliated Distributors.
Here's this week's Top 5:
Sales: How To Get Past The Gatekeeper (article): Sales guru Paul Reilly of Reilly Sales Training puts in perspective how salespeople need to open the gate rather than muscle their way through, providing seven tips on how to get decision makers to open up.
Interline Brands Merges 5 Brands To Launch SupplyWorks: Interline Brands, No. 17 on Industrial Distribution's 2014 Big 50 List, made a major announcement Monday with the launch of a new national brand,SupplyWorks. SupplyWorks is the merger of five of Interline's leading brands – AmSan, CleanSource, JanPak, Trayco, and Sexauer – under one national brand. The SupplyWorks brand will include over 140,000 products – spanning everything from plumbing and cleaning supplies to HVAC, electrical, and other MRO products.
Fastenal Awarded National TCPN Contract: Fastenal has partnered with The Cooperative Purchasing Network (TCPN) to provide MRO supplies to government entities nationwide. TCPN’s lead government agency, Region 4 Education Service Center, uses a competitive solicitation process consistent with applicable procurement laws and regulations. Fastenal’s TCPN contract offers discounts on Fastenal’s entire MRO product line such as: Fasteners, Safety, Electrical, Plumbing, HVAC, Tools, Welding, Chemicals & Paints, Lighting, and Janitorial. Fastenal’s industrial vending program and vendor managed inventory services are also included in the TCPN contract.
Industrial Distributors Should Look To Grow Through Oil & Gas Market (article): Lisa Russell, Industry and Solution Strategy Director at Infor Distribution, discusses that as huge capital investments continue to be made in this market, distributors should look to capitalize on the industry’s exponential growth to facilitate their own profitability and expansion. Distributors have an opportunity to increase their revenue by serving a customer base that is hyper-focused on expansion and often located in regions not previously considered part of the energy market.
Affiliated Distributors Announces Bearings & Power Transmission Charter Members: AD has announced the first wave of charter members in its newly formed Bearings & Power Transmission (PT) Division. The new division was announced on March 2. The annual sales of AD’s 27 Charter PT Members exceeds $2.4 Billion through 378 branch locations.
