Blogs from Art Waskey

Most Recent

AI That Transforms Time to Customer Value

Customer value and time transformation As a seasoned sales professional, I am amazed by AI's impact on transforming time into customer value. What takes a salesperson 3-5 days to accomplish with traditional sales-cycle methods can now be completed in 15 minutes with...

AI Enablement and Workforce Security

AI enablement Why am I so adamant about distributors enabling AI without delay and with a sense of urgency? The answer is because AI is already impacting their businesses. According to technology provider Tecmony, “58% of companies in the B2B sector actively use...

The AI Gold Rush – Presenting Opportunities

The Early Movers  AI never ceases to amaze me. I’ve just read another article about the rapid changes it's bringing. AI feels like a gold rush, transforming industries and even making its way into Super Bowl ads! AI appears to be broadening beyond the handful of...

Subscribe

* indicates required
Subscribe me to:

Featured

A Happy Customer Base

Happy employees create happy customers. Don’t let employee complaints reach your customers’ ears. Optimize employee performance by providing your team with the best resources. The Right Technology...

Lessons from Evergreen Companies: Tenets of Business Growth

I recently read “Another Way” by Dave Whorton. In this book, Whorton gives practical advice and real-world examples of companies going Evergreen. Several of the tenets of business growth he...

Distributor Sales: Best Strategies

The Advent of Distribution Networks As we know it today, distribution sales began in the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Due to the mass production of goods, a nationwide...
A Happy Customer Base

A Happy Customer Base

Happy employees create happy customers. Don’t let employee complaints reach your customers’ ears. Optimize employee performance by providing your...

Goals and Motivation

Goals and Motivation

Motivation and Restraint John Grisham is one of my favorite writers. I only read his books on vacations because once started, I can’t stop. As a...

Strategic Communication

Strategic Communication

Implementation Forming and implementing an effective strategic plan is challenging. It takes building a good leadership team and developing a...

Promote Functional Leadership

Promote Functional Leadership

Leadership doesn’t just happen. To be functional it has to be promoted. Recently, in a Distributor Strategy Group webcast, Eric Chernik, CEO, of...

Know Your Stakeholders

Know Your Stakeholders

A Needle in a Haystack Today, finding the right product can feel like searching for a needle in a haystack. In your B2B business, how do you help...

Sell with Trust and Value

Sell with Trust and Value

Pitching your Products Today’s market is flooded with an array of goods and services. As a B2B seller, this makes pitching your products more...

Value your Employees

Value your Employees

Workers in the US labor market are on the move. A shortage of talent combined with greatly expanded job options has led to rapid employee turnover....

Perceived Value

Perceived Value

Personalize the Sale I have an older car which I use for fun when family comes to visit. As it gets only occasional use, the battery often needs...

Working on Retention

Working on Retention

Job-Hopping on the Rise Today's labor market is marked by a shortage of talent and many new job options. These factors enable younger employees to...

Maximizing Price Increase Attainment

Maximizing Price Increase Attainment

Pricing strategy One of the top distribution subjects in the last two years has been pricing strategy. In 2021 and through the first half of 2022,...

Adding Value with ERP

Adding Value with ERP

The ERP solution I consult with a supplier who offers a single, basic product. Nevertheless, while reviewing his strategic projects, I suggested he...

From Best Practices to Next Practices

From Best Practices to Next Practices

Changes and Challenges As 2022 comes to a close, it’s time to formulate a plan for 2023. I find that webcasts are a great way to acquire relevant...

The Digital Generation of Buyers

The Digital Generation of Buyers

Digital natives The pandemic impacted the role of the outside sales rep (See adjusting-to-changes-in-sales-process-relationships) but what about the...

The 5-Generation Legacy Rule

The 5-Generation Legacy Rule

In Baltimore City, Maryland, my father owned two 20-foot refrigerated displays in a store that sold meat. His five children learned how to develop a...

Customer Outcomes

Customer Outcomes

B2B buyers are doing a lot of purchasing online these days — about $1.6 trillion annually according to projections by Digital Commerce 360. Are...

Workforce Ecosystems

Workforce Ecosystems

My son-in-law works in the motion picture industry. The film projects he works on were staffed with people from multiple companies as well as...

The Added-Value Differentiator

The Added-Value Differentiator

Electric Vehicles (EVS) are coming. I have two Gen X children who are now working professionals and both drive Chevrolet Bolt EVs. In a recent...

Sales: The Psychodynamics of Success

Sales: The Psychodynamics of Success

A sales manager recently described his travel day with a rep who needed to close more business. They called on six prospective accounts and the...

The High-Value Customer

The High-Value Customer

How to Measure Success While VP of Sales, I oversaw a hospital account that was among our leading 10 customers. Their purchases topped the charts....