by Art Waskey | Aug 27, 2026 | Art of Sales Weekly, Featured
Managing pricing with AI
The pricing process, which is central to your business, has been significantly influenced by AI. As a consultant in the welding and gases industry, I’m frequently asked by distributors which AI software can provide the best chance for short-term return on investment (ROI). Therefore, AI applications for pricing rank at the top of their priority list. I recommend appointing a Pricing Czar to oversee the complexities involved in integrating AI into your pricing strategy.
What the Data Says
The National Association of Wholesale Distributors’ (NAW) 2026 survey data (naw.org) ranks these as the top three business areas for distributors to apply AI technology:
- Pricing is the top priority overall. 27% of distributors ranked pricing as their number one AI priority, making it the leading category. Even small gains in price realization can meaningfully boost operating profit, and AI can identify these.
- Inventory and demand planning is a close second priority. 21% of respondents ranked this as their top target for AI applications. Also, AI is a valuable tool for demand forecasting. It enables you to better balance carrying costs against stockout risk.
- Sales/CRM productivity: AI embedded in CRM tools is the third highest priority. Embedding AI in your sales and CRM processes improves productivity as it allows you to draft outreach and follow-ups based on a buyer’s recent activity, previous meeting notes, and current industry trends. This lets reps scale outreach without losing personalization (human review still expected before sending).
Time to Act
It’s time to take advantage of AI. According to Ian Heller of DSG (Distribution Strategy Group), “Companies that hesitate [to adopt AI] will lose ground to competitors using AI to reduce costs, improve service and make faster, smarter decisions.”
Large distributors have already made huge investments in this technology. Moreover, that investment has lowered the cost of entry for distributors with annual revenues under $20M.
The Pricing Czar
Customer satisfaction improves with better pricing, because your clients ultimately get better service. Select a person to spearhead the work as your Pricing Czar and keep your customer in mind. Also, making price a focus of your current SOP. Your Pricing Czar should look at pricing every day. Lastly, naming a Pricing Czar isn’t a luxury move anymore — it’s the next logical step for any distributor serious about staying competitive.
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by Art Waskey | Aug 18, 2026 | Art of Sales Weekly, Featured
Take a look back to look ahead…
What have you done?
I am 76 years old and find myself asking — how did I get here so fast? I reflect on what brought me this far and where I still want to go. Do I want to achieve more or is it time to coast? R.G. Collingwood, a British philosopher and historian, expressed how to approach your thoughts on the future in this way: “The only clue to what man can do is what man has done.” (506443.R_G_Collingwood) In other words: look back to look ahead, and plan for the future.
A lifelong process
I still remember when one of my mentors asked for a little time alone with me — 25 years ago. My first thought was that he had some constructive criticism. It turned out to be quite the opposite. At 70 years old, this sage asked me to help him discover what he was going to be when he grew up. In a short time, we uncovered it: he was still passionate about writing a daily journal for seniors.
Today, my two closest friends and mentors are 71 and 93. The three of us share some amazing threads – we’re all enjoying life, and we still treat acquiring wisdom as a lifelong process. We’ve taken unique paths, but we share common interests, and we all have a life plan.
Creating the Plan
That mentor, Dr. Gordon VanRooy, published his book, Nuggets for the Golden Years, on May 7, 2009 – the fruit of the conversation we had 25 years earlier. Gordon lived to be 90, and his book is still available on Amazon.
Remember, “The only clue to what man can do is what man has done.” Take a deep dive into your past to uncover what matters most to you. Revisit your life story and identify what motivates you to succeed. Recognize what makes you unique and what abilities set you apart from your peers. Then build your plan for the future from what you find.
The question of who you’re still becoming doesn’t retire when you do.
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by Tera Jewell | Aug 12, 2026 | Art of Sales Weekly, Featured
Whether you are at the beginning of your career or nearing the end, it is important to have a life plan. A guiding strategy that takes into account your unique strengths as well as your passions keeps you motivated and on track. I am 76 years old and have a life plan that I am continually revising based on my life circumstances as they unfold.
Six Planning Categories
Here are six categories you should reflect on when developing your life plan:
- Your Story – What have you been doing? Take time to evaluate your experience. Understanding the big picture of your life story helps you define your future desires and goals.
- Your Purpose – Identify the reason you’re doing what you’re doing. What drives you? Recognize that your unique interests shape your path. Reflect on what has brought you to where you are now — it’s the key to your future purpose.
- Your Abilities – What are your unique contributions to this world? Identify what makes you distinctive. Also, the relationships and achievements that were fulfilling to you as a child are often fulfilling as an adult, just at a higher level. Though I was gifted in mathematics, what set me apart from my peers was my power of persuasion. My life’s greatest achievements have come from being able to influence others in a positive way.
- Your Legacy – What do you intend to leave behind? What do you want to pass on to those who will live after you — your family, your friends, your co-workers, and others? Focus on the people you want to invest in. Who are they and how have you impacted them?
- Your Strategy – Develop a strategy. Make your legacy a reality by integrating the four categories above into your plan. At my age, I spend more time than ever thinking about how I use my time. A skillful living plan considers life as a whole and is built on foundational principles. Reflect on how you can focus your time on a few guiding passions. What programs or projects mean the most to you? Spend your time developing those — and drop the rest.
- Your Habits – What habits need to become part of your life, regardless of your age or position? Pursue lifelong learning and fine-tune the habits you are most passionate about. Those are the ones necessary to create a legacy worth passing on.
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by Art Waskey | Jul 22, 2026 | Art of Sales Weekly, Featured
Creating new relationships
I recently read two articles about developing trust on the SmartBrief on Leadership blog. They were “This Advice from 1751 Can Help You Be Better Liked Today” and “7 Ways to Build a ‘Circle of Truth’ as a Leader.” This reading coincided with a summit I recently attended where I had the opportunity to meet people and establish some new contacts. Several of the young professionals I met commented on how easy it was to get to know me. The ability to create new relationships is an important asset for a business person, so this was more than a compliment.
Trust me
I have found that getting to know someone first and foremost involves establishing trust. The blog posts mentioned above have some good ideas on how to do this. In this article, I share with you some of the important steps I have learned to take when developing trust in a professional relationship.
Care before credibility
“People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” This statement has been attributed to US President Theodore Roosevelt, motivational speaker Zig Ziglar, best-selling author John C. Maxwell, and others. This quote emphasizes that you must show genuine care and empathy toward others if you want them to value your knowledge and expertise.
Trust begins with a question
Meeting someone new is often fraught with anxiety – there are so many unknowns. Generally, both parties are anxious regardless of their backgrounds. To alleviate the tension, someone must take the lead in getting the conversation started. I suggest opening with a question. Let the person speak and stay out of the exchange. This gives your new contact time to relax. If you spearhead the dialogue for 20 minutes by listening, your newfound relationship will develop into trust.
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by Art Waskey | Jul 15, 2026 | Art of Sales Weekly, Featured
The ability to build new relationships is an important asset for a businessperson, but getting to know someone is no easy task. I have found that establishing trust is a critical step in building a new relationship. Trust is a reverse psychological phenomenon — the more you get the other person to talk about themselves, the more they trust you. People are naturally attracted to others who make them feel comfortable. A warm smile and engaging interaction can be the start of a lifetime connection.
Lead with questions
An easy way to get a conversation started with a new acquaintance is to ask about their career. Inquire as to where they work, what they do, and how long they have been in their current role. You will find that leading with questions opens many doors.
Listen up
Always approach a new relationship by demonstrating genuine care through thoughtful questions and active listening. You will find that you can get anything out of life if you just help enough other people get what they want in life (ziglar.com). Also, showcasing what you know does not help develop trust with others. The counterintuitive secret to successful relationship building is that the more you get others talking about themselves, the more they trust you. Influence does not develop by speaking but by listening.
Enthusiastic engagement
Once you establish trust, continue to build your new friendship with enthusiastic engagement. Communicate your appreciation of your newly established relationship through texts and emails. Be sure to add all new acquaintances to your contacts list.
Common sense
Establishing trust is the most important step in building a new relationship and you do this by listening. The many friends I have made in my professional career are proof that this common-sense — but not common-practice — approach to establishing trust works.
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by Art Waskey | Jun 23, 2026 | Art of Sales Weekly, Featured
A career-long blind spot
I learned later in life that the best salesperson I worked with in my 50-year career often felt I did not fully acknowledge or praise her success. We worked together in industrial sales in the 1980s and 1990s. At that time, sales was still largely a man’s world, which made her achievements even more remarkable, considering that she outperformed them all.
At our annual companywide business celebrations, I always praised her for exceptional performance, yet she still felt unappreciated by me. I did not realize that I was continually qualifying my praise of her with a “but …”. I learned many years later that praise followed by criticism never works.
Understanding the “but”
In my mid-70s, I set a goal to continue to engage with gifted mentors. One of those mentors recently reminded me of a book we read, The Rest of the Gospel: When the Partial Gospel Has Worn Out, by Dan Stone and David Gregory. That book made me realize that I often put inappropriate comments before and/or after a “but” when offering words of praise. To genuinely encourage someone and work toward a good solution, you need to work with that person’s specific circumstances. The key to doing this effectively is to carefully place your “but”, if it is necessary to use it at all.
In retrospect
Looking back, I can see that I would have been more effective and helpful by referencing opportunities for my colleague as part of my praise. I knew her abilities and should have discussed how they could be best applied to strategic solutions. The key to genuine praise is presenting encouragement either after the “but” or without a “but” at all.
Empower with praise
The placement of “but” in our feedback determines whether we deflate or empower. Praise followed by criticism (“You did great, but…”) erases the very success we claim to celebrate and leaves even top performers feeling unvalued. You need to reposition your “buts” so that the focus is on solutions and not just encouragement. In this way, you can transform your leadership from unintentional discouragement into genuine development. Make people feel truly appreciated for both their achievements and their potential.
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