by Art Waskey | Oct 19, 2026 | Uncategorized
A wake-up call – VMI
Rapid technological advancements are transforming how markets operate and how buying behaviors evolve, as buyers and sellers seek more efficient ways to conduct business.
For example, in 2010 the distributor I was working for noticed sales stopped in a key account. When we investigated, we found a non-traditional supply chain competitor had taken the business by adding a new type of equipment — a vendor-managed inventory (VMI) machine. Sales could be made at a vending machine with no human pitching the sale. The change was about labor savings and a leaner way for the customer to do business. Our response was to sign a contract with a VMI manufacturer and start installing our own equipment in key accounts. That shift in the buying process was a wake-up call to a new movement in sales transactions.
Another wake-up call – Ecommerce
The next shift came with the introduction of ecommerce and the emergence of a new group of non-traditional competitors. Also, they had names like Amazon, Grainger, and SMC. These virtual ecommerce distributors sold products through their websites and offered next-day delivery to the customer’s front door. The traditional distributors needed to respond with websites capable of handling e-commerce.
While ecommerce operated without the personal interaction of a salesperson and a customer, a person still did the searching online. You can complete purchases with just one click. Brian Hopkins, of Distribution Strategy Group (DSG), described e-commerce well in a recent article, “…every version of that process [e-commerce], from paper catalogs to punch-out to modern web stores, was built around a person doing the browsing, the photography, the merchandising, the search bar, the account login, all assume a set of human eyes on the other side of the screen.”
And then came AI.
The latest wake-up call – AI
What happens when your customer’s purchasing department hands over the purchasing task to an AI agent? The human element is completely gone. The agent searches across all suppliers, compares specs, delivery options, and price, and makes the purchase. Independent distributors rely on their ability to offer personalized service to differentiate them in the market. With AI, there are no people. This makes it a big threat to the traditional independent distributor. Hopkins offers this advice. If your product and service data is complete and correct — specs, dimensions, compatibility, availability, and price — an agent searching your catalog will still find you, and still buy from you.
Win With the Cleanest Data
In conclusion, personalization is what the traditional independent distributor relies on for customer loyalty. Each of these buying shifts, VMI, e-commerce, and AI, represents a loss of personalization in business transactions. To offset this, independent distributors need to make sure their information is online and up-to-date at all times. Lastly, the winning contracts and sales won’t go to the best person but to the product and service providers with the cleanest data.
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by Art Waskey | Oct 8, 2026 | Art of Sales Weekly, Featured
Are you in a constant state of anxiety about getting the job done today so that you are not overwhelmed tomorrow? Does staying in the office late make you feel that everything is under control? If so, you need to recognize that late nights at work are a bad habit and a sign that you need to manage your time better.
Rein in your work ethic
Here are four suggestions to help you rein in your work ethic. These tips will enable you to achieve a less stressful and more productive work week.
- Set office hours – First and foremost, set realistic office hours. I now work from 10:30 to 4:00 — sometimes 5:00 — but I make that the exception. If you’re working excessive hours, I recommend you start logging your time. When I was in the corporate world, recording my hours helped me recognize that I had to reduce my 65+ hour week to no more than 50 hours. To help cut back on those extra hours, give people a finite window when you can be reached. Turn off the “always on” signal. Signing up for an AI-powered scheduling and automated meeting app like calendly.com is one helpful way to do that.
- Know your priorities – At the beginning of the week, establish a next step for each of your top 3 to 5 projects. Put prioritized appointments on your calendar to make sure you work on them. This relieves a surprising amount of stress.
- Say “no” without guilt – Before the week starts, move or cancel meetings that aren’t “important and urgent,” as Stephen Covey puts it in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (franklincovey.com ). Clearing your calendar of non-essential meetings before the week begins will give you an immediate rush of relief. The people on that clear list will likely feel just as relieved as you do. Declining isn’t rejection; it’s stewardship of your priorities.
- Group your meetings – With the rise of virtual calls, it’s become easier to sequence meetings. Cluster calls into blocks so that they don’t fragment your day. Take control of your meetings — limit their number and bunch your meetings with a minimum of 60-minute gaps in between. This gap leaves room for overflow and breaks and eliminates the stress of rushing to the next call.
A more productive week
These four suggestions will enable you to improve your time management and achieve a less stressful and more productive work week.
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by Art Waskey | Sep 30, 2026 | Art of Sales Weekly, Featured
Are you feeling like a workaholic who is putting in too many hours with no end in sight? If so, you need to decide that your time is valuable and worth managing better. Below are some suggestions to get you started.
Managing each day
- Guard your high-energy time – Recognize the times when you do your best work and plan your day accordingly. This relieves stress and enables you to have a productive “get it done now” attitude. As a morning person, I try to use the first couple of hours to work on my highest-value projects.
- Delegate tasks – We are all unique. Remember that there are people who actually enjoy doing things that you do not. Detailed work is not my niche, so I have sought out valuable, detail-oriented associates to support me throughout my career. They are people who enjoy doing comprehensive functions. Trust those around you to handle the tasks you don’t want, and let it go.
- Debrief each day – Take 30 minutes near the end of each day to debrief. Collect information, delegate tasks that need to be done, and move unfinished business forward.
- Establish a relief day – Give yourself something to look forward to — designate a relief day. Mine is Friday, and I like to start that morning with no external meetings so I can focus on deep work. Then I plan the afternoon for light, fun, interactive social time. I think of it as my “one-foot-out-the-door” day.
- Preview your week on Sunday – Go over the week-ahead schedule on Sunday so you are ready to go Monday morning. Begin the week with a plan instead of reacting to the list of to-do items on your desk. You’ll be surprised how far ahead of your associates this places you.
Not a workaholic
As control of your workday improves, the workaholic label recedes. You will be pleased with how quickly stress loosens its grip on you.
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by Art Waskey | Sep 24, 2026 | Art of Sales Weekly, Featured
The stress of having too much to do and not enough time to do it is a top concern of my clients. It was also a concern of mine during a long period of rapid growth at the distributorship where I worked. With an engineering background, I was fixated on alleviating that stress. Creating a system was a priority that allowed me to get more done in less time.
Five principles
Reclaiming time is important to your emotional survival in a hectic business world. Here are five principles I suggest you add to your “Learn Your Limits” toolbox.
- Capture everything — Use a journal to capture the important details of each day. Get in the habit of putting every business task, idea, and commitment into a trusted place immediately. One of my goals for this year is to move my journaling from a paper notebook and pencil to a tablet and a stylus. As AI progresses, going digital will enable me to rapidly recapture and integrate my recordings.
- Conduct a daily debriefing — Referencing your journal, go over the previous day’s content and move forward with the prioritized action items.
- Develop next steps — Ask yourself, “What is the next step needed to complete each task this week and when?” Use the “Two-minute Rule,” — if a task takes less than two minutes, do it now instead of deferring it.
- Conduct a weekly review — Every week, take 30 minutes on Friday or Saturday to revisit your lists and calendar. Reset, close loops, and re-prioritize all items.
- Review your notes on Sunday — Take 15 minutes on Sunday to review your schedule for the upcoming week and make any necessary changes, such as canceling or postponing a meeting. This ensures you get the next steps for each project completed. Those 15 minutes of review on Sunday enable you to start your week with a plan.
Reclaim time
I have worked through the stress created by long periods of rapid growth and can assure you that these 5 principles are not theoretical productivity tips. They enable you to reclaim your time. Taking these steps makes the difference between you running your week or letting your week run you. In conclusion, master these five habits, and you’ll trade the daily scramble for the quiet confidence of walking into a Monday with a plan already in hand.
by Art Waskey | Sep 17, 2026 | Art of Sales Weekly, Featured
When I retired from a welding and atmospheric gas distributor in 2018, I made a decision to continue in that distribution sector as a consultant. To stay relevant, I continue to read and watch webcasts produced by Distribution Strategy Group (DSG), Modern Distribution Management (MDM), and the National Association of Wholesale Distributors (NAW). I recently came across a survey completed by DSG that reveals important information about how AI is impacting our business. AI can require large monetary investment. This has created a gap between small- and medium-sized distributors and the big guys. Here are some insights to help you close that AI gap.
AI Top 25 in Distribution
In July of this year, DSG released the results of a survey titled The DSG AI Top 25 in Distribution. The purpose of the survey was to determine the top distributors using AI and what separates them from everyone else. DSG researched over 300 distributors using 34 data points across eight evidence categories. Of the 25 distributors listed in their report, eight stood out significantly above the rest. In this article, I focus on two of the eight top distributors that impact the welding and gases distribution sector, and what DSG states sets these top players apart.
Two Distributors Leading with AI
The first distributor in the top 25 we look at is Grainger. It applies AI to product search and to Grainger’s contact center. Of specific note, Grainger installs a data engine with computer vision to manage inventory for their best customers. Computer vision enables Grainger to interpret, analyze, and process images and videos. It uses AI deep learning to recognize objects, people, and patterns with a high degree of accuracy.
The second top distributor in the Top 25 that is relevant to the welding and gases industry is Fastenal. It puts AI where product moves. Also, they have 136,600 vending and bin-stock devices that predict tool failures and reorder on their own, driving 62% of sales. Robots run 15 of Fastenal’s distribution centers.
A five-step roadmap
Given the facts above, it’s easy to understand why independent hardgoods distributors are experiencing substantial leakage. DSG suggests these five steps to close the AI gap:
- Name an owner — Select one person with budget authority and a mandate to execute AI applications.
- Build the data backbone — Develop clean, reliable data.
- Pick one function — Start where you have volume and measurable waste, such as pricing, search, or order automation.
- Prove one ROI use case — Accurately measure and report results of an AI application to your C-Suite.
- Then go broad — Expand your use of AI to a second and third function.
Closing the gap
The DSG survey demonstrates the need to create a pathway for independent distributors to adopt AI and outlines a five-step roadmap to do so. What DSG prescribes is actionable for any size distributor, starting with naming one owner and proving one measurable ROI use case before expanding further. Select one person in your business to own your AI plan — and get started today.
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