ASA Chairwoman Katie Poehling Seymour
Where do you get your inspiration?
There are many ways to get inspired. You can become inspired from your family, by taking a hike in nature, from a song, reading an exciting author or watching an elite athlete.
I get inspired from watching the hundreds of ASA members selflessly working together to build a stronger association and industry. I was inspired last November as nearly 90 leading distributors and more than 800 industry professionals representing roughly $45 billion in sales gathered in Orlando, Florida, to share best practices and build connections that deepened their relationships.
During NETWORK 2023, our third-annual Great Ideas Roundtable session was extremely inspirational as hundreds of participants discussed how our industry can transfer institutional knowledge from today’s leaders to the next generation. You can read more about that Great Ideas session in this issue of ASA Review.
We see inspiration in members giving back — case in point working together over the past year to develop the first industry data-sharing standard, thus making it easier to share data between manufacturers and distributors. This monumental endeavor will be shared once it’s completed, hopefully later this year.
Earlier this month, roughly 100 ASA volunteers gathered at LEAD 2024, the association’s strategic planning retreat to look five years into the future to identify the disruptors that will challenge our members’ futures and how ASA should position itself to combat these disruptors. Seeing these volunteers working selflessly together to create a plan that benefits everyone is hugely inspirational to me. We will publish the results from LEAD in the next issue of ASA Review.
With another great year in the books, in this issue we look back at 2023 and remember some of the accomplishments of ASA (Check out the ASA Year in Review starting on Page 11). One of our amazing accomplishments, the new Voice of the Contractor Survey, is a key addition to our suite of business intelligence reports where we asked nearly 30,000 plumbing and mechanical/industrial PVF contractors a variety of questions, including ones about their product purchasing habits, relationships with wholesalers, as well as training/education preferences for employees and inventory strategies. In addition to the Voice of the Contractor, we launched our ASA Quarterly Market Survey and asked distributors to provide their thoughts on a variety of marketand business-related topics.
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While 2023 was another strong year for ASA, and as we look to get started building another great year in 2024, it’s important to reflect back to February 2008 at the association’s winter meeting in St. Petersburg Florida, where the leadership and nearly 70 volunteers and staff gathered to participate in our first two-day strategic planning retreat that established our first long-range vision of where the association was going and how it was going to lead the membership to an envisioned future of success.
Very few associations successfully pull off bringing together such a large crowd of opinionated individuals to a planning session and walk away united in purpose and thought. Not only did we successfully pull that off in 2008, but it is what continues to drive ASA today!
Our continued effort to keep thinking about the future and setting amazing goals is truly inspirational.
Mike Adelizzi CEO
More than 1,600 ASA member locations ‘now hiring’ on SupplyIndustryCareers.com
By Steve Edwards, Director of Recruitment Marketing sedwards@asa.net
Following the recent launch of a new tool to connect jobseekers with ASA members, more than 1,600 distributor, manufacturer and manufacturers’ rep locations across the country are currently showing as “Now Hiring” on SupplyIndustryCareers.com
ASA’s PROJECT TALENT, one of four association strategic mega goals, aims to attract and grow the number of talented workers taking advantage of fulfilling career opportunities in the PHCP-PVF industry, and provide members tools and resources to supplement their recruitment efforts.
Through PROJECT TALENT’s social media and e-mail marketing campaigns, jobseekers are targeted and directed to the site where they can learn more about the industry, request further information and access a U.S. map that allows them to choose a state or region where they would like to pursue employment and begin their search.
While all ASA members are represented on this map, those members that have indicated in the ASA member portal that they are actively hiring are clearly highlighted so the user can seamlessly link to the member website where the local recruiting and hiring process can begin.
In 2023, there were more than 49,000 visits to SupplyIndustryCareers.com.
How you can take advantage of this tool
To ensure your company gets highlighted as a member currently hiring, you must activate the “Has Available Jobs” option in your company’s profile on asa.net. By turning this on, jobseekers can clearly see you are hiring and link directly to your website for more information. This is also an opportunity to review your company’s information, including website URL, telephone number and email address, and update as needed.
For security purposes, only a member’s primary and billing contacts can make changes to a company profile on asa. net, including activating the “Has Available Jobs” option. If you need to know who these contacts are in your company or need to change these contacts, please send a message to info@asa.net
To provide potential candidates with the best recruitment experience, it is critical ASA member career websites are updated and follow some best practices. To help make sure your career website provides the best experience possible, ASA has developed a checklist of best practices (email me at sedwards@asa.net to receive that checklist).
Many economists expect the labor market to improve slightly in 2024, but challenges, according to ASA members, will continue, particularly in attracting talent to the PHCP-PVF industry. Using the tools provided by ASA can help boost recruitment and prepare your company for current and future growth.
Please contact info@asa.net with any questions or comments regarding PROJECT TALENT or its many tools and resources.
A look back at a strong year of accomplishment
By Katie Poehling Seymour, 2024 ASA Chairwoman
Delta Airlines tells me I flew about 175,000 miles in 2023 (which probably gets me a free water in their new program, oh well). I visited 13 states in my role as ASA president and, in my estimation, businesses representing at least 100,000 people and nearly $100 billion in revenue. Thank-you all for your hospitality.
Between the visits, the events, the panels, the speeches, and the parties we also got a few things done during my time as 2023 ASA president. And that wouldn’t be possible without the extraordinary team at ASA. With Mike Adelizzi’s leadership, Aaron Scheiwe’s guidance, Mike Miazga’s drive, Taylor Kenney’s vision, Steve Rossi’s advocacy efforts and Caitlin Beeter literally pulling it all together, our industry is in a fantastic position because of this leadership team and the teams behind them working hard every day. Thank-you for making the year run so smoothly for me, for keeping up with me, and for making it fun while we did it.
In 2023, we launched our new governance structure that is engaging 220 member volunteers in more than 25 councils, task groups, committees and boards. It has been invaluable to help ASA gain insight into the challenges members are facing and how ASA can support them.
We held the largest Women in Industry ELEVATE conference in our decade-plus history, although I bet every president will be able to say that. Well done to Chairwoman Tracie Sponenberg from The Granite Group.
2023 marked the first year in history for both ASA and Emerging Leaders to be led by women. Thank-you Stephanie Cook from Northeastern Supply for leading an incredibly strong EL program.
For the first time, women were in charge of both ASA and AIM/R with Katie Hubach from Signature Sales leading the way at AIM/R in 2023.
And for the first time, women were presidents of both ASA and HARDI, the HVAC distributor trade association, with Ronda White and me.
And lastly, I’ll make a clear ask on behalf of another phenomenal female leader in Karla Neupert Hockley of Consolidated Supply for the ASA Education
2023 ASA President Katie Poehling Seymour talks to attendees at NETWORK in Orlando. Photo by Steve Woltmann/ASA.
Foundation Karl E. Neupert Endowment Fund. If you haven’t yet donated, you can do so by visiting asa.net. The ASA Education Foundation will be the lynchpin for our future success not only as an association but as an industry. The foundation is embarking on an impressive journey into micro learning, AI, and frankly capturing the old-fashioned tribal knowledge that is leaving the industry. It is all our responsibility to contribute to this critical task.
We continue to be led by big and bold ideas such as PROJECT TALENT, which recently took the next step in attracting career seekers to member websites (Check out the story on Page 3).
We also started the effort to standardize how data is shared between distributors and manufacturers, with the Embracing the Future Strategic Council. This team will also launch our first-ever ASA Innovation Summit this fall in Chicago, deepening our members’ understanding on how AI will impact them and how we can best position ourselves for the future.
We’ve continued to innovate our business intelligence tools with the launch of our Voice of the Contractor survey where nearly 30,000 plumbing and mechanical contractors provided our members insight into what contractors are thinking and facing. Contact ASA’s Bri Baresel at bbaresel@asa.net for information on how to obtain the survey.
If you attended one of the regional events, you heard that earlier this year we met with PHCC to rebuild our longstanding relationship. We renewed our sponsorship of their annual Skills USA competition, and I served on panel at PHCC Connect along with past ASA President Scott Robertson and InSinkErator’s Rob Grim. You may have heard that PHCC had struck an agreement with Home Depot last year incentivizing their members to direct their purchases to Home Depot. They cancelled that agreement to re-engage with our members in the professional channels. If you aren’t supporting your local PHCC chapter, find out how you can.
Lastly, I hope you heard about the ASA World Plumbing Day posters. In 2022 we had only 8 entries which we expanded to 52 entries in 2023, including international award winners. I got to visit the classrooms of two winners in Wisconsin and even celebrate with popsicles.
Also, ASA has long had programs for workplace safety to support all our efforts, whether manufacturers, distributors or reps, to make our people safer every day. It really hit home at one meeting I attended this year when someone in the audience collapsed. After a scary and chaotic few minutes, a doctor staying at the hotel administered CPR and the gentleman was ultimately OK.
Unfortunately, many people in the crowd realized they wouldn’t have known how to administer CPR. In my free time, I work with the American Heart Association in Wisconsin, leading this year’s efforts for the Go Red for Women program because I was once on the receiving end of lifesaving CPR. At NETWORK, we showed a QR code that provides a quick lesson on how to give hands-free CPR. You never know when you might save a life like mine.
If you’d like to support our efforts, text GOREDMKE to 7177 to find out more.
We really had an amazing year, and I look forward to seeing the further progress 2024 ASA President Patrick Maloney (Coburn Supply) makes.
I leave you with a story from my daughter, Frances. One night she says to me, “Mom, let’s pretend you’re the boss.”
“Sounds great,” I said.
“What do we do? I’ll do whatever you say,” she told me.
I took the opening and said, “OK, Frances, please finish your dinner.”
“Mom,” she said, rolling her eyes at me, “we’re just pretending.”
So, enough of me pretending to be the boss around here. Patrick, it’s your turn to pretend!
Thank you again, for a great 2023.
ASA Quarterly Market Survey: Distributors predict positive returns in 2024.
By Mike Miazga, Vice President Sales-Operations, mmiazga@asa.net
The skies are still blue.
That’s the sentiment expressed by ASA distributor members that responded to a recent ASA Quarterly Market Survey focused mainly on 2024 predictions.
In that survey (available by emailing ASA Manager of Data and Market Intelligence Bri Baresel at bbaresel@asa.net), 64 percent of distributor respondents predict their sales will increase in 2024, while 28 percent say sales will be flat and only 8 percent predict sales will decrease.
“Always the intangible that we cannot predict, however, with easing interest rates and the continued demand in housing and subsequent commercial projects that follow, we predict a 3-5% growth,” one distributor wrote.
“I think there will be a fair amount of work in our market next year,” another distributor explained. “However, we have started to see invoicing outpacing orders written monthly. I anticipate a slower start to the year that will pick up as the weather improves. The unionized workforce shortage may constrain some planned construction.”
And this from another ASA member distributor respondent: “Q2 and Q3 were down quarters for us in 2023, but Q4 we started to experience a comeback. Also, with interest rates holding and the housing market continuing to tighten, we expect movement.”
When asked if expansion was in the plans in 2024, 55 percent of ASA distributor respondents say they plan to expand whether through acquisition, opening a new branch or expanding their internal operations.
The expansion question elicited responses ranging from opening new locations to acquisitions to other more organicfocused projects.
“We are currently doubling our warehouse square-footage,” one distributor wrote.
“We plan to saturate our existing markets, but not physically buybuild a new location in 2024,” another distributor commented.
“We are adding human capital to our operations,” a distributor added.
7.9% 64%
On average, only 7.9% of contractor sales were done through web and e-commerce to distributor respondents’ sites, while 44% of respondents reported no web or e-commerce sales. of respondents predict sales will increase in 2024, while 28% say sales will be flat.
Respondents to the ASA Quarterly Market Survey gave varying strategies when it comes to inventory levels for 2024. Shutterstock Photo.
Hiring and wages
On the hiring front, 69.3 percent of respondents say they plan on hiring more people in 2024, including one distributor that says they are looking for “hunter” sales associates and a corporate technical trainer.
Along those same lines, 56% of respondents say it will be easier to hire employees this year.
“The talent pool is only growing and competitors treat their employees poorly,” one distributor stated. “This creates an opportunity for us.”
Several respondents to this question explained their markets have seen a spike in available talent. “Larger companies in our market have had layoffs or hiring has slowed,” one distributor wrote. “More companies are terminating people,” a distributor added.
Staying with the employee theme, 71% of respondents say there will continue to be wage inflation in 2024.
“To get good people, you need to pay them,” one distributor noted. “We will need people.”
“Yes, as the choice candidates rise to the top so does their competition,” another distributor penned.
Distributor respondents predicted an average wage growth in 2024 of 4.32 percent.
Other survey topics: Lack of e-commerce penetration
The survey also dives into topics such 2024 concerns, 2024 business prospects, commercial construction, product inflation/deflation, e-commerce, inventory investments and capital expenditures.
When it comes to commercial construction, mediumsized projects seem to be the order of the day, survey respondents noted.
“We are seeing smaller/medium-sized projects continue to move,” one distributor said. “Mega projects that have been in the works for multiple years are still moving, but we aren’t seeing new mega projects come up.”
“I think commercial construction will increase in 2024,” another distributor remarked. “I think a lot of new projects that were put on hold due to COVID have started breaking ground this year and will start or complete builds in 2024.”
One distributor said commercial construction winds will increase depending on means of finance. “It will greatly depend on that. Those with funds will move forward and those having to borrow will move forward with more
caution. I think as interest rates decline, small projects will continue and mega projects will commence as planned.”
One eye-opening statistic from the survey centers on the question of what percent of contractors buy through a distributor’s website or e-commerce site vs. traditional order-entry means. From the survey, on average, only 7.9 percent of contractor sales were done through web and e-commerce, while 44% of respondents reported no web or e-commerce sales.
Inventory strategies for 2024 were all over the board for survey respondents.
“We may increase to service the large projects we anticipate happening,” one distributor wrote. “We hope to make money on the fill-ins and the emergency situations that arise.”
“We maintain a high inventory position as it is,” another distributor wrote. “That will not change, but any fluctuations will be driven by project purchases.”
“We are hoping to keep our inventory dollars the same, while offloading deadstock and increasing high-turn items,” another distributor explained.
And finally, 53.9 percent of ASA member distributor respondents say they will increase capital expenditures this year.
“We have invested so much since COVID,” one distributor said. “It is time to finetune and get the investments of the last four years working well.”
ASA’s Quarterly Market Survey asks member distributors to pose questions they would like other ASA member distributors to answer. To be added to this panel, contact Mike Miazga at mmiazga@asa.net.
of survey respondents feel there will continue to be wage inflation in 2024.
On the topic of expansion, 55% of distributor respondents say they plan to either add branches, acquire a company or increase their current organic footprint. Shutterstock Photo.
Case Study: How Mid-City Supply’s training champion evolved its training landscape
By Kathy Treadway, Program Development Manager ktreadway@asa.net
Training should be a component of every employee’s life cycle at an organization. From onboarding to reskilling and upskilling, employees need support to do their jobs and develop skills that allow them to become even greater contributors within the organization.
That said, getting an organization fired up about training takes a committed effort. Someone who can advocate for and articulate employee training needs within the organization; they need a training champion.
ASA recently interviewed Jerry DeMoss of Elkhart, Indiana-based Mid-City Supply, to find out how his role as training champion impacted their training and development. DeMoss is a tenured Mid-City employee, with a passion for providing resources and training to directly impact employee development. While DeMoss has always been passionate
about training, his training advocacy grew while in the role of resource manager at Mid-City Supply.
What is a training champion?
A training champion plays a pivotal role in advocating for training programs and takes on a key role in driving the training agenda. They actively promote the importance of training and development and can articulate the needs and benefits of ongoing learning, skill development and professional growth for employees and how these impact the overall success of the company.
This person may collaborate with various departments, managers, and subject-matter experts to understand specific training needs and ensure the training programs are tailored to address both individual and organizational goals. Additionally, the training champion works to create a positive learning culture by motivating employees to engage in training.
When training is more about helping people and solving problems than checking a box on a requirement for reviews, it has a bigger impact on the attitude and performance of everyone involved.” – Jerry DeMoss, Mid-City Supply
Mid-City Supply’s Jerry DeMoss is the Elkhart, Indiana-based distributor’s training champion, helping foster training/education solutions that meet individual associate needs. Photos courtesy of Mid-City Supply.
The Problem defined
Education is more than just “training;” it drives the success of their associates and customers alike. Mid-City leadership, with input from invested stakeholders like DeMoss, realized their resource managers (RMs) had monumental challenges in navigating the constant flow of products and programs within the PHCP-PVF industry, and further guiding their customers to the appropriate resources to turn those products and programs into solutions. Beyond that, other Mid-City associates had the same solution-oriented goals, but often needed added assistance when trying to balance customer service with internal processes and procedures.
Along came DeMoss into the newly created role as the de-facto “training champion” — the S.H.E.R.P.A., as Mid-City would call it — to recommend training solutions that met individual associate needs. What is a S.H.E.R.P.A.? It stands for strategic helper effecting reputable professional associates.
Titles aside, the role directly impacts employee development by fostering an environment of improved training and communication with the organization, DeMoss noted. Taking on the mission with gusto, DeMoss saw the big picture and aligned training and resources to support employee development.
Finding solutions
As DeMoss took on the role of training champion, he did more than just identify training needs and skill gaps; he identified avenues to find solutions and evolve Mid-City’s training program. While Mid-City always valued training and offered training in small groups or one-on-one with associates at each location, they realized this delivery format was not sustainable.
To help organize and automate training offerings, first on DeMoss’ list was implementing a learning management system (LMS). In short, an LMS is a system designed to deliver training to end users in a structured and systematic way.
Mid-City recognized it needed to formalize its approach to training, and more importantly, have a way to track accountability and progress of employee knowledge. Although training was happening, it was loosely defined, and often difficult to track. It was also reactive — meaning training was taken when problems were identified, rather than providing knowledge proactively to employees.
Implementing an LMS allowed Mid-City to take a more proactive approach to training, as well as having a way to formalize onboarding and beyond. DeMoss and his team vetted content for their learning system, integrating offerings from not only ASA but other providers. And the library will only continue to grow as DeMoss’ next strategic move is made: designing Mid-City home-grown content utilizing the many years of experience garnered from their product specialists.
Based on his observations, DeMoss also realized online training was not the end-all, be-all solution. Beyond online learning, Mid-City has also invested heavily in training centers
where both their associates and customers can put their product knowledge into practice in a hands-on environment. This connection to “real life” is powerful, and between the formal education deployed through its LMS and its hands-on experience, it resulted in a holistic training process.
“When training is more about helping people and solving problems than checking a box on a requirement for reviews, it has a bigger impact on the attitude and performance of everyone involved,” DeMoss says.
As Mid-City continues to evolve its training program, its backbone for success lies in the fact that education is part of the distributor’s culture.
DeMoss shares that having a partner like ASA, which is heavily invested in education for the PHCP-PVF industry, is greatly appreciated.
“Their support has helped us tremendously in getting a head start on access to quality training,” DeMoss notes. “While the ASA education team is always available to help, we have a network of other ASA members willing to share their expertise, challenges and successes.”
Without the keen eye of a dedicated resource like DeMoss, L&D initiatives can easily fall off the radar. When push comes to shove and business gets busy, having a champion to realign focus and steer the organization back towards their guiding principles is invaluable.
With Mid-City’s training program on solid ground, DeMoss has now moved up to the role of director, resource managers. His role as a training champion will not change — and there is always room for additional champions in an organization!
You can be a training advocate, no matter what your role. The important first step is to be passionate about employee development and be willing to be a part of the solution to ensure training is a key component of the company culture and employee journey.
DeMoss is shown demonstrating a product to a fellow Mid-City associate. To help organize and automate training offerings, first on DeMoss’ list was implementing a learning management system.
ASA Voice of the Contractor Survey:
How do your customers like to be trained?
By Mike Miazga, Vice President Sales-Operations, mmiazga@asa.net
From ASA’s first-ever Voice of the Contractor Survey, an overwhelming 74% of respondents say they prefer product/ system training to be done by a distributor in person, while only 20% say they prefer an online/recorded/learn-at-yourown-pace format.
Taking that question a step further, contractors say the top two preferred types of in-person trainings are lunch-and-learns at a contractor’s shop followed by counter days at the distributor’s location. Technical product training and certification/CEU training rank as the top two subject matters that contractors want distributors to provide, survey findings show.
The ASA Voice of the Contractor Survey was sent to nearly 30,000 PHCP-PVF contractors asking their thoughts on topics such as distributor relationships, buying habits, training preferences and inventory levels.
Of note to distributors, 63% of contractor respondents say they do not have a formal succession plan in place.
A portion of the survey centers on contractor preferences and purchasing methods where 33% of respondents say the counter salesperson most influences their purchasing decision with inside sales next at 29%.
Thirty-eight percent of survey respondents list calling in an order as their preferred method of purchasing products from a distributor followed by walk-in counter in-person ordering at
29%. Sixty-three percent of respondents say their preferred method of receiving products from a distributor is via delivery to the shop or jobsite.
Survey respondents also were asked to rank the reasons they don’t order product online from a distributor. Topping the list was the preference to work with someone in-person, while a poor search engine/can’t find products they are looking for online, ranked second.
Inventory
On the inventory front, 55% of survey respondents say they were inventorying products prior to the pandemic of 2020. On the flipside, 71% say they are currently inventorying products. The average increase in inventory being held current day compared to 2020 is 30%, survey respondents note.
For those who are inventorying products, 38% say they use a small stock room to do so, while 36% say the use a truck stock platform, while 26% note they have a full warehouse.
A resounding 77% of contractor respondents say they are not interested in doing a vendor-managed inventory program with wholesalers, while only 7% say they are currently engaged in a VMI program with their wholesaler partners. Only 5% say they currently participate in a truck-stocking program run by a distributor.
How to receive the full report
Sarasota, Florida-based Farmington Consulting Group, a leading market research and growth strategy firm in the electrical, plumbing and HVACR distribution industries, executed the survey.
ASA members (distributors, manufacturers, reps and service providers) that would like to receive the full report can purchase the report for a nominal charge. To purchase the report, contact ASA Manager of Data/Market Intelligence Bri Baresel at bbaresel@asa.net
The ASA year in review 2023 continues string of strong
momentum.
The American Supply Association continues to be an indispensable resource for PHCP-PVF member companies and their employees.
In 2023, the industry’s only national trade association once again helped its members further prosper in their businesses through its efforts on the education, business intelligence, advocacy and networking fronts.
ASA once again enjoyed net distributor growth, while also adding 36 new companies to its Vendor Member Division, which includes manufacturers, independent manufacturers’ representatives and service providers.
ASA achieved net distributor growth in 2023.
NETWORK: 130 Great Ideas
For the third year in a row, one of the main highlights of NETWORK2023 in Orlando, Florida was the Great Ideas Roundtable Sessions. This time, 20 association volunteers facilitated more than 40 roundtable sessions for more than 200 participants. The results were 130 great ideas covering four critical issues facing the industry.
The Great Ideas Roundtable Sessions at NETWORK2023 drew a packed house of more than 200 attendees. Photo by Steve Woltmann/ASA.
PROJECT TALENT drives jobseekers to ASA member company websites
ASA’s PROJECT TALENT careers recruitment platform, one of four ASA strategic mega goals, continues to take a leadership position in the industry in helping member companies in their talent recruitment journeys.
In 2023 there were more than 49,000 VISITS to SupplyIndustryCareers.com, the lynchpin in the PROJECT TALENT initiative.
SupplyIndustryCareers.com
In late 2023, PROJECT TALENT’s newest feature launched, a tool that connects jobseekers with ASA members. In fact, more than 1,600 distributor, manufacturer and rep locations across the country were showing as “Now Hiring” on SupplyIndustryCareers.com.
In 2023, PROJECT TALENT organic and targeted paid social media activities reached more than 4 MILLION PEOPLE with more than 90,000 clicks for more information.
ASA monitors critical issues impacting our industry
In 2023, ASA’s Advocacy office continued its important efforts in protecting the industry’s best interests both at the federal and state legislative/regulatory levels, as well as in the codes and standards arena.
2023 Advocacy Highlights
50 Capitol Hill meetings held with Members of Congress during 2023 ASA Legislative Fly-In.
ASA enjoyed an 80 percent success rate on codes and standards positions taken.
Political Action Committee contributions increased 64% YOY.
100% ASA Executive Committee participation of eligible members in the PAC.
ASA Insights e-news delivers relevant content to members
ASA Insights, the association’s weekly e-newsletter, continues to deliver relevant, impactful content to members 52 weeks a year.
SUBSCRIBE
Insights is sent to nearly 8,000 subscribers each week.
Insights enjoys a robust more than 50 percent open rate
ASA data task group builds first national standard for data sharing
ASA’s data task group, part of the association’s Embracing the Future strategic action council, is well down the road establishing standardized data set(s) to facilitate a faster and less customized way to obtain manufacturer product data for use by distributors in PIMs, ERPs and distributor e-commerce.
ASA establishes 4 strategic councils in new governance structure
ASA has enhanced its strategic governance process focused toward the association’s vision, mission, and four strategic goals. Each of the four strategic goals is driven by a strategic council and each council oversees tactical task groups that focus on short-term plans that will help achieve the long-range plan of each council.
ASA Strategic Councils
Operational Excellence
Advocacy
Employee Recruitment and Education
Embracing the Future
TOTAL ASA member volunteers: 223. Wow!
ASA University: The industry standard for employee training and education
In 2023, ASA University benefits were utilized by 115 distributor firms .
ASA member employees enrolled in nearly 10,000 ASA University courses in 2023.
ASA member employees enrolled in nearly 300 comprehensive role-based training tracks in 2023. Top 5 rolebased training tracks included: Inside Sales, Outside Sales, Counter Sales, Intro to Industry and Branch Manager.
ASA University adds more manufacturers to training suite
Another key benefit to ASA members is access to ASA-member manufacturer training through the ASA University platform. In 2023, ASA University added 10 new manufacturer companies, plus enhanced the offerings of many other manufacturers already sharing content.
Women in Industry’s ELEVATE2023 conference set a new record with more than 300 attendees in Charleston, South Carolina.
Emerging Leaders’ EMERGE2023 drew more than 180 attendees to Savannah, Georgia, also establishing a new program attendance mark.
The power of ASA membership
300+
leading distributor firms
more than $70 million in yearly sales
4,400 branch locations
nearly 300 suppliers, reps, master distributors and service providers
Nearly half of ASA distributors contribute data to Operating Performance Report
For more than 40 years, ASA, via business intelligence partner, has published the annual ASA Operating Performance Report, a comprehensive nearly 100-page financial benchmark that allows distributors to compare themselves to all ASA distributors, firms of similar sales volume, firms in the same region and firms that sell similar product categories. Last year, 135 ASA distributor firms, or nearly half the membership, provided data for the report.
ASA launches first Voice of Contractor Survey
ASA expanded its suite of business intelligence reports in 2023 with the debut of the Voice of the Contractor Survey.
The survey, with help from ASA distributor firms, PHCC and MCAA, asked PHCP and industrial/mechanical PVF contractors their thoughts on topics such as distributor relationships, purchasing habits, inventory management and training/ education methods.
Survey sent to nearly 30,000 contractors
5 pages alone on contractor preferences and purchasing methods
Great Ideas Roundtable Session offers solutions to four critical challenges
By Mike Adelizzi, CEO, madelizzi@asa.net
During NETWORK 2023 in Orlando, Florida, ASA conducted its third annual Great Ideas Roundtable Session where members shared best practices, innovative ideas and just plain GREAT IDEAS on how businesses can do things better.
During this highly interactive session, attendees shared ideas on how to deal with four critical challenges facing them in 2024. More than 100 ideas were collected from the hundreds of attendees participating in the 90-minute session. Participants walked out with key takeaways that were new and could be immediately implemented when they returned to their offices.
Knowledge transfer
Attendees discussed how companies are ensuring that the decades of knowledge and experiences are being transferred to the next generation of leaders, with the escalation of critical labor leaving the PHCP/PVF industry, and along with it, a brain drain of critical knowledge.
Make sure that new leaders feel seen, heard and appreciated — let the next generation have a voice.
Have new employees work side by side with seasoned teams.
Crosstrain new leaders on all aspects of the business and employ a robust on-boarding process.
Ask retired/seasoned team members to come back and help train the next generation of company leaders.
Work with seasoned vets to give as much notice as possible — 2-year notice if possible to give time for transition.
Sales model
Attendees discussed how their companies are organizing their sales teams. During the pandemic, many were recommending a proactive inside-out approach to sales to reduce the need for outside salespeople on the street. Has this changed in a post-COVID environment?
Directive selling: Establish clearly defined sales goals.
Give higher commissions for growth targets.
Monday.com is a CRM = 20 contractors with a 25% conversion rate.
Partner with a local college to help develop a pure sales certification.
Regional sales managers need to ride more with outside sales for pure listening sessions. Provide reporting and establish training based on feedback.
AI/ChatGPT
and Generative AI: What does it all mean exactly?
Attendees discussed what AI, ChatGPT and Generative AI really means and how others are beginning to tap into it to support their key roles such as marketing and finance.
Use ChatGPT for job descriptions and applications, presentations and summarizing “Teams” meetings and marketing/branding.
Microsoft AI (Co-Pilot) gives the ability to answer phones with specific responses to order status.
Call tracking software “Call Rail” gives the ability to track shipments.
Use AI for job quoting, product data mining, pull-off schedules, pricing modules. The challenge is tracking jobs, wins/losses, formatting Excel spreadsheets.
Commodity trends and devaluing inventory
Attendees discussed what strategies their companies are using to manage inventories and the impact that factors, such as commodity trends and inflation, are having on their margins.
Lower inventory to enable faster turns.
Don’t focus all your attention on the “big guys,” get a little from a lot of smaller customers.
Have multiple commodity lines to keep vendors competitive.
Having local reps with inventory helps with commodities.
Incentivize sales team to maintain margins.
Can I get a copy of the report?
The full report that contains 100 great ideas was recently published. For a copy of the report, contact ASA’s Bri Baresel at bbaresel@asa.net
ASA takes swift action on multiple industry-impacting decisions
By Steve Rossi ,Vice President of Advocacy, srossi@asa.net
As the 118th Congress started off with a clear partisan divide last January, our industry faced unprecedented regulatory challenges in the second half of 2023.
From labor to liability and product standards, the Biden administration has clearly shifted its strategy from legislation to regulation. As a result, ASA has been working diligently to take swift action on several regulatory decisions over the last few months. Areas of note include:
DOE Residential Water Heater Standards: In late July, the Department of Energy issued a Notice of Proposed Regulation for residential water heaters. This proposed action would significantly re-shape residential water heater manufacturing for decades to come. While the proposed rule does not eliminate gas water heaters, it does increase their required efficiency, along with mandating that they use condensing (vs. noncondensing) technology and affects tank and tankless water heaters alike.
From the moment the NOPR was published, ASA was engaged with stakeholders throughout the industry to formulate an appropriate response. As a result, ASA filed comments with the Department of Energy to express deep concerns with the proposed rule concerning restricting consumer choice, increasing costs, expanding regulatory compliance, and the overall impact on demand and inventory planning.
Overtime Rule: After being updated in 2019, the Department of Labor issued a new NOPR regarding executive, administrative and professional overtime pay requirements in September. Previously, this rule had only been updated every 10 years, making this proposal an unprecedented and early revision to a rule that would have wide reaching effects on our industry.
In addition to increasing the minimum salary for “exempt” workers by nearly 70% (from $35,568 to $60,209 annually), this action would potentially create an overly burdensome
tracking requirement for employers, create income disparities in different regions, cause workers to be reclassified from exempt to hourly employees, and further contribute to inflation. ASA joined its industry and coalition partners to file comments opposing this expansion and to review its decision again.
Joint Employer Rule: In late October, the National Labor Relations Board released its final rule on joint-employer status. This is a wide-reaching decision that cuts across multiple industries and will change the dynamic with contract employees for years to come. The rule broadens the circumstances under which a company can be considered a “joint employer,” considerably increasing exposure to liability, labor scarcity and reducing wage growth. Again, ASA filed comments to not only oppose this action, but has also encouraged Congress to pass legislation to nullify the rule though the Congressional Review Act (CRA). On Nov. 16, the effective date of the rule had been extended to Feb. 26, 2024, to accommodate legal challenges.
Walkaround Rule: ASA also joined its coalition partners by filing comments in opposition to OSHA’s Walkaround Rule, allowing non-employee representatives to accompany OSHA workplace safety officers during their inspections. In addition, the comments cite that the rule fails to include guardrails to prevent the use of the OSHA inspection process for personal benefit and guidance for CSHOs with respect to determining a qualified “authorized representative.” The comments also explain that the rule goes against employee free choice by imposing third-party representation in workplaces that may have rejected union representation.
With Democrats in control of the White House and Senate, along with a Republican majority in the House of Representatives until January 2025, this year will continue to see robust regulatory activity from the Biden administration, and ASA will remain active in protecting the PHCP/PVF industry.
Shutterstock Photo
Considerations when selling online to the contractor customer
By Beth Ladd, Vice President of Innovation, bladd@asa.net
The trading of goods and services by the internet is not a new concept. New compared to the PHCP-PVF distribution industry, sure, but “e-commerce” has been growing and maturing for more than 25 years.
In that time, digital native sellers have created a whole new level of buyer expectations that is unparalleled in both its scale and its penetration of the population. This swift and pervasive success has led some to believe that this model is the most powerful and singularly successful model of e-commerce, and
that one must mimic this model as closely as possible to be successful online.
We here at ASA D.NEXT do not hold this belief to be true.
This B2C model is fueled by unrestricted consumer desire for infinite variety and is built to provide access to endless inventory. In the PHCP-PVF world, the contractor customer is more educated, the need more constrained, and the ask more attainable with only a small shift in perspective. Instead of serving anyone, anything, anywhere, anytime, distributors provide the same materials to the same people for the same tasks. This fundamental difference allows the creation of a fulfilling online experience for contractor customers.
Let’s begin by backing up and defining what, precisely, we mean by e-commerce. Formally, e-commerce is defined as the buying and selling of goods and services utilizing the internet. Generally, when we talk about e-commerce, we’re talking about the online B2C consumer experience. There is frequently a lack of precision
Instead of serving anyone, anything, anywhere, anytime, distributors provide the same materials to the same people for the same tasks. This fundamental difference allows the creation of a fulfilling online experience for contractor customers. Shutterstock Photos.
in the language here — speaking as though this B2C experience is the only relevant or meaningful experience assumes that the expectations set by it are universal to all of e-commerce. That, of course, is not necessarily true. A buyer’s expectations, whether they be a consumer or a business representative, are set by what they want and what they need, and in turn, this dictates what features and functionality an online experience provides. The salient point is that the features are not directed at expectations, they are directed at wants and needs.
B2C e-commerce infrastructure
To understand why we believe these expectations are not universal, let us take a closer look at the infrastructure that underpins this B2C e-commerce model. Start with a representative consumer, someone who has decided that they want to buy some item. They don’t know which specific item, so first they need to do research, checking across review sites, determining what products currently exist, what their reputations are, rough price points, etc.
Much of this research is done on other websites, potentially sponsored by, but ultimately out of the manufacturer’s control. Some of this research may be done on the e-commerce site as well, requiring functionality such as search and filter functions, comparison and “similar products include” functions, reviews, photos, specs, advertising, and more.
Certain things such as price and stock status need to be the first thing visible, as consumers exhibit little platform loyalty if they can find a product elsewhere cheaper or faster. There are a growing number of payment methods that are going from being luxuries to necessities, particularly with the expansion of buynow/pay-later programs, such as Klarna and Sezzle.
Businesses can expect no patience from consumers, both in the purchasing process and in shipping times. One click to buy and two days to arrive is the standard. They expect a completely transparent understanding of the status of their item at all points along the delivery chain and a clear estimate for arrival, supported by comprehensive order tracking. And after all this, there is an expectation of frictionless and even free returns, which makes the return process a significant factor on the bottom line.
It is important to consider why B2C e-commerce is structured this way. The infrastructure required to create this experience costs millions for a sale that may make pennies of profit. We believe that the only reason they endure these costs is because it is necessary to make this business model work.
The vast majority of this structure is created to guide a consumer through a transaction and ease their experience, to make the first purchase as smooth as the thousandth. This allows these companies to reach and sell to nearly every working person on the planet, distributing millions in cost over billions of sales. Trying to replicate this e-commerce experience today presents a chicken-and-egg problem: without the infrastructure, the general public will struggle to purchase from you, but without that massive customer base you can’t afford the infrastructure.
Thankfully, so long as you aren’t trying to sell to the general public, you don’t have this problem.
The path forward for distributors
And here at D.Next, we believe the path forward for distributors is not in direct competition with household-name retailers, but in differentiation from them. Contractors have different incentives than an average consumer because they are acting as an agent of a business rather than an individual.
They have a professional need for your products, not just a desire; they both experience and exert agency over the pricing of the products that they buy; and their professional reputation and ability to do business relies on your professional competency and consistency. Because of this, contractors require a different approach than the average consumer.
Contractors only really need to know if you have a product, what it costs, and how quickly you can put it in their hand, which necessitates a different online experience to support their business. These alternative requirements simplify the necessary infrastructure massively. The vast majority of features used for research, such as advertising, reviews, most search functionality and comparative functions, are less necessary for well-informed contractors. You don’t need to worry about meeting consumer-level expectations of delivery speed or accommodate double-digit returns. And lastly, you don’t need to take or process novel forms of payment.
Certain things such as price and stock status need to be the first thing visible, as consumers exhibit little platform loyalty if they can find a product elsewhere cheaper or faster.
The remaining infrastructure that is necessary to address contractors’ needs is more attainable. Contractor customers need to log in, check if items are in stock at a location, and perhaps place an order for pickup or request the distributor order an item.
The good news
Here is the key point: all these functions parallel existing business processes. Your contractors have accounts. You know what’s in stock. They place orders via phone now, and they specify pickup details as needed. Creating an online experience to fulfill these needs does not require the creation of entirely new business processes, cutting the required investment significantly. We believe that building this online functionality is an impactful step you can take towards cementing your place in the future.
Further, there are many options for functionalities that you can implement, with varying levels of investment. If you want to just dip your toes in, you could show what is in stock at each location behind a login. That would be an initial step that would still significantly smooth one of your contractors’ friction points. If you want to do online ordering but only want to allow them to order items you have in stock, that would significantly simplify the required backend. If you want to require a human to approve an order before it processes, or even have a human process the order the way you do now, an online portal still opens a new channel of purchase.
We’ve written about using texting programs to communicate with the segment of professionals who prefer to avoid phone calls – that’s another example of an ease of doing business improvement with relatively low investment. There are many different levels of digital experience that you can provide,
and many different interactions you can implement to serve contractors’ needs.
That said, we would like to caution against over-automation. Everyone’s had the experience of trying to navigate the phone chatbot at the bank or fighting your way through a system to unsubscribe from an email list. These online interactions should be viewed as an augmentation of existing capabilities rather than a replacement of existing business functions. In our project on ordering and receiving trends, one of the things we uncovered was that a full half of your current contractor customers prefer only face-to-face interaction, across age, profession and position. Distributors already provide an experience that they prefer; digitization is a means by which you can maintain your relevancy with increasingly digitally-native newcomers as the demographics of the industry continue to shift toward the Y & Z generations.
Online functionality will act as a key differentiator.
Building and maintaining relationships
The other long-term benefit of digitization is allowing your employees to focus less time on the day-to-day operation of the distributor and more time on building and maintaining relationships with your contractors. In our previous research, we stated that the elements of value generated by a distributor fall into levels, each level supported by the levels below.
Answering calls, processing orders, generating quotes and other activities that are frequently manually done at distributor locations fall into the lower levels — necessary to the functioning of the business, but providing no differentiation from your competition. Digitization allows you to shift time away from these tasks, freeing more time to focus on elements such as improving speed of service, smoothing the purchase process, reducing order errors and helping contractors with their own problems. Because providing these services and this information digitally does not require a person to be present, it also allows a distributor to service more contractors simultaneously.
Ultimately, we believe that online functionality will act as a key differentiator in the years to come, both from industry-sized threats and from local competition. We have discussed how the needs of a contractor differ from that of a consumer, and how the functionality necessary to meet their needs may be smaller than previously believed.
By creating a digital experience for your contractor customers, you enable your employees to spend more of their time and energy on the higher elements of value. This allows you to support the business of your contractors, differentiate yourself from your competitors and strengthen the industry.
Online interactions should be viewed as an augmentation of existing capabilities rather than a replacement of existing business functions. Digitization allows your employees to focus less time on the day-to-day operation of the distributor and more time on building and maintaining relationships.
How changing demographics are killing profits
And what distributors are doing about it.
By Randy MacLean, President, WayPoint Analytics, rmaclean@waypointanalytics.com
The labor market is almost unrecognizable. Turnover is shockingly high even as wages have escalated beyond anything we’ve ever seen. Many executives are asking, “When is this going to get back to normal?”
The real answer is, “It isn’t — this is just the beginning.”
We distributors are drawing from a rapidly shrinking pool. This is not going to get better. (More about this below.)
As always, market changes open new opportunities and will reshuffle the order of the players. The nimble companies will take leadership positions by recognizing and exploiting these changes.
Demographics are killing our traditional model
The hiring and retention challenges are due to a shrinking labor pool, and the causes aren’t particularly obvious. The cultural changes that are driving this mean that the situation is both permanent and moving in the wrong direction.
Using numbers from the U.S Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, let’s look at our labor pool. For warehouse, delivery and administrative work, we’re generally interested in people in the 20-35 age range, without college degrees.
From 2000 to 2022, the population grew 11.6%. This should be good news. However, in the same period, the labor participation rate dropped 5.1% and the percentage that did not have college degrees dropped 16.6%. This means the pool of available workers has gone from 31 million to only 25 million, down a whopping 18.5%.
This cadre is the source for distribution, hospitality, construction, manufacturing and all the rest of the market. Competition for these people has driven wages up from $20.04 in 2006 to $33.82 in 2023 – a 68.8% jump!
Product price inflation has been a natural consequence of this, but it really means that, without change, our industry’s traditional cost structures aren’t sustainable.
Going forward, companies simply must move more product value with less manpower.
The new model for recovering your traditional profit rates requires changes to operational efficiency and to your sales model. On the sales side, the good news is that we’re already equipped with one of the most critical sources needed to fund higher costs — hidden profits.
Hidden profits? Huh?
At WayPoint, one of the things we’ve seen is that certain accounts in every distributor’s customer base are exceedingly profitable. This is one part of the answer to the manpower challenge — the funding source needed to cover the higher costs.
Let me explain. In our work, we conceptualize the source of profits like this:
Every customer relationship converts revenue into profit at its own rate. If you’re typical, the net of all customer accounts may come out to around, say, 5%. However, you will certainly have some relationships producing profit rates of 20%, 25% and more! These high-leverage accounts are the key to providing more cashflow and profits to fund your operations and make a growing bottom line.
From the sales side, you’ll be working with customers to consolidate orders so more of them have enough gross profit to cover your operational costs. There also are a number of important policy and incentive changes you’ll make to shift business in this direction.
What about the operations side?
To be the superior company in the near future, your operations have to move more product value per man-hour or payroll dollar. Simply put, as manpower costs continue to escalate from the current very-high levels, you’ll have to use manpower wisely.
Operationally, you’ll need to reduce the time it takes to accomplish every step involved in gathering and preparing product. You’ll automate where feasible, eliminate superfluous activities, and also reduce small orders that cannot possibly be profitable.
For the future, increases in operational efficiency (moving more GP value per dollar spent) is the most critical action area. This will lower the threshold at which an order or customer becomes profitable and also increases the profits generated on all orders. This magnifies the benefits of later sales improvements.
The leading companies have already structured to offload activities to customers and suppliers. Having certain small accounts pick their product and bring it to the counter, take it with them and pay by check or credit card is one very effective strategy.
So, what’s realistically possible?
Pulling from more than $100B of industry data, we can see the operating averages of the wholesale industry, of superior companies using analytics and advanced techniques, and of the top-tier companies aggressively focused on best practices.
In the chart, you can see that bottom-line profit rates for the top-tier companies are close to 4 times industry averages (16.5% vs.4.2%). The bulk of this difference is due to reductions in per-unit operating expenses due to efficiency gains (operating expenses are half of industry rates). Margins are also improved, largely through actively managing customer selection guided by profit conversion rates.
Almost any company can move into the superior range, and those that roll up their sleeves can get to the top-tier.
For the nimble, the future is bright
For nimble companies, market challenges are always opportunities, sidestepping issues that seriously harm competitors. The key is acting quickly to make advantageous changes before your rivals do.
I have the great fortune to see the ongoing successes of leading companies who’re doing just this, and their achievements are inspiring. We’ve seen resulting profit rates above 20%, and sometimes above 25%! That is, certain companies get 20-25% of their revenue to the bottom line. (Yeah, I thought it was impossible, too.)
How is this? They’re exploiting a number of dynamics that directly control profits:
Industry-wide 62% of invoices lose money due to mismatch of gross profit levels and operating expenses — easily addressed when identified.
High-conversion customers represent a highly-leveraged
For nimble companies, market challenges are always opportunities, sidestepping issues that seriously harm competitors. Shutterstock Photo.
opportunity to produce new profits through penetration selling programs — also easy if you have good customer profitability analysis.
Increased operational efficiency lowers the gross profit threshold for profitable sales — this can be monitored and managed utilizing advanced measures such as OpCash Ratios and ROX (explained below).
Warehousing and delivery efficiency gains reduce costs and ship times, increasing both sales and customer satisfaction.
Increased operational efficiency lowers the gross profit threshold for profitable sales.
Notes:
OpCash Ratio is Gross Profit / Operating Expenses and represents profit opportunity in a sale, customer or product.
ROX (Return on Expenditures) is Operating Profit / Operating Expenses and represents actual profit production per expense dollar.
Demographic changes are certainly reshaping our priorities and our operational strategies. Recognizing the nature of the issue and addressing it with a different focus, and with refinements to operating priorities is the path to sustainable long-term profits
and growth. It also represents the best opportunity to pull ahead of those that haven’t yet got the memo.
In future issues: Part 2 focuses on using labor wisely, while Part 3 talks about covering labor costs with sales.
Randy MacLean is president of WayPoint Analytics, a leading provider of cost and profit analysis software to the distribution industry. Since 2008, his firm has been focused on the dynamics that drive or destroy profitability. To learn more about WayPoint as well as its Distributor Performance Assessment tool, visit www.waypointanalytics.net.
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Growing distributor sales in a post-inflationary environment
By Mike Miazga, Vice President Sales-Operations, mmiazga@asa.net
News flash.
The relationship with the customer is still king, even in everchanging business and technology environments. That was the sentiment that came out of an insightful hour-long panel discussion “Growing distributor sales in a post-inflationary environment” during ASA’s NETWORK2023 conference in Orlando, Florida.
A panel of ASA member distributors were asked a variety of sales-focused questions with topics ranging from new technologies such as AI, sales training, big box stores and the challenges of growing sales in 2024, among others.
The panel consisted of Don Polletta (Torrco), Luke Wiedeman (Reeves-Wiedeman), Stan Allen (Northeastern Supply), Pat Duffy (Irr Supply Centers) and Mike Plaisier (Plumbing and Heating Wholesale). The author of this story was the moderator.
And more times than not during the discussion, which included audience questions, the chatter circled back to the importance of customer relationships.
“You have to meet the customer where they are at,” Polletta said. “I was talking to a plumber I work with who says he will go to the customer’s home, look at the job, go into the customer’s driveway, put the estimate together and send it back to the
customer before he leaves the driveway. Whatever you can adopt to meet the customer from the sales perspective is so important. You have to get your horse in the game quickly. Technology has to up our pace of play.”
“How do we communicate in a way our customers want us to communicate?” Plaisier added.
On the topic of artificial intelligence, Polletta said he received great advice about it from a speaker at a recent conference. “No.1, learn what it is about and take time to educate yourself on it,” he said. “Use AI to be efficient and not to innovate — things I know about now, not what you are trying to create.”
Duffy added: “We are not going to put the genie back in the bottle. Learn to live with it and work with it or get out of the way. It’s all about education. What we see today is already almost old. Joe Rogan did a podcast with one of the guys who created Chat GBT. The stuff they are working on now is mind-blowing, which tells me we are already behind.”
And when it comes to taking the next steps forward with a company’s salesforce, panelists noted old-fashioned internal communication and examination of processes continues to be key.
“We look at the first, middle and last mile of the sales process,” Polletta said. “The first mile piece is everything that happens up to the order being entered down to what a branch parking lot looks like. We are taking every part of that sales interaction during the first mile and seeing if we need to improve it.”
“We hold roundtables with all our No. 2s at all our stores and they meet for an hour and talk about wins and losses and ask second- and third-level questions about why things happened,” Wiedeman said. “They take that feedback back to the branches and hopefully we can serve our customers better.”
Irr Supply Centers’ Patrick Duffy makes a point during a panel discussion on growing distributor sales in a post-inflationary environment during NETWORK2023 in Orlando.
Photo by Steve Woltmann/ASA.
