Roundtable event

Continues To Deliver Great Takeaways

By Mike Adelizzi, CEO

In its second year, the ASA Great Ideas Roundtable event conducted during the highly successful NETWORK2022 in Chicago has rapidly become a must-attend session as participants tackled some tough questions and provided the association with some great takeaways on topics ranging from innovation to attracting top talent to dealing with a turbulent economy.

Here are a few of the 70 great ideas that members offered during the 90-minute session held at the Fairmont Chicago Millennium Park.

Innovation

How are members grasping the role artificial intelligence is having or going to have on their businesses? From e-commerce to machine learning innovations, artificial intelligence is escalating at a rapid pace, forcing businesses to adapt to serve customers and remain relevant.

Some Great Ideas

Current AI application is gaining in popularity for search applications such as identifying what customers are looking for and buying trends.

Ability to co-promote with vendors.

AI gives the ability to suggestive sell.

Business intelligence pricing elasticity, demand planning (Blue Ridge is a vendor with a pricing module).

Coveo is a vendor with the ability to identify what customers are searching for.

Automation in financing: Billtrust and SparxIQ operate in this space.

Warehouse automation. Distributors are looking more at the pick and pack features.

Lowering the need for labor (long-term). Areas such as the counter and warehouse can be most impacted.

Attracting and retaining top talent

How are members attracting and retaining top talent, especially in these unpredictable economic times? How are they dealing with issues such as “quiet quitting,” wage inflation and its impact on keeping good talent, worker shortages and the stress it puts on existing associates, and measuring the effectiveness of remote workers?

Some Great Ideas

Promote your company values, mission and culture for interested candidates searching for the right fit.

Create your story through video. Strongly consider using a professional firm/consultant to make a video leveraging your employees.

Leverage social media with employee testimonials.

Hire temps with the thought of keeping them full-time. You’ll have to pay a premium, but you’ll also get a great hire.

Use recruiters to both find and weed out the candidates. Promote your process of training/cross-training your teams to help advance their careers. Invest in your teams through greater training that could lead to advancement, even if it means that they will leave your company.

Dealing with a turbulent economy

What is the impact that inflation has had on a member company and how is leadership handling situations such as job quitting, unpredictable pricing and nonreliable product availability, rapidly changing manufacturer data updates, passing along surcharges to customers, and the impact on promotional strategies when the supply chain is so difficult to predict?

Some Great Ideas

Inventories and availability are high. Need to watch this closely. Many are looking to lower inventories with availability improving.

Prices are softening. Holding off on stocking up on commodities since prices are declining.

Wages are high and growing. 10-15% wage increases. Different geographically.

Keep a tight watch on all expenses. Combining sales trips to cut costs.

Hold off on some hiring in response to inflation.

Fear of a recession not affecting outlook significantly, but need to keep a close eye on it.

Watch accounts receivable. High interest rates can cost greatly.