February 2006      

TRAINING l MEMBER NEWS l MEMBER SERVICES l INDUSTRY NEWS

SEDA Sets Strategic Plan for 2006

Safety Week 2006 is set for June 25-27  at the Château Élan Winery and Resort in Braselton, Georgia.

Increasing competition from MRO distributors selling safety and from retail outlets and big box stores selling safety products directly to end users have threatened safety equipment distributors and diminished the value of the safety specialist. To address these issues, the SEDA Board of Directors met to map out the future of the association at a strategic planning session held in Orlando, Florida last month. The SEDA Board approved a revised plan that better fulfills SEDA’s  

new mission statement and upholds the association’s core values. DETAILS

Safety Week 2006: Growing Your Business in the 21st Century

New features for Safety Week 2006 include more time for one on one supplier and distributor meetings and registration discounts. All executive conference appointments have been expanded to 20 minutes allowing for a total of nine appointments. We are proud to announce a new distributor conference discount for all distributor members registering more than one distributor member for the meeting. DETAILS

SEDA TRAINING

Space Available for the Spring QSSP Course

The April 2006 QSSP Class--scheduled for April 24-28 at the Holiday Inn Hurstbourne in Louisville, Kentucky-- still has space available. This course remains the gold standard for safety sales training in the safety equipment industry. DETAILS

University of Industrial Distribution Sold Out

The 2006 session of University of Industrial Distribution (UID) to be held this March 5 - 8 has sold out. SEDA is a proud co-sponsor for this intense educational program focused on the unique needs of wholesale distributors. Known worldwide for excellence in education, UID is sponsored by the leading industrial distribution professional associations, in cooperation with the Industrial Distribution Program and Indiana University/Purdue University. For information on future UID sessions please consult www.univid.org.

Advanced Inside Sales CD Now Available

Advanced Inside Sales, a self-study CD-based training program, is available to SEDA members at a cost of $99 per disc. The three courses on the CD — Pricing, The Complex Sale, and Quantifiable Value-Added Selling — deal with subjects more generally associated with outside sales; however, they use tactics that inside sales or a team of inside/outside salespeople can use to increase the company’s selling effectiveness. DETAILS

MEMBER NEWS

SEDA Welcomes New Member

SEDA is pleased to announce its first Associate Member, United Sales Associates (USA). The recent SEDA by-laws change allows safety equipment industry Manufacturers’ Representative agencies to join as Associate Members.  DETAILS

Moldex-Metric Hires Patrick Riordan

Moldex-Metric, LLC hired Patrick Riordan as Vice President of Government Sales. Mr. Riordan will be in charge of heading the Government Division at Moldex. In this role he will be responsible for all Moldex sales relating to the Government Market.

Prior to joining Moldex, Mr. Riordan was Vice President of Government Sales at Hagemeyer North America. During his tenure with Hagemeyer he participated in the startup of their Government Division including staffing, marketing and customer development. Mr. Riordan’s background includes fifteen years of sales, and P&L management experience in the distribution of safety, electrical, and industrial products.

MEMBER SERVICES

2006 SEDA/SMG PROFIT Survey Due March 31

One of the most important benefits SEDA distributor members enjoy is the annual PROFIT Report. You should have received a copy of the questionnaire for the SEDA/SMG PROFIT Survey. Do not delay in filling it out, the deadline for responses is March 31, 2006. DETAILS

Winning the Compensation and Benefits Battle

Even though compensation benchmarks are critical, developing such benchmarks has always been a very difficult undertaking in distribution. The 2006 Employee Compensation Study eliminates these problems. SEDA has joined together with more than 35 other distribution organizations in sponsoring the largest cross-industry compensation survey ever conducted.  DETAILS

SEDA/TMG Partnership Can Lower Your Transportation Costs

SEDA began a partnership with the Transptoration Management Group last year to offer the TransportSaver program, a freight discount program that entitles association members to deep discounted pricing in small parcel, LTL and international cargo. The program also includes services such as data management, freight bill payment and freight claims processing.

Transportation can be the single largest cost center in a company’s logistics system, frequently exceeding 50% of total logistics costs. The TransportSaver program works at solutions that enable you to leverage transportation as a competitive weapon to improve service levels and reduce costs. Our industry liaison offers SEDA members access to specialized skills in transportation by incorporating the best practices in industry.

To find out more about this program click here.

2006 Distribution Software Guide Now Available

In today’s evolving world of technology, selecting software for your business can be a daunting task.  SEDA’s 2006 Distribution Software Guide provides the information you need to select the best system for you. DETAILS

INDUSTRY NEWS

What's Your Plan?

Compensation programs are effective only if they exist in an environment of clear and actionable objectives with real sales management. NAW has released a book that goes much further than just providing research results; it supplies a comprehensive process on avoiding the common pitfalls companies make when redesigning their compensation programs and walks the reader through effectively designing and implementing compensation programs that support company objectives. DETAILS

Can Manufacturers and Distributors Really be Partners?

STAFDA President Marshall Jones spoke at the association’s recent convention in Baltimore. He addressed the current state of the manufacturer-distributor relationship and the path it has taken in recent years. DETAILS

What is Home Depot's Impact?

The announcement this month that The Home Depot has made its biggest foray yet into wholesale distribution with plans to buy Hughes Supply has created a stir. Will Home Depot Supply succeed and do to a largely fragmented wholesale market what it and the other big-box giant Lowe’s did for do-it-yourself markets? Should industrial distributors be worried as HD inches closer to their market? DETAILS