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WF&FSA is a proud member of the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors (NAW). NAW, through its NAW Institute for Distribution Excellence, publishes a wide variety of publications, all designed to aid the distribution management team. You may view the full array of titles and select the publications that meet your needs at www.naw.org. As a member of WF&FSA, you receive a discount on all purchases.
WF&FSA Reports
2022 WF&FSA Employee Compensation Reports
Volume I & II: Cross Industry Data
Volume 1: The 2022 Cross-Industry Compensation & Benefits Survey represents the most complete, accurate, and up-to date compensation and benefits data available. Wherever possible, WF&FSA results are compared with the results of all participants. This report is designed to allow users to easily compare compensation levels and benefits policies with companies involved in wholesale trade/distribution. In addition to data on recruiting and retention; health care costs/trends; retirement benefits; vacations/PTO and holidays; sick and other leave; and sales practices, this report contains compensation-related statistics for common job titles in the industry.
Volume 2: This detailed report presents analysis of participating WF&FSA firms compared with the results of all participants via an Excel report format. Please make sure to review all tabs provided to access the full breadth of information. The first tab of the report, Corporate Level, includes data collected at the corporate headquarter level. It represents the practices used by all locations and branches of the responding companies. The second tab, Location & Branch Level, includes data collected at a company's branch level. It presents information on practices used at individual locations and branches of the responding companies. This report is designed to allow users to easily compare compensation levels and benefit policies with WF&FSA member companies and wholesale distribution overall.
2023 WF&FSA Financial Benchmarking Report
2023 WF&FSA Financial Benchmarking Report
This report presents a detailed but straightforward analysis of financial and operating characteristics of participating WF&FSA firms. Results are presented in tables and graphs designed to provide a comprehensive guide for analyzing profitability. It is organized into the following sections.
- Executive Summary - An overview of study results including a graphical presentation of key results.
- Detailed Results - An analysis of return on investment and financial and productivity ratios.
- Regions - Geographic regions are examined. Participants were grouped according to regions specified by WF&FSA.
- Trends - An examination of changes in performance over time for key results and ratios.
- Ratio Calculation - A summary of ratio calculations.
Management - General Distribution Topics
5 Fundamentals for the Wholesale Distribution Branch Manager, Second Edition
James J. Ambrose
This brand-new 5 Fundamentals for the Wholesale Distribution Branch Manager, Second Edition is the classic step-by-step guide to helping branch managers improve their business and leadership skills. The branch manager is the key to success for every wholesaler-distributor according to author Jim Ambrose. “If winning means profitable market share and profitable market share growth, then developing the branch manager is essential to a company’s success,” he says.
Essentials of Profitable Wholesale Distribution©, Second Edition
Jim Olsztynski
Essentials of Profitable Wholesale Distribution provides a straightforward and highly readable understanding of the wholesale distribution business that will make your team smarter -a lot smarter.
Twice the size of the first edition, this second edition includes both brand-new and updated instructional text and all-new graphics!
Making money in the wholesale distribution business gets tougher every year. When you add the current economic slump to the equation, making money can be downright grueling in some sectors of the market! More aggressive competition, expanded product lines, tighter profit margins, and more demanding customers require distributors to work longer, faster, and smarter to survive and remain profitable. Running a successful company requires cooperative efforts from knowledgeable and motivated employees. How can you ensure that your employees are aligned with your goals for high performance and profitability? You give them the Essentials!
Facing the Forces of Change: Reimagining Distribution in a Connected World
Guy Blissett
Facing the Forces of Change® is the only major research study analyzing the future of wholesale distribution within multiple lines of trade. Since its inception in 1982, the landmark Facing the Forces of Change® series continues to provide insights about the overall future of wholesale distribution and the role of wholesaler-distributors.
As this 10th edition—Facing the Forces of Change®: Reimagining Distribution in a Connected World—highlights, there is no shortage of “forces of change” that will impact distributors over the next 3 to 5 years and transform the industry. There is also no shortage of opportunities for distributors to embrace and leverage these forces.
This report can help you take steps to plan, prepare, and execute strategies to capitalize on the forces of change. Read and reread this report. Discuss it with your top executives, managers, and other staff. Develop short-term and long-term strategies that anticipate the trends and ultimately drive business growth and customer value.
Kiss Theory Good Bye
Do you want to increase accountability, consistently accomplish our objectives, have more time to plan, and help your organization run more smoothly? If your answer is yes, you should read Kiss Theory Good Bye. It is the corporate execution play book, with step-by-step guidance and proven tools and tactics you can start using today to achieve extraordinary results.
What’s Your Plan?
Mike Marks and Mike Emerson, Indian River Consulting Group
Say the authors of this eye-opening book from NAW's Distribution Research and Education Foundation, there is absolutely no relationship between your sales incentive plan and your likely gain or loss in market share.
In fact, here's what matters most: setting an objective, getting management to use it in rating salesperson performance, and making sure your whole team buys in.
What's Your Plan? debunks the myths and shows you how to bring these three all-important factors into alignment. Get ready for a real "A-ha!" experience.
Mike Marks and Mike Emerson of Indian River Consulting Group surveyed hundreds of wholesale distribution executives and talked to dozens more in-depth on the phone. Their main finding is that pay plans don't - can't - operate effectively in a corporate/sales management vacuum. That may seem obvious, but the data here raise this question: If it's so obvious, why are so many wholesaler-distributors operating otherwise?
By reading this book and thinking deeply about the real-life compensation case studies presented, you can determine whether your firm has the preconditions in place to verify that your salesforce pay plan is the right one, or to adjust it as necessary so it produces the results you're seeking.
Sales Training
Essentials of Profitable Inside Sales in Distribution
Jim Olsztynski
For many distributors, inside sales personnel are core components of their business, and more often than not, act as the customers’ first point of contact. Today, inside sales professionals are taking on greater responsibility for a company’s profitability and assuming many of the duties formerly performed by outside sales reps.
Essentials of Profitable Inside Sales in Distribution provides a real-world, in-depth understanding of the expanded role of inside sales. Increasingly today, inside sales staffs are responsible for generating sales and making sure those sales are profitable. This book is a perfect component in your company’s training program because it shows your inside sales staff exactly how they contribute to the health and well being of your company. They will learn how to make sales profitable, provide superb customer service, and develop their own expertise and image as a successful wholesale distribution professional at your company.
Value-Added Selling
Tom Reilly
Value-Added Selling is a content-rich message of hope. It's both inspirational and informational. The value-added philosophy is a better view of business. Value-added salespeople are more focused on making a difference than just making a deal. Tom Reilly began his pioneering work in Value-Added Selling in 1985 when he wrote his first book on this topic. Since then, he has spread his message across continents to tens of thousands of salespeople and their managers. This new book combines the best of the old and proven with the new and innovative. In this book, Tom Reilly shares his insights and experiences of having worked with some of the best sales forces in the world over the past two decades. Reilly's creative and forward-thinking sales philosophy will shape the future for salespeople globally for decades to come.
