WSJ: 'BALKANIZED' STEEL INDUSTRY WILL KEEP PRICES HIGH
Regional steel firms have grown strong enough to capture market share and fend off competition from the outside, the Wall Street Journal reports. The paper blames this for a continuation of high prices that steel-consuming industries have been seeing. Steel prices are softening in some parts of the world, including China and the U.S., but prices are expected to go up again in 2008 and stay that way for awhile.

ArcelorMittal CEO Lakshmi Mittal tells WSJ: "There will always be downturns in pricing, but I am predicting the death of the cyclical volatility that caused prices to spiral down to unsustainable levels." WSJ subscription required. More...

FIND & KEEP SOUND SALES MANAGEMENT
Without sound sales management, it's unlikely that efforts to train and retain top sales talent will be effective, according to this article by Indian River Consulting Group's Steve Deist. "The manager with whom sales reps interact on a daily basis has the most influence on their performance, and this influence is especially strong in larger organizations," he writes.

He cites a division of a national distributor, whose sales fell below average after the company promoted the sales manager to corporate headquarters. Despite efforts to bolster the division with a new sales compensation plan and extensive training, numbers continued to sag. "Investing in a sales rep gets results from one territory. Investing in a sales manager offers the potential for improvements in all the territories that report up through him," Deist says. More...

ACR GROUP: INVOLVE EMPLOYEES IN STRATEGIC PLANNING
ACR Group, an HVAC distributor that recently agreed to be acquired by Watsco, has expanded its strategic planning process to involve store managers and employees. The $240 million distributor also "recalibrates" the company vision every two to three years, according to this profile in The Wholesaler.More...

A LOOK AT THE BLUE HAWK COOPERATIVE
This Supply House Times piece takes a look at the Blue Hawk Cooperative, a group of HVACR distributors. Blue Hawk originated in the mind of Dan Bleier of Able Distributors, Chicago, IL, who started the group two years ago. Supply House Times says Bleier realized that family-owned businesses and other independent distributors needed a way to compete with big players, such as Home Depot. "We didn't have the volume to get the manufacturer rebates they could," he says. The group now has 156 members. More...

THE STATE OF LOGISTICS
Logistics Management has released its most recent state of logistics report – logistics costs in 2006 were $130 billion higher than in 2005 at $1.31 trillion. Higher transportation costs, higher inventory carrying costs, as well as a slowing economy, all played a part. The report says however that logistics managers are working more with carriers and service providers to make the supply chain more efficient and secure; this has helped rein in costs.More...

DISTRIBUTOR: DRIVERS ARE 'FACE OF THE COMPANY'
Eby-Brown Company, Naperville, IL, a candy, tobacco and convenience store distributor, sees its drivers as the face of the company. "Our drivers are the only face that the general public and many of our customers will see of Eby-Brown," the vice-president of operations at one distribution center tells Distribution Channels magazine. The best drivers, he says, are focused on customer service, are good decision-makers, and are strong problem-solvers. "My good drivers take care of all the issues in the field, and they don't have to call me or my assistant managers too often," he says.More...

TRAIN FOR INSIDE SALES LIKE YOU DO OUTSIDE SALES
Training counter salespeople is key to improving inside sales, according to this article in Welding Magazine. Some ideas: Hold annual product fairs, where vendors come and train employees, including inside and outside salespeople. The vendors demonstrate and discuss new products, and bring employees up to speed with industry trends.

Another distributor says it's key to teach employees to listen to customers more than they talk. Also, take the time to find counter salespeople with basic sales skills before you hire them. This distributor also tries to promote from within to counter sales, knowing that other employees in the facility will know certain product lines well already. More...

IN THE JULY 10 ISSUE OF MDM: MDM Interview – Clean-Up of a Roll-Up
Since 1997 when the company was formed through the rollup of nine industrial general-line distributors, Industrial Distribution Group, Atlanta, GA, has seen its share of integration challenges. Charles Lingenfelter, a founding member of IDG, became president and CEO of the $550-million national distributor in November 2005. Since taking the helm, Lingenfelter has pushed hard to take the distributor from four divisions to one company. Available by subscription or by pay-per-view.More...