News and Trends

• Housing bust drives down cost of building materials
  With construction down sharply as a result of the stalled housing market, distributors and manufacturers are left to compete for what little business is available, leading to a further decrease in prices for building materials, ranging from lumber to granite, according to market analysts. The Sacramento Bee (Calif.) (free registration) (2/26)

• Chinese factories look to lower costs through outsourcing
  High energy prices, a strong currency and increasing regulation are leading to a new round of outsourcing -- but this time it's the Chinese who are looking for cheaper labor. More than 1,000 shoe factories have closed down in the Chinese province of Guangdong over the past year, owing to the rising cost of doing business. The companies that remain are looking to less-developed regions of China for lower labor costs or to other countries such as Indonesia and Vietnam. The Washington Times (2/29)

• IT managers outsource for performance, not just cost:  Purchasing.com (2/28)

• Truckers see uptick in freight volume for January
  A 2.4% increase in January's trucking volume may bode well for the broader economy, although experts note that the increase in tonnage rates is coming mostly from the agricultural and mining sectors while consumer goods remain sluggish. Fleet Owner (2/28)

• Other News

• Arrow Electronics to acquire Achieva's components distribution business
  Reuters (2/29)

Best Practices

• Self-service tools benefit customers, bottom line
  The use of customer self-service tools can help keep customers happy and save companies plenty of money. A good place to find tools is simply doing a Google search, or checking the Help Desk Institute. Forbes (2/22)

• Crystallize your image, broadcast message
  A business needs to solidify its image to its target market and consistently underscore that image. A list of eight ways to help define your image includes deciding what message you want to show; determining what is most important to your customers; studying how other organizations accomplish the same thing; and selecting the best way to broadcast your message. DaveKahle.com (2/19)

Sales

• Strategies can help with effective goal-setting
  Goal-setting can be an important means for letting workers know what they are expected to accomplish. A list of nine recommendations for effective goal-setting includes creating goals that have focus; making goals realistic and reasonable; making sure workers have the resources to meet their goals; and talking to workers to help give them support. Selling Power (free registration) (2/26)

Hot Topics

Top five news stories selected by NAW SmartBrief readers in the past week.

• Fed forecast increases stagflation worries (The Wall Street Journal)

• Grainger expects Justice Department meeting soon (Reuters)

• Idle employees can have negative impact on business (Manage Smarter)

• Strategies to keep audience's attention during presentation (Selling Power)

• Perfect the "elevator pitch" to grab customer's attention (Forbes)

• Results based on number of times each story was clicked by readers.

Small Business Manager

• Finding good workers is hard, so keep them in bad times
  Small businesses struggling with an economic slowdown may want to hire more good workers instead of considering layoffs, say workplace experts who advocate strengthening a talent base to increase profits. Although a recent poll shows small-business optimism has dropped to a low not seen since 1991, experts advise against reducing the work force unless it is the only way to save a business. Boston Herald (2/29)

Executive Life

• Roth 401(k) plans good choice for younger workers
  A Roth 401(k) is a good option for young investors who expect to make more money later on in their careers, Kathryn Glass writes for Fox Business. The Roth 401(k) plans allow people to pay taxes on contributions while they're still in a lower tax bracket. The one drawback is that few employers offer the relatively new offering. Fox Business (2/28)

• New York's iconic Plaza hotel to reopen on Saturday
  When New York's The Plaza reopens Saturday after a two-year, $400 million renovation, guests will notice some high-tech changes as well as design changes. The new incarnation of the hotel will include 282 hotel accommodations, with nearly half being condo-hotel units, and an additional 180 units are exclusively residential. USA TODAY (2/29)

NAW Insider

• NAW and The Hartford
  NAW has partnered with The Hartford to offer insurance expertise and comprehensive coverage tailored to the specific needs of wholesaler-distributors. The Hartford also offers expedited claims-handling services and a countrywide network of loss control and risk management experts to help wholesaler-distributors protect their businesses and minimize loss costs. More information available here.

• Brand-new book: Profit Myths in Wholesale Distribution
  This NAW Institute book has one overall goal -- to change the way distribution managers think about their businesses. Author Albert Bates says that both decision quality and decision consistency are influenced by some very bad information. He promises an eye-opening experience if you accept that much, if not most, of what you have been told about distribution finance issues is wrong.

Weekly Poll

• Has your company noticed a difference in freight volume?
  After voting once, check out the real-time poll results on NAW's All Access page as often as you'd like.

	Yes -- it has decreased.
	No -- it has stayed about the same.
	Yes -- it has increased.
	We do not measure freight volume.

Director of Regional Workforce Development The AED Foundation Oak Brook, Illinois Operations Manager Wheeler Division of J.J. Haines & Company, Inc. Orlando, FL Pneumatic Automation Product Manager Controlled Motion Solutions, Inc. Southern California

SmartQuote

A bore is a man who, when you ask him how he is, tells you." --Bert Leston Taylor, American poet