News and Trends

• Penn Traffic to sell wholesale business for $43 million
  The Penn Traffic grocery chain will sell its wholesale business for $43 million to C&S Wholesale Grocers in Keene, N.H. The New York-based grocer will focus on its 91 retail stores while the sale helps to boost its capital structure. Newsday (Long Island, N.Y.)/The Associated Press (subscription required) (12/17), News 10 Now (Syracuse, N.Y.) (12/17)

• Survey: No drastic action by most companies
  According to a survey from Mercer Consulting, most companies are not implementing drastic measures during the economic downtown. Almost two-thirds of the 1,000 companies surveyed said they do not plan to reduce staff by significant levels, and 84% of companies are unlikely to eliminate benefits programs. Modern Distribution Management (12/17)

• Sysco executives take 5% pay cuts for company: The top 15 executives at Sysco Corp. voluntarily took one for the team -- a 5% pay cut that allowed 50,000 employees to receive 3% raises. "We wanted to show our people that it was a tough economic time, but that the corporate office was going to take the first hit," said a Sysco spokesman. Modern Distribution Management (12/17)

• Some Ingram Micro workers will go on brief winter break
  Ingram Micro will implement a four-day "Winter Break" for most employees at its offices in Santa Ana, Calif., and Buffalo, N.Y. Although those offices will remain open to respond to customer needs and to field sales calls, employees affected by the Winter Break will either take vacation time or unpaid leave during the four-day period. ChannelWeb Network (12/16)

• Other News

• October dip in Canadian wholesale sales more than triple the expected amount
  Bloomberg (12/17)

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Best Practices

• Four-part recipe for making useful personas
  Simple customer profiles are typically not enough for marketers to succeed. Profiles in the form of "personas," a more complex tool, are more useful, but only if they include the four components of persona descriptions, scenarios, insights and innovation opportunity handoff. MarketingProfs (free registration) (12/16)

• In negotiations rely on humor and respect, not rigid rules
  When you enter a negotiation, let commonsense guide you, not rigid rules. Good negotiators should have the key qualities of discipline, endurance, respect, patience, empathy and humor. American City Business Journals (12/15)

Sales

• 8 steps for keeping an edge in negotiations while staying cooperative
  A cooperative, rather than competitive process is essential in approaching complicated negotiations even as you work to ensure you are maintaining your leverage at the negotiating table. Eight simple steps can help you achieve this. Selling Power (free registration) (12/17)

Hot Topics

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

• 10 creative ideas for rewarding employees on a tight budget (Manage Smarter)

• Rethinking high-tech distribution (The McKinsey Quarterly)

• Cut back strategically during tough times (Entrepreneur magazine)

• Keep existing customers happy to weather tough times (CRM Daily)

• Praxair plans to lay off 1,600 employees (Modern Distribution Management)

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

Small Business Manager

• Small businesses putting brakes on shift to Web ads
  Although many small businesses had intended to shift more advertising spending online before the economy softened, an October American Express survey revealed that more than half of those polled were "cutting back or delaying marketing initiatives," as a result of new fiscal realities. However, this post by Greg Sterling projects a significant boost in Web ads among small businesses and brands once the recession is over. Advertising Age (tiered subscription model) (12/16)

Executive Life

• Commentary: Bernanke makes big bet to boost economy
  Although Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and members of the Open Market Committee have pulled out all the stops, the real test is whether the moves actually help boost the economy. Along with reducing its target federal funds rate to between zero and 0.25%, the Fed vowed to inject cash into the economy through "quantitative easing." Markets often welcome easing by the Fed in the short term only to reverse course. The Wall Street Journal (tiered subscription model) (12/16)

• IRS smooths path for troubled homeowners to sell or refinance
  The Internal Revenue Service is easing rules to make it easier for homeowners facing liens for delinquent taxes to sell or refinance their houses. "We need to ensure that we balance our responsibility to enforce the law with the economic realities facing many American citizens today," said IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman. Los Angeles Times/The Associated Press (12/16)

NAW Insider

• Billion Dollar Company Roundtables -- peer groups like none other
  NAW's Billion Dollar Company Roundtables provide a unique networking experience. Join your peers to speak in a noncompeting atmosphere about the issues and topics that affect your business today. Join the groups and learn more about the upcoming events here.

Weekly Poll

• Where does your company primarily advertise?
  After voting once, check out the real-time poll results on NAW's All Access page as often as you'd like.

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Vice President of Distribution Uline Waukegan, IL Technical Customer Service Representative RAASM USA, Inc. Charlotte (Southend), NC Customer service representative/Export division Summit Electric Supply Houston, TX

Editor's Note

• Publication notice
  In observance of Christmas in the U.S., NAW SmartBrief originally scheduled to be published on Thursday will be published on Tuesday. Happy holidays!

SmartQuote

You can't stay mad at somebody who makes you laugh." --Jay Leno, comedian