News and Trends

• Airgas expects to beat analysts' expectations in fiscal 2008
  Airgas Inc. says it anticipates its fiscal 2008 sales will be $4 billion, exceeding the expectation of Wall Street analysts who have forecast that the company will report revenue of $3.89 billion. The industrial, medical and specialty gases distributor said growth in the gases, safety products and carbon dioxide segments, as well as its efficient gas supply chain, account for its increased expectations. Forbes/Associated Press (9/6)

• Study: Supply chain execution to see rapid growth
  The global supply chain execution market is expected to grow from $4.6 billion in 2006 to more than $7.4 billion in 2011, according to a study from ARC Advisory Group. One of the study's principal authors, ARC Advisory Group's service director for Supply Chain Management, noted: "It is surprising how fragmented this market remains. In 2006, the top 10 suppliers' shares of the total market had barely changed from 2003, despite the fact that virtually all of the top 10 suppliers had made SCE acquisitions." Supply & Demand Chain Executive (9/4)

• Edgen Murray acquires Equipment Valve
  Edgen Murray II LP subsidiary Edgen Murray Corporation in Baton Rouge, La., has purchased specialized valves and actuation packages distributor Equipment Valve & Supply. Edgen Murray is a carbon and alloy steel products distributor. Modern Distribution Management (9/5)

• Other News

• Arrow completes acquisitions of Europe-based distributors
  Long Island Business News (N.Y.) (9/4)

	Leverage Your Inventory for Maximum Profit. As a distributor, inventory is one of your key assets. How do you make sure you have the right products at the right place and the right time? For innovative ideas and insight, download IBM's ALL-NEW Executive Forecast and Demand Planning eKit. It features Adam Fein's article on Demand-Driven Customer Relationships, whitepapers, case studies, and more.
	ADVERTISEMENT

Best Practices

• Kindness, corporate collaboration a combination for success
  The secret to success is simply playing nice and cultivating a corporate culture of kindness, says advertising leader Linda Kaplan Thaler, CEO and chief creative officer of the Kaplan Thaler Group Inc. In an interview, Thaler says being collaborative and working with others, rather than trying to defeat them, breeds success. Entrepreneur (9/2007)

• Commentary: Customers' privacy is sacred
  Customers' privacy is increasingly being violated all over the Web as social networking sites scrape information and post it in profiles that individuals often don't know exist. The bottom line, however, should be that the "customer's privacy is non-negotiable," writes the author of this blog. Fast Company (9/2007)

Sales

• Key mistakes can ruin chances of cold-call success
  Cold calls can be successful when particular mistakes are avoided. Common mistakes include not preparing for the various responses that may pop up, focusing too much on the company that is doing the selling, lack of product knowledge and wasting the potential client's time. Manage Smarter (9/6)

	Good help is hard to find. NAW SmartBrief to the rescue! You won't reach a more targeted, qualified audience in the wholesale distribution industry. Get started now and post your open positions in NAW SmartBrief.
	ADVERTISEMENT

Hot Topics

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

• Manufacturing still key to U.S. economy (The Washington Post)

• Automation adds efficiency to distributor's DC (DC Velocity)

• Deliver presentations with a strong voice (Entrepreneur)

• Wellness programs, high-deductible plans can offer savings (BusinessWeek)

• Go "deeper in the cone" for effective sales (DaveKahle.com)

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

Small Business Manager

• Commentary: Sleep and startups don't go together
  Sleep is privilege that is not afforded by founders of startups who expect to wind up ahead of the other guy, according to Will Schroter, author and CEO of Go Big Network. Schroter says that as a "serial entrepreneur," he doesn't sleep -- he builds, and there will be plenty of time to sleep when he's in the grave. American City Business Journals (9/3)

Executive Life

• Corporate apartments offer temporary luxury
  Temporary apartments are now available in chic neighborhoods in places such as London and Paris, and many have amenities such as grocery delivery, weekly maid service and round-the-clock concierge service. Forbes (9/7)

• Jobs gives $100 credit to early iPhone adopters
  

  Source: CBS 3 Philadelphia

  Apple CEO Steve Jobs is giving a $100 store credit to early adopters of the iPhone, including many who are upset over the company's decision to slash the price of the 8-GB model by $200. "Our early customers trusted us, and we must live up to that trust with our actions in moments like these," Jobs wrote in a letter. Yahoo! (9/6) , International Herald Tribune (9/7)

NAW Insider

• NAW's Large Company CEO/COO Networking Roundtable
  NAW's Large Company CEO/COO Networking Roundtable, Chicago, Sept. 19 to 20, joins CEOs and COOs from wholesale distribution companies with sales $100 million and above to network and learn. Agenda topics are based on responses from the executive community and address specific needs of the group, including Going Green, Driving Sales Beyond, Crisis Management, Today's Economy and Ethics. Get more details and register here.

• Learn, apply the essentials of profitable inside sales
  This NAW Institute book provides a real-world, in-depth understanding of the expanded role of inside sales. Inside sales personnel are responsible for generating sales and making sure those sales are profitable. This book shows inside sales reps how they contribute to your company's health and well being. Make it as an essential component in your company's training program. Order today!

Weekly Poll

• Did you lose much sleep when starting up your business?
  After voting once, check out the real-time poll results on NAW's All Access page as often as you'd like.

	Yes, but now I rest easy.
	Yes, I lost sleep during the start-up phase and still do now.
	No, I made time for sleep.
	I have not started my own business.

Territory Manager Behler-Young West Michigan

SmartQuote

Laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you get tired." --Jules Renard, French author