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News for the wholesale distribution industry | August 23, 2007     Best Practices  Fun, backed by substance, becomes an asset in the workplace Many business leaders recognize that a fun working environment helps retain and attract employees. However, for fun to flourish, a workplace must also include meaningful work, skilled management, fair compensation and employees who treat one another with respect. Inc.com (8/1) By-the-book networking ignores human factor Business networking means going beyond handing out your business card and instead requires developing real-world human relations, according to an expert. Some tips for making meaningful connections include finding ways to increase clients' business, focusing on what clients really need and following up even beyond the standard follow-up. American City Business Journals (8/13)   Management  Effective leaders uncover creative solutions by empowering employees Most effective leaders use empowerment to creatively accomplish goals, says Rick Johnson. He notes that employees must take ownership of the success of the organization for which they work. "This means they must become part of the strategy employed by the company," he writes. CEO Strategist (7/31)   Customer Relations  Customer preference matters when deciding how to communicate Finding out how a customer prefers to communicate, whether by e-mail or telephone, can help retain business. No matter what the medium, companies should make all responses timely, and they should never lose sight of the importance of a personal touch. CRM Daily (8/15)   Training and Presentation  Conversation skills improve job quality, safety Productivity, quality, job satisfaction and safety are all compromised when workers who confront questionable workplace practices are hesitant to speak up, writes corporate trainer Walter Ross. Conversational skills not only help address problems, they can save lives, Ross says. Manage Smarter (8/20)   Closing the Deal  Business rule sets help manage details as customer demands increase CRM practitioners should apply and automate sophisticated business rule sets, writes consultant Dick Lee in CustomerThink. He notes that demanding customers and employee empowerment trends have increased the "messy details" that companies must manage. CustomerThink (8/14)   NAW Insider  NAW's Billion Dollar Company CEO Roundtable NAW's Billion Dollar Company CEO Roundtable, Chicago, Oct. 9 to 10, joins CEOs from wholesale distribution companies with sales $1 billion and above to network and learn. Topics are based on responses from the CEO community addressing specific needs of the group, including Building a Platform for the Future, Brand Building/Sourcing/Private Labels and the Multigenerational Workforce. Get details and register here. Cost effective Virtual Terminal through Solveras NAW teams with Solveras to provide wholesaler-distributors with the latest processing technology. Virtual Terminal allows processing from any computer with Internet access. It provides businesses lower cost card-not-present transactions. Mail, telephone orders can be processed through secure Web-based application that's easy to use. Get a FREE savings analysis to see the program savings. For information, visit http://www.solveras.com/naw.html or call (800) 613-0148.   Weekly Poll  How long would you stay at an unsatisfying job? After voting once, check out the real-time poll results on NAW's All Access page as often as you'd like. Three months or fewer Until I could find a new job Who cares about satisfaction? I need a paycheck     Subscriber Tools       Print friendly format | Web version | Search past news | Archive | Privacy policy Advertise Sales Account Director:  Mark Lasser 303-284-9864 Download Media Kit   Read more at SmartBrief.com A powerful Web site for SmartBrief readers including: Breaking News Industry Home Competitor News Readers' Choice Press Releases Search Archive Who's Hiring? Get this RSS Feed Publish your Press Release       Recent NAW SmartBrief Issues: Wednesday, August 22, 2007 Monday, August 20, 2007 Friday, August 17, 2007 Wednesday, August 15, 2007 Monday, August 13, 2007     Lead Editor:  Ashley McMaster       Mailing Address: SmartBrief, Inc.®, 1100 H ST NW, Suite 1000, Washington, DC 20005     © 1999-2009 SmartBrief, Inc.® Legal Information