Monday,
March 11, 2024

000. How To Lead Yourself and Your Teams Through Crisis, Challenge, Change, and Choice

Instructor: Commander Mary Kelly, Ph.D.

In this opening keynote, Mary will cover the seven leadership reminders, using the acronym C.L.A.M.P.E.R. so that you provide the right response to the right people at the right time to achieve the right outcomes.

001. Building an Exceptional Workplace Culture (morning)

Instructor: Sean Glaze

In this workshop, Sean will equip you to be a more effective leader with the clarity and confidence of a proven, ‎repeatable process you can follow to develop a high-performing culture.‎ In 2021, Gallup reported that “70% of a team's engagement is influenced by managers.”

002. Selling Through Tough Times (morning)

Instructor: Paul Reilly

In this workshop, you will learn how to sell effectively and build mental resilience during a downturn. Why is it that some sellers thrive during tough times yet others barely survive? What do they have—and what do they know—that keeps them on top?

003. Welcome Onboard: How to Keep Your New Hires from Jumping Ship (morning)

Instructor: Lisa Ryan

In this course, you will discover strategies to create an onboarding process that focuses on the long-term successful integration of your new hire into your company. From the first day to the first year, you'll be able to design onboarding guidelines that work for you and your leadership team. If you want to ensure that your new hires stay with you for the long term, this is the workshop for you.

004. Finding the Balance: People, Product and Profitability (morning)

Instructor: Jason Bader

This workshop is all about building a profitable operation. Managers of these locations need to understand how to lead their teams down the path of profitability. It starts with getting everyone on the same page so that the location can provide a superior customer service experience.

005. Building Resilient Teams AND Resilient Revenues (morning)

Instructor: Colleen Stanley

This sales presentation isn’t about teaching more hard skills, consultative selling skills. It’s about developing the soft skill, the EQ skill of resiliency. Colleen Stanley is the world’s leading expert on emotional intelligence and sales. Her approach is thought provoking, pragmatic and always accompanied with a healthy dose of humor.

006. The Language of Leadership: Science-Based Techniques for Better Workplace Communication (morning)

Instructor: Jamie Turner

If you’d like to become a more effective salesperson, team leader, or employee, then don’t miss this interactive, fast-paced workshop by internationally recognized author, professor, and TV news contributor Jamie Turner.

007. How to Digitally Transform to Track KPIs for Distributors (morning)

Instructor: Ken Novak

Transformation is more than an eCommerce or IT project. It is literally changing the internal processes of employees by mirroring the process (and matching the expectations) of your customers. It is shifting the mindset of every function within the organization and "That is how we have always done it" is no longer good enough. It is no longer good enough because you are in the middle of a generational shift.

008. Cybersecurity: What Future Leaders Must Know to Protect Themselves and Their Organization (morning)

Instructor: Mike Foster

Mike expanded this must-see session to include both Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity. AI is revolutionizing personal and business lives, and it's never been more important to understand how to harness its power. By the end of the session, you'll leave with a wealth of knowledge on how to benefit from AI technologies and keep your organization secure. This is a perfect combination of two powerful technologies that are vital for your organization's success.

009. What Winning Teammates Do Differently (afternoon)

Instructor: Sean Glaze

Every member of your team needs to develop valuable interpersonal skills and awareness - because people who can build trust with others and inspire others to work more effectively will enjoy a significant competitive advantage. This program reveals the behaviors that improve organizational teamwork – so you have better days and enjoy better results!

010. Value-Added Selling: How to Sell More Profitably by Competing on Value, Not Price! (afternoon)

Instructor: Paul Reilly

Today’s sellers face familiar challenges at unprecedented levels. Markets are flooded with tough competitors selling similar products and services. With the commoditization of products and services, customers become increasingly price-sensitive.

011. Keep Your Top Talent from Becoming Someone Else's (afternoon)

Instructor: Lisa Ryan

The impact of COVID-19 has profoundly changed business for good. Not only did companies have to change many of their work practices, but employees have found they have lots more options when it comes to how, when, and where they can get their work done. Even the term “workplace” has potentially become obsolete. Companies that never thought they could (or should) offer remote working opportunities have been forced to do so. Flexible scheduling is no longer a “nice to have,” it’s expected. Sean will share a few captivating stories, powerful content, and high-energy interaction, to deliver a program that equips you and your people to become better teammates. You will leave with actionable steps to positively impact your team performance. You will learn how to take personal ownership of results, build deeper relationships with your people, share meaningful appreciation, and succeed more consistently in highly competitive environments.

012. Finding the Balance: Inventory Turns & Customer Service or Gross Sales is for Vanity, Profit is for Sanity (afternoon)

Instructor: Jason Bader

This workshop is all about building a profitable operation. Managers of these locations need to understand how to lead their teams down the path of profitability. It starts with getting everyone on the same page so that the location can provide a superior customer service experience. At the same time, the manager needs to be accountable for the asset have responsibility over. This is the balancing act of every effective manager. In this session, we will cover the basics of coaching, managing, and driving your way to profitable location growth.

013. Positively Diverse Leadership (afternoon)

Instructor: Kiki Ramsey, PhD

Creating a true work culture of diversity, happiness, and belonging is not impossible. Unfortunately, many leaders don’t know where to start for fear of getting it wrong. The good news is you can have the organizational culture you want where engagement and retention are high, and employees love to come to work. During this workshop, she will share how all this is possible by learning to build meaningful organizational relationships and communicating around issues of DEI and leadership through your strengths! 

014. The Productivity Playbook: How to Get Peak Performance From Yourself and Those Around You (afternoon)

Instructor: Jamie Turner

According to research by Zippia, companies that focus on productivity and performance have 30% to 40% higher profit margins than their competitors. The same research also shows that the best companies are up to 40% more productive than their competitors. The bottom line: Productivity and performance workshops help generate better profits for the companies that implement them.

015. Digital Commerce > eCommerce: How to Grow Top Line Via Owned, Paid and Earned Channels (afternoon)

Instructor: Ken Novak

Are you generating at least 5% of top-line revenue via digital transaction channels like your website, marketplaces, punchout catalogs and eProcurment? If not, why? You have invested in technology. You have invested in Managers, Directors, and contractors to manage the technology. But…you are dissatisfied with the ROI. This workshop has one focus...to help OEMs and Distributors build an operational roadmap of top-line revenue growth that prioritizes maximizing margins. Your customers’ digital standards are defined by their B2C experiences. The basics are becoming competitive advantages (see Amazon’s ease-of-return process). If you are not offering these same levels of service, they will take their business elsewhere.

016. The People Productivity Equation: How to Practice No Surprise Management (afternoon)

Instructor: Kathryn Newton, PhD

Employee wages and benefits represent a huge dollar investment for most employers, yet they rarely invest a commensurate amount of time and energy in selecting and retaining them. In this workshop, you will learn how to take a "systems" viewpoint of the organization, learn tools to identify productivity gaps in your firm, and evaluate changes needed in a pandemic-prone world. Balancing employee activities such as recruiting and hiring great people, onboarding, and using technology and engagement to gain employee impact are critical to maintaining high productivity. You will also learn key strategies to consider for compensation, and the newest perks you must offer to hire the best employees.

Top

Tuesday,
March 12, 2024

017. How to Become a Stronger Coach and Leader of Your Sales Team (morning)

Instructor: Jim Pancero, CSP, CPAE

In this interactive workshop, Jim will show you, as the leader of your team, the selling skills you most want and need within your reps in today’s post-virus, hyper-competitive selling environment. You will learn the evolution of selling explaining why so many of your senior sales reps are still stuck in outdated and ineffective selling philosophies. We will discuss the selling skills you most value in the next sales rep you hire. You will also learn the five most critical selling skills (in addition to product knowledge) your team needs to achieve long-term selling success. A detailed workbook/action guide will be provided to help you take these ideas back to share with your sales team that includes a twenty-question evaluation of a sales rep’s selling skills.

018A. Improving the Bottom Line (Part 1) (morning)

Instructor: Albert D. Bates, Ph.D.

Part 1 - highly recommended that participants register for Parts 1 and 2. Only about 10% of all companies make as much profit as they should. This is true across almost all industries. In this workshop, Al will demonstrate to you how to improve your financial results, not just a little, but a lot.

018B. Improving the Bottom Line (Part 2) (afternoon)

Instructor: Albert D. Bates, Ph.D.

Part 2 - highly recommended for those attending Part 1. Only about 10% of all companies make as much profit as they should. This is true across almost all industries. In this workshop, Al will demonstrate to you how to improve your financial results, not just a little, but a lot.

019. Personal Leadership & Time Management (morning)

Instructor: Steve McClatchy

Understanding the psychology of what drives every decision you make empowers you to spend more of your time on the things that actually improve your life and your business, not just maintain them. Consistently improving your life and achieving your goals is not easy.

020. Effective Warehouse Management (morning)

Instructor: Matt Schreibfeder

Every distributor has one or more warehouses. But few realize that efficient and effective warehouse operations are a key element to success and profitability. In this workshop, we will explore how a few simple practices will help you ensure that the on-hand quantities of stocked products are consistently accurate and that you efficiently store items in order to minimize the cost of filling orders.

021. Ditch the Pitch (morning)

Instructor: Steve Yastrow

Customers don’t want to hear sales pitches. In this breakthrough workshop, Steve Yastrow challenges salespeople to forget everything they’ve learned about persuading customers and to start improvising. Ditch the Pitch gives you all the tools you need to engage in fresh, spontaneous, persuasive conversations that get customers to buy. With Steve’s six Ditch the Pitch Habits you will effortlessly navigate the sales process from prospecting through closing. You’ll create conversations and communications specifically created for each customer―to craft the right message for the right customer at the right time. Tear up your sales pitch and improvise!

022. Building a Culture of Success: The Power of Purpose, Performance and Positivity! (morning)

Instructor: Gail Alofsin

Optimism, confidence and character propel you, personally and professionally, to become your best YOU. Your positive and pragmatic mind-set is a competitive advantage. Positivity enhances the spirit of an organization, creating a connection between the company, clients and colleagues. The workplace is not perfect. We are all challenged with unexpected hurdles. How you productively tackle these road blocks impacts your leadership, trust factor and personal brand. Harness your positive energy! In the end, you work for you – YOU are your company. Start today with the Power of Positivity. What are you waiting for?

023. Creating Your Unique Value Proposition (morning)

Instructor: Joe Ellers

During this workshop, the participants will be tasked with selecting a product or service and working through the questions so that they have a working model that can be applied throughout the organization.

024. You Can Always Sell More! How to Strengthen Your Sales Team’s Selling Skills and Competitive Market Positioning (afternoon)

Instructor: Jim Pancero, CSP, CPAE

In this interactive workshop, Jim will show you, as the leader of your team, the selling skills you most want and need within your reps in today’s post-virus, hyper-competitive selling environment. You will learn the evolution of selling explaining why so many of your senior sales reps are still stuck in outdated and ineffective selling philosophies. We will discuss the selling skills you most value in the next sales rep you hire. You will also learn the five most critical selling skills (in addition to product knowledge) your team needs to achieve long-term selling success. A detailed workbook/action guide will be provided to help you take these ideas back to share with your sales team that includes a twenty-question evaluation of a sales rep’s selling skills.

025. Leading Relationships (afternoon)

Instructor: Steve McClatchy

Communicate Effectively, Resolve Conflict, Hold Others Accountable & Lead High-Performance Business Relationships If you are in business today you are in the business of relationships. The skills of communicating effectively, working with diverse multi-generational teams, setting expectations, giving and receiving feedback, gaining commitment, resolving conflict, and getting others to follow through can be the most important skills you will ever develop as a leader. In this presentation you will learn the keys to success in each of these areas and how to build relationships strong enough to handle the pressures and tensions inherent in creating, building, leading, and sustaining a fast-changing, high-performance organization. This presentation is guaranteed to change the way you work, interact, communicate, solve problems, and accomplish work through others.

026. Balancing Customer Service, Inventory Investment and Profitability (afternoon)

Instructor: Matt Schreibfeder

The goal of effective inventory management is to meet or exceed your customers’ expectations of product availability with the amount of each item that will maximize your profitability. In this workshop, you will learn more tactics to help you understand your customers’ needs, develop and maintain a realistic budget for your investment in stock inventory, understand how to buy at the lowest “total cost”, and utilize meaningful profitability measurements.

027. Brand Harmony (afternoon)

Instructor: Steve Yastrow

Since writing his book Brand Harmony nearly 20 years ago, Steve has had the opportunity to help hundreds of companies improve their customer experiences. In this workshop, he will cover the key steps in creating a more unified customer experience that drives customer loyalty. You’ll learn how to identify gaps in your current customer experience, how to prioritize which parts of your customer experience should be improved, how to get your whole team onboard as you make improvements, and how to ensure your company follows through on improving your customer experience. The result of creating a more unified customer experience: Your customers love you more, your employees are more engaged, and your business improves.

028. Cultivating Leadership Excellence: Collaboration, Communication, Change and Commitment (afternoon)

Instructor: Gail Alofsin

From the front lines to the C-Suite, “leadership” is a skill that you develop through the decisions and choices you make and influence every day, no matter what your position is in your company.

029. Make it a Process…Key Elements of Sales Management (afternoon)

Instructor: Joe Ellers

The role of sales management has changed over the past 25 years. The primary change is a shift from customer relationship management to the need for more focused, proactive sales efforts. In this workshop, Joe will address the core elements of effective sales management including a set of specific tools that can be implemented immediately: The Sales Planning Matrix; Product/Market Focus; Target Accounts (and Prospects); Calendar Management; Opportunity Management; and Joint Calls. Participants will be challenged to develop a draft sales plan, during the class setting.

Top

Wednesday,
March 13, 2024

030. Market Judo – The Secret to Success in B2B (morning)

Instructor: Steve Deist

In this workshop participants will learn a transformational approach for applying their existing understanding of customers to create compelling value propositions. We’ll connect the dots between these value props and sales, marketing, branding, and strategy.

031. Everyone’s in Sales – It’s Mindset and Culture! (morning)

Instructor: Todd Cohen, CSP

In today’s complex environment, the focus on acquisition, loyalty, and retention is critical. Customers see and feel dysfunction when doing business. They respond by finding organizations that demonstrate the ability to work together seamlessly – without conflict and partners who put them first.

032. Get the Meeting No One Else Can: Discovering the Right Opportunities & Decision Makers, at the Right Time, with the Right Message (morning)

Instructor: Sam Richter

In today's world, it's no longer enough to be interesting. To succeed in sales, you must be interested. What's important to the other person? How do your solutions align with their goals? What relevant value can you provide in every interaction that they care about?

033. Business Applications of AI for Distribution Businesses (morning)

Instructor: J. Michael Marks

This discussion is not about the hype and the ‘future,’ rather is provides a foundation on how this technology actually works and practical applications for industrial distributors. Participants will receive an extensive list of clickable research links to gain the knowledge and facts for making their own decisions.

034. Financial and Tax Planing For Privately Held Businesses (morning)

Instructor: Roman Basi and Dr. Bart Basi

This workshop will consist of financial and tax aspects to business decisions for privately held companies.

035. The People Productivity Equation: Strategic Recruiting and Hiring (morning)

Instructor: Kathryn Newton, Ph.D.

Employee wages and benefits represent a huge dollar investment for most employers, yet they rarely invest a commensurate amount of time and energy in selecting and retaining them. In this workshop, you will learn how to take a "systems" viewpoint of the organization, learn tools to identify productivity gaps in your firm, and evaluate changes needed in a pandemic-prone world.

036. Brain-Friendly Communication for the Salesperson (morning)

Instructor: Daniel McQuiston, Ph.D.

The field of sales has often been considered more art than science where successful salespeople developed their own brand of self-taught, trial-by-error, school of hard knocks approach. About the only thing salespeople could agree on was that perseverance was at the heart of sales success.

037. Leaders Are Not Born, They Are Built! (morning)

Instructor: Randy Disharoon

Participants will learn the four phases of Leadership & Professional Development: 1) Build Within – take a personal Leadership & Professional Development assessment and begin to assimilate the four keys to develop your capacity to lead yourself and others. 2) Build Around – employ the five keys to recruiting and retaining top talent and cultivate the power of communication. 3) Build Up – discover the seven steps to developing a winning culture and how to lead during times of change and/or crisis. 4) Build Outset a strategy to influence their industry and community and brainstorm ways to pass success on to the next generation of leaders.

038. Max Out Margins with Strategic Pricing (afternoon)

Instructor: Steve Deist

Better pricing is one of the fastest ways to put more money into the bottom line. But…pricing changes can be complex and risky. During this workshop, we will outline the steps to build a world-class pricing program that will grow profit while managing short- and long-term risk.

039. Stop Apologizing & Get What You Need, Want & Deserve (afternoon)

Instructor: Todd Cohen, CSP

We all need to sell to get what we need, want and deserve. Too many things stop us from selling—especially our inner “Sales Apologists” that tell us we should feel bad when we sell! In this workshop, Todd Cohen discusses how to defeat our Sales Apologists and delivers a lively and utterly practical guide that helps everyone sell themselves better.

040. Succession Planning & Estate Planning (Two Part Session) (afternoon)

Instructor: Roman Basi and Dr. Bart Basi

This afternoon session will be in two parts. The first half will present the need for all private companies to have a succession plan. During the second half, attendees will be split, with the younger individuals that wish to buy in or receive ownership of a company working with Roman, in a room separate from Bart; while the older individuals that wish to retire/transfer, or sell their business will work with Bart on issues that should be considered in their retirement and separation from their business.

041. Leveraging Big Data and Analytics in Distribution (afternoon)

Instructor: J. Michael Marks

Many distributors have invested and developed some big data capabilities but have failed to translate these efforts into commercial results. Participants will learn about the traps to avoid and how to prepare the organization to actually use the new insights. The session will provide several specific examples of what excellent looks like for a distributor.

042. The Noble Calling of Distribution (afternoon)

Instructor: Dirk Beveridge

In today’s complex, ever-changing environment, leaders are learning that the very nature of leadership is rapidly being redefined by the social, technological, and demographic forces creating new customer and employee expectations. Leaders must look beyond solely managing performance and productivity to focus on purpose and impact in this modern world.

Top

Thursday,
March 14, 2024

044. Labor Market and Talent Strategy (morning)

Instructor: Alex Chausovsky

This interactive session will cover key economic indicators and their impact on your company’s talent strategy, equipping decision makers with practical advice to navigate the evolving business landscape. Attendees with gain valuable expertise on crucial economic factors such as inflation, interest rates, labor market conditions, consumer spending, business investment, and supply chain developments. By exploring tactical strategies to enhance talent-oriented initiatives, businesses can position themselves for success in an increasingly complex labor market.

045. Leadership Skills for High Performing Teams (morning)

Instructor: Patty Leeper

Whether leading a company, a team or a project, excellent leaders tap into a style that is authentically theirs—they magnify the strengths and qualities that get great results and keep the ones that don’t in check. We will work together to: Identify what you want, magnify all the ways in which you kick-ass, and craft a plan to get you where you want to go, keeping you on track through the process.

046. Five Common People Management Mistakes & How Not to Make Them (morning)

Instructor: Claudia St. John, Ph.D

Even the best managers face challenges when navigating tricky people-issues at work. From hiring and onboarding new employees, to engaging, managing existing ones, to ultimately disciplining and separating with them, this session discusses the most common mistakes managers make and offers recommendations on how to avoid them.

047. Embrace It: Generative AI & Your Future: Transform Your Business, Your Communications, Your Job & Your Life (morning)

Instructor: Sam Richter

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning are nothing new. However, with the introduction of Generative AI programs like ChatGPT, Claude, Llama, and other large language models, for the first time in history, everyone has equal access to the knowledge and advanced technology that will transform business, communications, jobs, and everyday lives.

048. Customer Pricing & Profitability (morning)

Instructor: Colin Dees

In this workshop Colin will cover the concepts associated with a fresh assessment of current customer pricing setup and management structure including techniques in using relevant data for planning, controlling, and decision-making are taught.

049. Economic Update (morning)

Instructor: Alex Chausovsky

Please Join us as Alex Chausovsky, Institute for Trend Research, provides an Economic Update. Never has it been more critical for company leaders and key decision makers to have a clear, impartial, and data-driven perspective of how factors will impact our economic future, and what they should be thinking about in preparation for that future.

050. Get Traction on Your Goals (morning)

Instructor: Patty Leeper

Using simple approaches, this session will help keep you on track so that your intentions, actions and results are aligned. We put frameworks in place that provide oxygen for engagement, clarity, and alignment of purpose at every step along the way. This is the sweet spot for success!

051. Workplace Trends (Topical Pay, Labor, Workplace and Compliance Trends) (morning)

Instructor: Claudia St. John, Ph.D

It will come as no surprise that the labor market is excruciatingly tight. People continue to quit by the millions each month, silent quitting is on the rise, and hiring and keeping employees is a monumental challenge. Claudia St. John discusses the trends driving these labor market challenges and what you can do to prepare for future challenges.

052. The Path to Winning in the Age of Rapid Change (morning)

Instructor: Dirk Beveridge

Companies must acknowledge and honor the past, but the path to winning requires looking, learning, and strategically innovating forward. Market dynamics are changing how business is done, and leadership’s mindset, ambition, and propensity to innovate will determine the organization’s future relevancy.

053. Purchasing, Replenishment, & Advanced Inventory Management (morning)

Instructor: Colin Dees

In this workshop, Colin will cover advanced purchasing, replenishment, and inventory management methods including advanced demand forecasting, lead time management, order cycle analysis, and other key business analytics for key decision-making strategies.

054. THE UNSTOPPABLE YOU (morning)

Instructor: Alex Weber (New to UID)

Looking to elevate performance? You’re in the right place! Alex activates attendees to break through to their next level of achievement! A level that may seem daunting, discouraging, unrealistic, or flat out, impossible. Because there has never been a more pressure-filled time of comparison, distractions, and judgements than right now. This causes people to fall in the trap of underperforming, burnout, delaying goals, or not stepping up into opportunities all together! But Alex gives you his empowering, actionable, and positive steps to make your next-level goals happen! Alex shows you how to focus on your unique journey, harness your true potential, and channel your hidden strengths to be The Unstoppable YOU!

Top