How To Make A Flywheel

Marker Dancer might sympathize better than anyone the different means that distributors navigated COVID-19.

Dancer, the CEO of Network for Business organization Innovation, spent much of the by yr speaking with dozens of companies about their pivots, their hurting points and the positives that might have emerged for some of them during the most meaning economical disruption of our lifetime.

Now he'south leveraging that time and those talks into helping more companies grow and prosper in the coming post-pandemic phase and across. From his conversations with distribution leaders, Dancer created what he calls a "B2B innovation flywheel for distribution."

He introduced this concept at MDM'south Hereafter of Distribution Summit, held nigh on Apr thirteen. Click hither for on-demand access to the Peak'due south presentations and panels.

Dancer, who is too a fellow with the National Clan of Wholesaler-Distributors, delivered a keynote address, "Pandemic Innovations and the Future of Distribution," designed to aid distributors act on the lessons learned across distribution during the last year of COVID-19.

His takeaway from the pandemic: While distributors are constantly looking at protecting their concern against exterior threats — and that remains important — they need to shift their mindset to helping their customers prosper.

"It's really a phone call to action for distributors," he said. "They should say, 'My best path to the future is not about defending my business — I have to practise that, I have to think about moats and I have to know that disruptors are coming later me — but my best path to the time to come is figuring out how my customers can to get to the future."

What comprises the flywheel?

Dancer began his Future of Distribution keynote address by noting that COVID-19 revealed three truths about this manufacture:

Distribution is a reservoir of resiliency
Distribution exists to solve issues
Distribution is at the center of commerce

The goal for the industry at present is to leverage the important roles that distributors played during the pandemic and ensure an even brighter future.

Here are Dancers' steps for creating a flywheel of innovation that volition keep your business model attuned to the irresolute mural.

1) The first pace is to recollect about the emerging big ideas that are happening to a distributor'southward business model. Has your company shifted from managing a portfolio of products and brands to managing a portfolio of customer experiences?

Very likely, and the focus at present should be less on how you sell more stuff to customers merely rather on how yous can improve their business — whether yous sell to welders, procurement managers, engineers, facility managers, plumbers, bakers or whatsoever industry or end market. "If you can practice that, information technology can align your culture, marshal your customer experiences and align your business model," Dancer said

2) The side by side step is to lean in. Dancer said distributors should find ways to "help customers without hesitation," including things like providing supply concatenation visibility, offering self-service options, enabling their workflow and other solutions.

"If y'all've developed digital capabilities around your website or digital marketing, acting on those with your customers can create benefit for your customers," Dancer said. "It's a petty bit different than selling. You be to solve problems. If a customer comes to y'all with a problem, what's your process for acting on that right away?"

3) The third footstep is to create pandemic nudges. This means a benefactor doesn't need to make sweeping changes to its concern model but instead should look at amplifying civilisation and working to "instigate" value rather than "add" value. This is a mindset that revolves around creating new value for your customers, Dancer said.

"There are a lot of questions near if the future of concern will modify benefactor strategies, the style they do business with their customers?" he said. "It'due south not most absolutely changing your business; information technology'due south more than about recognizing the changes and consciously nudging it a little bit."

4) The last step is focusing on human-first pattern. That means going out and asking your customers well-nigh how they are running their business organization differently during the pandemic and how they expect to run it afterward. While y'all may know some things most their business concern, Dancer "guarantees" that haven't told you everything. At present's the time to find out.

"We don't have to run our business the way the applied science overlords tell u.s. we should run our business organization," he said. "This is about not just blindly accepting best practices, whether that'southward artificial intelligence or CRM or ERP or your website. Human-commencement innovation is about recognizing the fact that being a existent-world company is not your weakness. The fact that you serve your customers where they alive and where they work is a benefactor'due south superpower."