2006 NBMDA Executive Management Conference
March 12-13, 2006
Omni Tucson National Golf Resort & Spa
Tucson, Arizona

Education

More to the Bottom Line: Customer Profitability Tools for Distributors - Brent Grover, Evergreen Consulting
Customer profitability tools are indispensable for distributors seeking to reach (or stay in) the “top quartile” of profitability. Brent will explain customer profitability analysis (CPA) in four steps (measuring customer operating profit; ranking customers; segmenting customers and focusing managers and sales reps on operating profit). High level discussion on using CPA to protect top customers, fixing loss situations, creating new services and developing sales and compensation policies will be featured. Brent will discuss the following topics:

  • How distributors must generate a superior return on investment in order to simply compete. Median performance is inadequate. Top quartile performance (the level of success of the top 25% of companies in the industry) is the only acceptable goal. To get there, you must measure and compare operating profit from all your customers. This can be easier and less expensive than you think. And the rewards can be dramatic.
  • How you can use profitability rankings to support customers offering the greatest profit potential and reduce or eliminate losses from the least-profitable ones. By focusing your attention on operating profit rather than gross profit, you can lay the foundation for a powerful new sales strategy.

Brent Grover takes you through the rationale and the how-to. It's a whole new way of looking at and serving your customers.

The Acquisitive Distributor: Acquisitions as a Growth Strategy for Distributors - Brent Grover, Evergreen Consulting
Acquisitions are a critical growth strategy for distributors and Brent Grover literally wrote the book on the process. Brent will explain the distributor acquisition process in four steps (strategy, negotiation, due diligence and integration). Case studies of what works and what doesn’t work will be featured. Grover will take a close look at distributor M&A in the U.S., asking and answering three big questions:

  • What is so unusual about buying a distribution business?
  • What are some of the special considerations when buying an owner-managed business?
  • Why do so many acquisitions of distributors fail to meet the buyers' expectations?

This presentation will help you grow your distribution businesses by better understanding how successful acquisitive distributors operate. And, frankly, if you are ready to sell your company, it will help you sell it better.

About BRENT GROVER - Brent Grover’s practice concentrates on management of distribution and manufacturing businesses and trade associations. He advises a diverse range of clients, mostly privately held, on strategy, ownership succession, planning, customer profitability analysis and management practices. He also facilitates mergers and acquisitions. Brent makes a powerful connection with executive-level audiences, as he owned and ran a high-profit large distribution business for over 20 years. Brent draws from his background as a CPA and consultant. Brent serves as director of several privately owned corporations and charitable organizations. He was educated at Northwestern University and Case Western Reserve University. Brent received the AICPA’s Elijah Watt Sells certificate for achieving statewide and national honors on the 1971 CPA examination. Brent was an instructor on the faculty of Case Weatherhead School of Management for five years and a consultant at a national firm for four years. Brent was with National Paper & Packaging Company for over 20 years, becoming President & CEO in 1990. He and his partner sold the business in 1999. Brent was Chairman of the National Paper Trade Association in 1993. He is the author of More to the Bottom Line (NAW, 2004) and The Acquisitive Distributor (NAW, 2005) as well as numerous articles in national publications. Brent was named a Distribution Research & Education Foundation (DREF) Fellow in 2005. Brent makes 20-30 presentations to corporate groups, trade associations and other organizations each year.

BUILDING PROFITS INTO TOMORROW - Alan Beaulieu, Institute for Trend Research
Interest rates are rising, but energy prices are lower. The stock market is doing well, but what about the housing industry? Is there a bubble? Is China unstoppable? Beaulieu will be presenting an analysis of the US economy that will address these issues and many more, including proposed tax changes and the future of our oil-based economy. Together we will get a view into the future and discuss how we can prosper in the years to come. The old adage certainly rings true; you can’t change the wind but you can certainly adjust the sails!

About Alan Beaulieu - Alan Beaulieu, as senior analyst, economist and a principle has been with the Institute for Trend Research (ITR) since 1990. Mr. Beaulieau has been consulting and advising companies throughout the US, Europe, and Japan on how to plan for an prosper through the business cycle. Mr. Beaulieu has been providing workshops and economic analysis seminars across the US to literally thousands of business owners and executives in the last 15 years.