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It’s important to deal not only with today’s challenges and problems, but to be ready for tomorrow and the more distant future. The most effective distributors are likely to employ these tactics:
- Transparency. Employees, customers and suppliers should all know what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. In times of instability, building trust is the highest priority. That trust is maintained when transparency is a key tactic.
- Stress testing. A stress test measures your company’s resilience when subjected to unexpected shocks. A stress test shows where you stand with cash flow and steps you are taking to control costs. The exercise prepares your people to survive when additional unexpected events occur.
- Strategies to resist future shocks. Much of the writing about today’s situation suggests that there will be repetition of the challenges faced in 2020. How well prepared are you to handle those challenges when they arrive?
- Managing data. This includes the adoption of digital technology and elimination of paper. It includes the segmenting of customer data to refine methods used to communicate with clients.
- Superior inventory visibility. Since 2020, we’ve seen unprecedented hoarding practices that resulted in shortages. Do you have a system that will predict such events in the future?
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