AF&PA Announces New Government Affairs V.P.

WASHINGTON, DC – The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) is pleased to announce that Elizabeth VanDersarl has been named Vice President of AF&PA Government Affairs. Ms. VanDersarl will manage the Association’s advocacy efforts in Washington, DC, state capitals around the country, and international venues.

Ms. VanDersarl joined AF&PA in 2005 as a Director of Congressional Affairs handling energy, environment, and homeland security issues. Most recently, she served as Executive Director of Public Affairs where she was instrumental in streamlining AF&PA’s message development and communications.

Prior to her work at AF&PA, she managed a portfolio of regulatory issues at the Office of Management and Budget. She has also served as Counsel to former Ranking Senator Fred Thompson (R-TN) on the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, and was an assistant states attorney in Illinois.

AF&PA President & CEO Donna Harman said, “Elizabeth’s varied experience in the Administration, in Congress, and at AF&PA makes her an invaluable asset to our Government Affairs team.

“With an election in November and critical policy debates occurring in Washington, her in-depth knowledge of both government and the forest products industry will be essential.”

Ms. VanDersarl holds an undergraduate degree from Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, IN and a law degree from the University of Notre Dame.
For more information, contact Lauren Blosse, (202) 463-2467, lauren_blosse@afandpa.org.

SFI Inc. has released its 2007 progress report 

SFI Inc.: Making aDifference on the Ground shows the tremendous growth in the SFI program in 2007 and early 2008, demonstrating conservation organizations, companies, markets and consumers recognize SFI contributions in ensuring and promoting responsible forest management in North America and responsible procurement globally.

SMART Papers begins biomass-powered plant
HAMILTON, Ohio - A paper manufacturer in southwest Ohio is breaking ground on a $30 million generating plant it says will significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

SMART Papers is building the high-efficiency facility in Hamilton, about 25 miles northwest of Cincinnati. It will use biomass such as yard and industrial waste to generate electricity and steam to operate the paper mill.

The company expects to begin producing all of its own power when the plant comes on line next year, and will sell its excess production.

The company makes coated papers for magazines and brochures and other products for such things as stationery, greeting cards and gift wrap.

Source: Associated Press

NAWLA Wood Basics Course • September 8-11, 2008 • Corvallis, OR
Register Now!

NAWLA is returning to the Pacific Northwest this fall with the 37th NAWLA Wood Basics Course. This course is ideal for individuals who are new to the lumber and wood-related products industries. Modules on Forest Ecology and Silviculture, Dimension Lumber, Engineered Wood Products, Structural Panels, Lumber Manufacturing, Grading, Wood Alternatives, Marketing, Sales and Transportation & Logistics will be taught by 11 different instructors. And, there’s more …

The signature, off-site tours have been expanded to include a third excursion in the Willamette River Valley! Students will begin the week with a tour of nearby Starker Forest Lands & Education Center in Philomath. The tour includes a peek at a harvesting operation (off-trail), ¼- mile hike (on-trail), and species identification. For further information on Starker Forest Lands, please visit www.starkerforests.com

On Wednesday, students will journey to Eugene to see Zip-o-Log Mills – a “specialty timbers” sawmill that produces 100 percent Douglas Fir products, including 52-footers. For further information on Zip-o-Log Mills, please visit www.zipolog.com

A final tour of Rosboro in Springfield will afford students a first-hand look at three operations – sawmill, plywood plant and engineered wood plant – all at one location. For further information on Rosboro, please visit www.rosboro.com

For further information, please contact NAWLA at (847) 870-7470 or at (800) 527-8258. Visit www.nawla.org for the most up-to-date information.

NAWLA Traders Market®

Educational Opportunities You Won’t Want to Miss
NAWLA Traders Market® • November 6-8, 2008 • Chicago, IL

There is no better time than the present to invest in your business by educating your employees. Your NAWLA Traders Market® Committee and NAWLA Education Committee have teamed up to provide you with an exceptional networking, educational and business experience in 2008.

You will not want to miss 7 top-notch opportunities to improve your “bottom line.” An NFL celebrity; tour of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT); a University of British Columbia professor, experts in SFI® and FSC Chain-of-Custody (CoC) certification; U.S. and Canadian economists; and the signature NAWLA Magellan Club Program await you.

We’ve got it all in 2008! Check out our schedule “Snapshot.”

Schedule “Snapshot”

Reserve guestrooms at the Hyatt Regency Chicago On The Riverwalk by calling (312) 565-1234 or (888) 421-1442. Online reservations are available at www.nawlatradersmarket.com

Mark your calendar for future NAWLA Traders Markets® in Chicago, IL:
November 6-8, 2008 • November 5-7, 2009 • November 4-6, 2010

Welcome to the following new NAWLA members for the month of July:

Wholesale Branch Location
Mark Drone
Forest Products Supply Co.
2101 South 88th Street            
Kansas City, KS  66111
Phone: 913-441-7070

Wholesale Branch Location
Guy, McGillivray
Forest Products Supply Co.
701 South Spencer St
Newton, KS  67144
Phone: 800-362-2872

Mike Sloggett is the new General Manager of the All-Coast Forest Products’ Denver Division.  Mike has been with the company for 24 years and is experienced in all facets of the business.

Jerry Sawyer is the new Sales Manager of the All-Coast Forest Products’ Denver Division.  Jerry has 30 years experience in all areas of the lumber Industry.  

All-Coast Forest Products, Inc. has received FSC chain of custody certification for its distribution centers in Chino, CA. Cloverdale, CA., Englewood, CO.’ and Salt Lake City, UT.

Capital Lumber Company welcomes Offielda Hansch, Account Manager for its Tacoma Division. Offielda brings 18 years of industry experience, most recently with Custom Architectural Products.
Capital Lumber Company welcomes Ray Brown as Natinal Account Manager out of its corporate offices in Phoenix, AZ. Ray brings 19 years of industry experience, most recently as Sales Manager for Allweather Wood.

Cedar Valley Mfg. is pleased to announce their recent association with Frank Grynkiewicz, of Grynkiewicz & Associates.  Frank will promote sales of their Western Red Cedar shingle panel siding system in the Northeast territory. 

Major Idaho Lumber Companies Merge

(Coeur d’Alene, Idaho): Bennett Forest Industries and Riley Creek Lumber are pleased to announce the merger of their lumber companies.  This merger will be completed September 1, 2008.  The combined company will operate four Idaho based lumber manufacturing facilities located in Chilco, Grangeville, Laclede, and Moyie Springs.

Both Riley Creek and Bennett Forest Industries are long-time family owned and operated companies focused on serving their customers and employees, investing in their facilities, and remaining committed to their forest products heritage.  “The common core values and mission both companies share make this merger a unique opportunity for building a strong lumber franchise which is better positioned for providing a higher level of service to our customers and employees,” said Scott Atkinson.  Atkinson has been named President of the combined company.

Marc Brinkmeyer, owner of Riley Creek Lumber, will guide the new organization as Chairman of the Board.  “This merger is the culmination of decades of effort from the Bennett and Brinkmeyer families-one company will now carry on our great traditions as we take better advantage of our combined manufacturing and marketing capabilities.”

“We have been in the lumber business for the past five decades and although current operating conditions are about as tough as I have ever experienced, the opportunities in front of our combined companies have me as excited about our future as I can remember,”  said Dick Bennett, owner of Bennett Forest Industries.  Bennett will serve the company as a Director and continue providing the company with his industry knowledge and wisdom.

80 years young...

            The year was 1956.....
            Dwight D Eisenhower was the President of the United States.
            James "Big Jim" Folsom was the Governor of Alabama
            J. V "Ears" Whitworth was the head coach at The University of Alabama
            Ralph "Shug" Jordan was the head coach at Auburn University
            Alabama's record was 2-7-1
            Auburn's record was 7-3 with a win over Alabama 34-7
            And finally, our chairman, my father, Don Fisher began his career with Stringfellow Lumber Company.
            Now 2008, almost 52 years after my mother dropped him off in front of the old 3rd Ave No. building, my father is going to retire.  Well, retire might be a stretch.  Really, he is going to scale way back, move his office to the other side of the hall and be something of a consultant.  It is my hope that he and Sue will spend the next many years at the beach or lake soaking up the rays and enjoying the fruits of his labor.  That would be my hope.  My expectation is that we'll see him a fair amount and he will be available for consultation and advice and that will be wonderful. 

            Rob will be assuming, with Dawn's help, most all of the credit issues.  You all know Rob and I know you'll agree that he is up for the job.  Paul's duties as Assistant Controller will grow and our accounting will remain in excellent hands. 

            I suppose I could go on and on about what dad has meant to this company, but I think that we all know.  But what most of you can't know is what it has meant to me.  I don't know another man my age who has been fortunate enough to work side by side with their father and never want it to end.  Many of my friends have had unpleasant professional carriers with their parent, many ending ugly.  Not me.  Well, it's not ending; it's just progressing the way it should. 

            By: Bill Fisher, Stringfellow Lumber, Birmingham, AL

High Fuel Prices, Sluggish Economy Ease Trucker Shortage
ALBANY, N.Y. - Bob Lingyak's job is a lot easier these days.
As head of recruiting at trucking company Gypsum Express, for years Lingyak had to take what he could get when it came to long-haul drivers amid a shortage of workers qualified to handle the big rigs - and willing to spend weeks on the road.
But as the cost of diesel fuel soars and the economy slows, hundreds of small to mid-sized trucking outfits are folding - leaving legions of trained drivers looking for work.
"It's turned around quite a bit," Lingyak said. "It used to be the drivers who could pick and choose. Now we can pick and choose."
Trucking companies have long lamented what they say has been a chronic shortage of long-haul - or over-the-road - drivers. A 2005 analysis by Global Insight estimated that by 2014 the industry will fall about 111,000 drivers short of the 1.7 million expected to be needed to keep the nation's long-haul freight moving.
Analysts blame an aging driver work force and difficulty attracting people to take on a job that requires them to be away from home for long stretches. The core demographic group that provides more than half of big-rig drivers - middle-aged white men - also is shrinking, compounding the problem over the long term.
But in the short term, the labor crunch appears to have eased.
Soaring diesel prices - which nationally are averaging $4.69 a gallon compared with $2.79 last year - and increased price competition among trucking companies are running thousands of the nation's 18-wheelers off the road.
These days it costs upward of $1,100 to fill up a big rig with a pair of tanks that hold 250 gallons. That's up from about $700 last year.
Truckers have protested rising fuel prices at the U.S. Capitol and elsewhere, urging Congress to end large oil company subsidies and release fuel from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, among other things.
Although truckers can recoup much of the higher fuel costs through surcharges that are adjusted as diesel prices rise and fall, sharply rising prices can cause serious cash flow problems for some, said Donald Broughton, transportation industry analyst at the investment firm Avondale Partners.
Carriers typically aren't paid for their deliveries until well after they're made, leaving the trucking companies - or individual owner-operators - carrying hefty out-of-pocket expenses for six weeks or more, Broughton said.
During the first three months of this year, 935 trucking companies filed for bankruptcy, according to Avondale Partners research. That's the highest failure rate seen since the economic slump of the early 2000s, Broughton said.
Broughton estimates that more than 42,000 long-haul trucks - roughly 2 percent of the nation's fleet of about 2 million - were idled during the quarter.
The large number of long-haul trucks that have been taken off the road is only one part of what's making it easier for long-haul trucking companies to find drivers. A softening economy with fewer jobs in construction and other industries that truckers might work in also is helping, Broughton said.
"There's a segment of the blue-collar population that sees driving a truck over the road as a last resort," he said.
For companies like Gypsum - which operates 560 trucks from its base in central New York and has terminals in seven states - the suddenly deeper labor pool has enabled managers to be more selective when it comes to hiring new drivers and to more closely scrutinize those who are already on board.
"I'm not just looking for steering-wheel holders any more," Lingyak said.
Instead, the company is looking for seasoned drivers who understand the mechanics of big trucks and can drive them in a fuel-efficient way.
"If we have one driver that makes six miles a gallon and another that makes three, we're going to give it to the driver that makes six," he said.
Steve Wadhams - co-owner of Wadhams Enterprises in Baldwinsville, N.Y. - said his outfit had been running eight or nine drivers short in its 100-truck long-haul fleet, but it cut 15 trucks from that division in April and ended up letting some drivers go.
"We've had less pressure as far as driver recruiting goes," Wadhams said. "The economy falling off has really made a lot more drivers available."
Though the current economic climate has helped narrow the gap, it hasn't solved the driver shortage problem, said Rob Reich, vice president of driver recruiting at Schneider National, a Green Bay, Wis.-based trucking company that employs some 15,000 drivers.
Although it has been easier to hire drivers lately, the company's turnover rate remains at around 60 percent, Reich said.
To keep their trucks rolling, Schneider and other large trucking companies offer training programs for new drivers. Lately, though, Schneider has been filling its seats with more drivers who already have a year or more experience behind the wheel, Reich said.
"In the past 12 months, we've seen the number of experienced drivers hired surge," he said. "It's gone from 40 or 50 a week to about triple that."
Kelly Anderson, a consultant who advises trucking companies on how to attract drivers, said many have shifted their focus away from recruitment.
"There isn't what I'd call a driver glut, but right now a lot of the carriers aren't having to look at recruiting real hard because many are reducing the size of their fleets," he said.
Despite the recent rise in the number of available drivers, the trucking industry is still facing a long-term challenge when it comes to keeping qualified drivers behind the wheels of big rigs, said Bob Costello, chief economist for the American Trucking Associations, an industry trade group whose members include FedEx Corp., UPS Inc. and Con-way Inc.
There are always going to be ebbs and flows, but the underlying trends that have caused the labor crunch in recent years are unchanged, he said.
"The demographics are still working against us, and when freight volumes pick up (the problem) is going to come back with a vengeance," he said.
Source: Associated Press / Daily Herald

Consumers are acutely aware of the pain they feel every time they pull up to the gas pump these days.
Less obvious, but equally painful, is the effect of fuel costs on the price of almost everything, including the companies that ship, receive or transport freight.
"We've seen a reduction in the number of loads being shipped, mostly because people are trying to optimize shipments and waiting a few days until they have a full load to send," said Harry Conway with Pratt Industries, formerly Love Box, in Wichita. "They're trying to get the most for their money."
Few companies have been hit as hard as those that haul freight.
Nationwide, the trucking industry lost 935 trucking companies with at least five trucks during the first quarter of 2008, the largest number of trucking-related business failures since the third quarter of 2001, according to statistics from the American Trucking Association.
The effect of fuel prices is felt on almost all goods and services. Trucks haul 70 percent of all the freight tonnage in the U.S., and 80 percent of the communities in America receive all their goods -- food to housewares to clothing to raw materials -- on trucks, meaning fuel prices have an effect on the cost of almost everything.
The more times goods are transported, the greater the effect.
Food, for example, moves as raw material from the farm to elevators to processing plants to packaging plants to wholesale distribution warehouses to supermarkets and finally to homes or restaurants. Some items travel thousands of miles from the point where they are grown to the point where they are consumed.

Moving to rail
One option helping long-haul shippers is using rail rather than truck.
Trains are far more energy-efficient than trucks when goods have to travel long distances. Railroads can carry a ton of freight 436 miles on one gallon of fuel, said Steve Forsberg, a spokesman for Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad, and a rail car can carry four times its gross weight in payload.
For manufacturers of goods, railroad containers and trailer loads of freight on the railroad are gaining an increasing share of business.
"Even before the latest increase in fuel prices, we were seeing a shift from all highway moves to more and more long-distance moves by train," Forsberg said.
"Our biggest single customer is not an electric utility or a grain company. It is a trucking company. Four of our largest 10 customers are shippers of trucks, trailers and containers."
Forsberg said the torrid pace of growth of the last two years has slowed.
"The volume of intermodal freight has gone down slightly because of the problems in the economy, especially the housing industry," he said. "There are fewer loads of building materials being shipped."
Rail is especially attractive for long-distance shipments. The traditional standard for when shippers begin to look at rail as more economical has been 750 miles. Forsberg says that distance is likely to shrink.
"Trucking companies also have look at wear and tear on trucks and trailers as well as the expense of fuel," he said. "The price of things like tires is also going up. I wouldn't be surprised to see shippers start re-evaluating the distance that makes sense for their operation.
"A train may consume thousands of gallons of fuel on a transcontinental run. But it's hauling millions of tons of freight."
Locomotives are also the ultimate "hybrid" vehicle, burning diesel to turn a turbine that generates the electricity that actually moves the train.
Forsberg said the prospect of continued demand for rail freight is promising, but the state of the infrastructure is a pending challenge.
"The nation is at a critical crossroads in terms of all infrastructure, and that includes railroads," he said. "We have basically consumed most of the excess capacity that our ancestors had built for us."
Reach P.J. Griekspoor at 316-268-6660 or pgriekspoor@wichitaeagle.com.

Source: Phyllis Jacobs Griekspoor, The Wichita Eagle

DuPont gets the decision in rail rate dispute

Score one for the captive shippers. The Surface Transportation Board issued a decision yesterday ordering railroad provider CSX to reduce the rates it was charging chemicals maker DuPont in six different lanes.
The case considered the level of competition between rail and truck in the six lanes and STB determined that: “Although trucks are used occasionally to move the plastic powder between this origin and destination, the record evidence leads us to conclude that trucking does not provide effective competition for this movement.”
According to the STB, the rate reductions will vary by route, but range from approximately 5-40% of the challenged rates. DuPont will be entitled to reparations and reduced rates totaling up to $1 million per case, or a total of up to $3 million over a five-year period.
“Freight-rail customers can rest assured that the Board will take effective action to strike down unreasonably high rail rates,” STB Chairman Charles D. Nottingham said in a statement.
JPMorgan analyst Thomas Wadewitz told the Associated Press that the ruling leaves the door open for other rate challenges against North American railroads, most notably Union Pacific, which he says has the biggest concentration of captive shippers.
To view the STB’s decision, CLICK HERE.

By Dave Hannon – Purchasing, 7/1/2008

Visit www.purchasing.com

Resets Peaking on Subprime Loans

The number of home owners facing an increase in their subprime adjustable-rate mortgage payments will peak this summer, testing the efforts of lenders and others to keep those people out of foreclosure and stabilize the housing market. The timing reflects the height of subprime lending in the summer of 2005 and 2006, when many borrowers secured loans scheduled to adjust in two or three years.

For many, an adjustment means their interest rate will go up two to three percentage points. “The next six months, the industry, all of the folks that are out there trying to solve this problem, they are going to be very busy,” said Mark Fleming, chief economist for First American CoreLogic, a California research firm. “There are a lot of people facing their resets right now. A good share of them don’t have the refinance option.” Nationally, the number of subprime ARMs resetting peaked at 7.61% of the loans outstanding last month, according to data from CoreLogic.

More than 300,000 such loans will adjust this summer. CoreLogic’s data covers about 80% of the mortgage market. ARMs facing resets drop off significantly early next year. By January, only 4.8% of subprime loans will face resets and by May that will fall to 1.94%.

Source: Washington Post (7/1/08); Renae Merle
www.washingtonpost.com

Mortgage Rates Creeping Upward
With mortgage interest rates creeping back up, the wobbly real estate market could be losing one of its last pillars of support, and some experts say they are worried that rising rates threaten to prolong the housing crisis. The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage edged up to 6.45% last week, according to Freddie Mac, compared with 5.48% in January. “For months, the only thing the housing market had going for it was that mortgage rates were low,” says Grey McBride, senior financial analyst at Bankrate.com. “With them going up to 6.5%, it’s like getting kicked when you’re down.” “In the next three months, I’d see rates rising only slightly, because the concern of inflation is already factored in to where they sit today,” says Cameron Findlay, chief economist at LendingTree.

But in the next six months, Findlay cautions, rates could rise rapidly. “If we don’t have inflation under control by then, and there are still signs of inflation — the dollar’s continuing to be eroded, oil prices are still high — rates are going to be rising faster.” Still, Findlay and other experts suggest that home prices and credit availability will have more pull in drawing in buyers than mortgage rates will. Historically, he notes, even 7% is a relatively low rate.

Source: USA Today, Anna Bahney
(www.usatoday.com)

Fed Planning New Rules for Mortgage Lending
At the FDIC Forum on Mortgage Lending this week, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the central bank will issue new rules next week designed to protect future homebuyers from dubious lending practices. Bernanke said the Fed will adopt rules that crack down on shady lending practices that have hurt many of the nation's riskiest "subprime" borrowers, those with poor credit or low incomes, and contributed to the housing and credit crises. The plan, which will be voted on at a Fed board meeting on Monday, would apply to new loans made by thousands of lenders of all types, including banks and brokers.
Under the proposal unveiled last December, the new rules would restrict lenders from penalizing risky borrowers who pay loans off early. It would also require lenders to make sure these borrowers set aside money to pay for taxes and insurance and bar lenders from making loans without proof of a borrower's income. It also would prohibit lending without considering a borrower's ability to repay a home loan from sources other than the home's value.
Manufacturing and Construction Jobs Draining
Manufacturing and Construction companies continued to lay off workers at a rapid clip in June, according to the labor department. The manufacturing sector let go of 33,000 workers last month, for a total of 353,000 job losses in the past year. Construction companies cut 43,000 jobs in June.

Overview of the BC Wood Products Industry & Export Trends

Information available from International Wood Markets Group, Inc. on Current Business and Future Opportunities and Outlook to 2020. Click here Overview of the BC Wood Products Industry & Export Trends By ...

Source:
The New York Times
By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN
Published: June 25, 2008
Robert Pear contributed reporting.

AIA Releases Study of Three Green Building Rating Systems

Report Examines Green Globes, LEED NC 2.2, and SBTool 07 in Relation to AIA Position Statement on Green Rating Systems
Click here for Article…http://www.aia.org/press2_template.cfm?pagename=release_050808_greenrating
 (Please note that NAWLA has no way of assessing the accuracy of their comparative analysis but it is important that our members selling in to the retail and large commercial construction markets are aware this is going on.)

The Greening of America

By Brian Donahue, BusinessFacilities.com

Click here for more    http://www.businessfacilities.com/bf_08_06_cover1.php

Six Steps for Surviving a Down Economy
Often, the problem of selling in a down economy isn't so much that pipelines are empty, it's that prospects reach decision time and become paralyzed with worry. Are they taking too great a risk in light of market conditions? Will they realize value from their investment? Might they find a cheaper alternative elsewhere? Besieged by doubt, they put off the decision, forcing reps to come home empty-handed again and again.

It's a tough reality, but that doesn't mean there's nothing you can do about it. On the contrary, there are six tangible steps you can take to offset the challenges of selling in today's economy, say Robert Kear and Andrew Plunkett, CMO and director of solution marketing, respectively, of Sales Performance International. In a recent Webinar, "Selling in a Down Economy: Six Strategies for Success," Kear and Plunkett examined each of the six steps for successful selling in today’s tough business climate.

1. Sharpen your targeting. Companies that understand their ideal customer profiles and focus on prospects that match these profiles achieve 20 percent higher quota attainment, says Kear. Spend time looking at customers who have been very profitable for you. Determine the criteria for accounts that are an ideal match in terms of their problems and your solutions, and hone in on these prospects. Resist the urge to retreat to your cash cows and do account management when times are tough. "We see reps relying too much on this strategy, even when those accounts have little additional business potential," observes Kear. Instead, seek out high business potential accounts that fit your ideal customer profile and pursue them.
2. Sharpen your messaging. It's a challenge even in the best of times – once you've gained access to an executive, what do you say to him or her? Even in good times, 90 percent of salespeople don't position value effectively and up to 80 percent of marketing materials go unused because they aren't what reps need to make a sale. In tough times, this problem is exacerbated, says Plunkett. Make sure your materials are problem oriented and distilled down so reps can have meaningful conversations. "We know if you have problem oriented messaging delivered to the right person at the right time, you'll move forward in the sales process," says Plunkett.
3. Get credit for the value you've delivered. A paltry 5 percent of sales people go back to their customers and get credit for the value they've delivered. As a result, most initial value propositions are very generic. Yet, the more specific you can make your value proposition, the more successful you'll be. That’s why Kear and Plunkett urge reps to go back to their customers and document value. From that effort, you'll get reference stories, detailed numbers, and other specifics that will help you create a compelling value proposition for your new prospects.
4. Create some urgency. Sales reps who help their prospects create the criteria for solving their problems win 85 to 92 percent of the time; those who simply respond to RFPs win only 8 to 15 percent of the time. "We need more salespeople in this down economy to move people from a latent to an active state," says Kear. Help your prospects see the impact of their problems – in terms of cost, time, staffing, etc. – and then help them craft RFPs to solve them and your chances of winning skyrocket.
5. Sharpen your competitive tactics. In slow times, buyers are more willing to overlook relationships with sellers and ask themselves, Can we get it cheaper somewhere else? You'll be able to defend against this trend if you've been rigorous in defining your competitive differentiators. Jettison your generic laundry list of features and advantages and approach each prospect with customized specifics – which product advantages are most desirable for each customer?
6. Leverage existing relationships. Kear and Plunkett acknowledge they sound contradictory: in strategy #1 they warn against relying on your cash cows; in strategy #6, they recommend going back to them. Here's the difference: you should go back to your existing customers if you've done your homework and discovered a match between a problem they are experiencing and a capability you provide. Here's how: Take a sheet of paper and across the top write down all the capabilities you provide. Down the side, write down the high priority pains your customer is experiencing. Now cross out all the pains you have already solved and whatever is left is an opportunity. If there's one there, by all means pick up the phone.

Source: Selling Power, Sales Management Newsletter
To Subscribe to Selling Power, visit SellingPower.com
Selling Power offers corporate subscription rates.

Use the Internet for Untold Search Riches

There are scores of riches available out there in B2B search marketing, if you're just willing to search for it. The number of vertical search options for B2B marketers is steadily moving up, reflecting the amount of B2B online activity in general. While most marketers still focus mainly on Google, Yahoo and Microsoft, there's a world of riches awaiting those who broaden their own search horizons. Among the sites include:
Business.com. This one is far and away the leading general B2B search engine and directory, with six million unique visitors per month. Update of note: In March, Business.com launched Channels, adding two vertical search portals (Money and Technology) to its general search capabilities.
Jayde.com. While several times smaller in traffic than Business.com, this may still worth checking out. Many of the search results on Jayde have company profiles with links to internal Web pages, similar to Google's site links.
Zibb.com. Although it's the smallest of the three general B2B search engines listed here, Zibb is growing.
Companies with a global focus may also want to check out: Alibaba (27 million members in 200 countries); Made-In-China; and TooToo.
Expand your search marketing horizons. There are a wide range of more specialized search sites out there that could help you target the perfect audience.
Source: Search Engine Land. Read the full article here.

Lean Operations in Wholesale Distribution

NAW Institute for Distribution Excellence is pleased to announce a brand-new book: Lean Operations in Wholesale Distribution.
Go to www.naw.org/leanops for more information or call 202.872.0885. Quantity discounts apply when ordering two or more copies.
This book will be of interest to every wholesale distributor.