News and Trends

• U.S. durable goods orders jump for September
  Orders for durable goods jumped 1% in September, per U.S. Commerce Department data, marking the fourth such increase in six months and providing more evidence that the economy is making a comeback. Not including transportation equipment, orders rose 0.9%. "The outlook for 2010 remains clouded, however, by fundamental issues in key drivers of sustainable demand," said Cliff Waldman, senior economist for the Manufacturers Alliance. Industrial Distribution (10/28) , Bloomberg (10/28)

• Manufacturers' outlook for 2010 has improved, survey shows
  A third-quarter survey found that 48% of industrial manufacturers in the U.S. are optimistic about the economy in 2010. That's up from 43% in the second quarter. However, 45% of the manufacturers participating in the PricewaterhouseCoopers survey do not expect their businesses to recover from the downturn until the second half of next year. Reuters (10/28)

• GDP's growth spurt likely to end as quickly as it arrived
  Many of the economists braced for a GDP announcement from the Bureau of Economic Analysts officially ending the U.S. recession weren't looking for a repeat performance in the next round of statistics that come at the end of this quarter. The return to growth was driven by a long list of government stimulus programs, not the "real" demand that expands to help a recovery sustain itself. The decline of commercial real estate is the next potential crisis that is likely to persuade banks to stick with their tight lending standards. Even highly profitable small businesses have a hard time getting loans. The Wall Street Journal (10/29)

• House approves expansion of SBA loan program
  The House on Thursday voted for the increase in small-business lending President Barack Obama called for a week ago. The bill raises the cap on how much money small firms can request from banks issuing Small Business Administration-backed loans and gives the SBA authority to become the lender of last resort if small firms are unable to get the capital they need from private lenders. Nasdaq.com/Dow Jones Newswires (10/29)

• Other News

• Light, sweet crude for December delivery dips below $78 a barrel
  The Wall Street Journal (10/29)

• Pool Corp. reports Q3 net loss of $9.32M
  RTT News (10/27)

• Ashland rebounds to Q4 profit of $98M
  The Wall Street Journal/Dow Jones Newswires (10/28)

• Arrow Electronics Q3 profit tumbles on weak sales
  Forbes/The Associated Press (10/28)

• Ohio State University receives $100K Cardinal Health Foundation grant
  American City Business Journals/Columbus, Ohio (10/28)

• PSS World posts record quarterly profit on H1N1 product sales
  American City Business Journals/Jacksonville, Fla. (10/28)

	2009 Mid–Year Economic Forecast for Wholesale Distributors Dr. Adam Fein, distribution industry expert, presents an exclusive report that helps executives to understand the changing dynamics in wholesale distribution. The report is a timely update and forecast for Wholesale Distributors. Click to download your complimentary report.
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Best Practices

• When the heat is on, support yields better results than pressure
  When the heat is on, the best leaders serve as cheerleaders who support their employees as opposed to coming down hard on them, per a new study. When under stress, employees are more likely to react to their leader's mood than to reflect on their message, and managers are therefore urged to think carefully about their emotional responses. Harvard Business Review (11/2009)

• Prune from the top to help all company levels flourish
  Pruning back plants in order to stimulate their growth offers a good lesson for the corporate setting, this article says. Leaders who keep tight control over a company's resources can wind up stunting the company's growth and limiting the potential of its workers, whereas a healthy pruning of power at the top of an organization can provide more accountability on down the chain. Forbes (10/26)

Sales

• Opportunity is the bottom line in lead-generation
  Marketers need to understand how to use analytics in order to generate the kinds of leads that will be useful. With most salespeople caring mainly about how many leads will become viable opportunities, cost-per-opportunity measurements are the most effective metrics to consider, this writer says. The Customer Collective (10/27)

	The Buzz(CORPORATE ANNOUNCEMENTS) Dave Kahle Seminar for Sales Managers in the Orlando area on December 3 & 4, 2009 Interested in learning more about advertising in NAW SmartBrief? Contact Henry Murphey at (202) 737-5500 ext. 245 or hmurphey@smartbrief.com

Hot Topics

Top five news stories selected by NAW SmartBrief readers in the past week.

• Successful selling in a downturn (The Customer Collective)

• Keep top performers motivated in tough times with the "four P's" (The Next Level Blog)

• Index of leading economic indicators up for 6th consecutive month (Bloomberg)

• Are you worried that the new pay rules aimed at Wall Street firms will eventually impact the salaries of wholesaler-distributors? (NAW News)

• Demonstrate to buyers that their purchases won't be forgotten (Sales & Marketing Management)

• Results based on number of times each story was clicked by readers.

Small Business Manager

• 11 killer management habits
  Small details can destroy a business, says New York Times blogger Jay Goltz, who outlines 11 of his favorite killer practices. Topping his list: Allowing extension cords that create fire hazards, failing to keep up with bill collecting and failing to train employees on how to interview job candidates. The New York Times/You're the Boss blog (10/27)

Featured Content

Executive Life

• Save the texting for the restroom, survey says
  If you must send text messages during holiday festivities this year, it's more polite to send your messages from the restroom, according to a survey on smartphone etiquette conducted by Harris Interactive. As for religious events and romantic evenings, a majority of survey respondents agreed you should save the texting for later. CIO.com (10/26)

• Travelocity announces lowest-price-matching deal
  Travelocity unveiled a policy today in which travelers will be refunded the difference if they find a lower rate for a hotel room than the one they paid through the booking service before the day they check in. Travelers finding a lower price than the one they found on Travelocity will also receive $50 toward future travel bookings on the site, through Dec. 31. The Wall Street Journal (10/28)

NAW Insider

• NAW Roundtables: Exclusive opportunities to network
  NAW's Billion Dollar Company CIO and HR Roundtables are unique and valuable business meetings that allow senior distribution executives to benchmark and meet with executives from other noncompeting billion dollar firms. Relationships and trust built during these events are conduits to learning from noncompeting peers and unique to this forum. See members of the group and join now.

• Drive your sales beyond and outperform your competition
  Brand new Driving Distributor Sales Beyond: Best Practices for Outselling Your Competitors provides a road map and best practices for how to take more from your market than it's prepared to give you by outstrategizing, outmanaging and outselling your competitors. Based on industry research and in-depth interviews with high-performing distributors, this book shows what separates those distributors that consistently outperform their competitors.

• Order Brent Grover's new book "Strategic Pricing for Distributors"
  For many distributors, gaining control over pricing is their last "unplowed field." Strategic Pricing for Distributors: Tools and Rules for Building Higher Margins is a combination of business novel and guidebook with real-world lessons for distribution managers. It takes you through a plan using market-driven pricing guidelines and tools for reaching and sustaining strategic pricing improvement -- and ultimately, increased profitability.

Weekly Poll

• How did the economy impact your personal Halloween spending this year?
  After voting once, check out the real-time poll results on NAW's All Access page as often as you'd like.

	I spent about as much as in years past.
	I spent less.
	I spent more.
	I never spend anything on Halloween.

Controller Robinson HR Consulting (search consultant for client) Wilmington NC

Editor's Note

• When does your company expect to resume hiring?
  Look out for the NAW SmartBrief Year-End Report on Dec. 8 and 15. The results of this poll will appear in Part 2 on Dec. 15.

	Q1 2010
	Q2 2010
	Q3 2010
	Q4 2010
	Not until 2011
	We never stopped hiring.

SmartQuote

A mind troubled by doubt cannot focus on the course to victory." --Arthur Golden, author, from "Memoirs of a Geisha"