News and Trends

• Home Depot to invest in business improvements
  Home Depot will invest $2.2 billion into improving its business this year despite low growth expectations. CEO Frank Blake told investors at the annual investors' conference that although 2007 will be "a difficult year," it's an opportunity for the company to focus on its priorities. The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.)/Associated Press (3/1)

• Home Depot to improve supply chain, IT: Home Depot plans to invest a total of $1.4 billion on logistics and technology over the next three years as a means to improve its supply chain and better position itself against the competition. The return on this investment could be significant, company executives said. ZDNet (2/28)

• Report: HD Supply may soon see offers: Three private-equity teams may be preparing bids for HD Supply, the Financial Times reports. The teams are rumored to include: Bain Capital, Carlyle Group and Clayton Dubilier & Rice; Thomas H. Lee Partners, Goldman Sachs and CCMP; and Blackstone, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Leonard Green Partners and Texas Pacific Group. Frank Blake, CEO of parent-company Home Depot, has said that a final decision to sell the wholesale distribution arm has not been made. Modern Distribution Management (3/1)

• Commentary: MRO business has the ability to integrate
  Airlines are scaling back their in-house maintenance capabilities, writes Ray Valeikia, an aviation adviser and retired senior vice president of technical operations at Delta Air Lines. He says the MRO business remains fragmented and that non-airline companies have not yet taken advantage of the opportunity "awaiting the first-to-market independent maintenance integrator." Overhaul & Maintenance (2/28)

• Other News

• McKesson sells $1 billion worth of notes in two parts, source says
  Reuters (2/28)

• Watsco increases quarterly dividend 32%
  Forbes/Associated Press (3/1)

	Cost Plus pricing - is your "Plus" enough? If your company's goal is to maximize profits, there is a simple and fast method to capitalize on Cost Plus pricing for better margin management. Operating profits can improve by 12%! Download the free whitepaper to learn more about profit-based pricing for your company.
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Best Practices

• Web site stats valuable to your business
  Keep track of your Web site's metrics -- statistical information about page views and link clicks -- to improve sales performance and customer satisfaction. The main goal of studying metrics is to increase the number of business transactions or objectives completed by your customers. CRM Daily (2/28)

• Work flex-schedule without falling off the career ladder
  There are many reasons for needing a flex-time schedule, to telecommute or to work part time, but that's no reason to put your career advancement on hold. Let employers see that your work is valuable and indispensable by giving the job your full attention while you're there and developing a specialization that no one else can match. CareerJournal (The Wall Street Journal) (2/28)

WHITE PAPER: Optimizing Business Processes To Increase Profitability. Are you trying to reduce the capital investment in stock across the supply chain and decrease overhead costs? Learn more about how you can optimize your logistics processes. Download this case study today.

Sales

• Include telecommuters in incentives, recognition
  Employee recognition should include those who work off-site as well as in the office. If you include telecommuting as a recruitment incentive, then you should reward those employees just as if they had on-site desks. An equal rewards package builds rapport and says, "'We haven't forgotten about you,'" advises a telecommuting consultant. Manage Smarter (3/1)

Hot Topics

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

• HD Supply's White Cap to buy GSI General Materials (Modern Distribution Management)

• Sysco announces new president, COO (American City Business Journals)

• Breakfast food combos that satisfy hunger may help control weight (Newswise)

• When discounts cost you (Selling Power)

• Industrial Distribution Group posts increased sales, profits (Modern Distribution Management)

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

Small Business Manager

• Evaluate customer experience to increase brand recognition
  You've already created a user-friendly Web site, got your name at the top of search engine lists and updated your CRM, so now is the time to address social media optimization: Create a blog, social-networking profile or podcast to engage new prospects and current clients in an open dialogue. CustomerThink (2/26)

Executive Life

• Study: Men should drink wine for longer life
  Drinking a small amount of wine every day can extend a man's life expectancy and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, a Dutch study found. MSNBC/Reuters (3/1)

• Airlines wave goodbye to paper tickets
  Travelers may soon see the end of paper tickets. The airline group that supplies paper tickets to non-U.S. carriers says it will discontinue the service at the end of this year. Meanwhile, most U.S. airlines have migrated to electronic tickets, and 96% of tickets issued by U.S. airlines are electronic. USA TODAY/Reuters (3/1)

NAW Insider

• Visa, MasterCard announce national processing rate changes
  Visa and MasterCard announced nationwide interchange rate increases effective April 2007. If you accept credit cards, these changes could significantly impact your bottom line. NAW has negotiated a deal through Solveras Payment Systems to lock in pre-increase rates if you enroll in the NAW/Solveras program before March 31. Visit the NAW/Solveras Web site, or call (800) 613-0148 for complete details. Some restrictions apply.

• Are you interested in driving higher margins?
  Price for Success: A Practical Guide for Improving Margins in Wholesale Distribution by the NAW Institute for Distribution Excellence provides strategies, tactics and case studies to help executives, sales managers and pricing managers build a pricing foundation for improved margin management and long-term profitability.

Weekly Poll

• Do you have employees that telecommute full time?
  After voting once, check out the real-time poll results on NAW's All Access page as often as you'd like.

	Yes, at least one employee works off-site all the time.
	No, everyone works in the office.
	Not yet, but a plan is in development.

Branch Manager Wilson Long Beach, CA Inside Sales Representative Wilson Long Beach, CA Director of Quality Summit Electric Supply Albuquerque, New Mexico corporate headquarters Corporate Purchasing Manager Crescent Electric Supply Co. East Dubuque, IL Marketing Analyst Industrial Electric Wire & Cable New Berlin Outside Sales Rep - Tampa, Florida HISCO, Inc. Tampa/Orlando, Florida Area Lean Implementation Leader and Administrator, Quality and Safety Werner Electric Supply Company Neenah, Wisconsin Inside Sales Professionals AcuSport Corporation TX, GA, PA and OH Assistant Category Manager AcuSport Corporation Bellefontaine,Ohio

SmartQuote

Those who flee temptation generally leave a forwarding address." --Lane Olinghouse, author