News and Trends

• Conference Board: Leading indicators dipped for June
  The Conference Board's index of leading economic indicators dipped 0.2% for June, after a revised reading of a 0.5% gain for May. Until June, the index had climbed nearly every month since April 2009. "The indicators point to slower growth through the fall," Conference Board economist Ken Goldstein said. MarketWatch (7/22) , Google/The Associated Press (7/22)

• Other News

• Wesco International focuses on "lean" practices and sales per employee
  Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (7/23)

• Pool Corp. makes a splash with Q2 profit of $52.8M
  Bloomberg Businessweek/The Associated Press (7/22)

• Appeals court awards Foster Farms $10M in damages
  San Jose Mercury News (Calif.)/The Associated Press (7/22)

Nudge Your Customers Well-designed default options drive profits, simplify processes, enhance customer satisfaction, and reduce risk. Poor defaults leave money on the table, fuel consumer backlashes, and even trigger lawsuits. Based on a decade of research, this HBR article describes default options and suggest when to use each. Order here.

Best Practices

• 4 ways to discover and keep tabs on your leadership blind spots
  Much like cars, every leader has a blind spot -- behaviors of which he or she isn't aware but that everyone else can see. Dan McCarthy suggests making use of a 360 leadership assessment and taking advantage of a coach to help you find out what you might be missing. Great Leadership (7/22)

• 4 tenets of good leadership
  Effectively leading your team requires knowing and living your leadership style, and understanding your team members' wants and needs, Mike Figliuolo writes. He also says leaders should do the job they're asking their team to do and work to challenge, inspire and develop their workers. ThoughtLeaders blog (7/21)

AcceptPay Helps Businesses Invoice and Get Paid Faster Online invoicing with AcceptPay can help maintain healthy cash flow for your company. Download the American Express OPEN Insight Guide to learn how AcceptPay's electronic invoicing and direct payments can help simplify payment processes and make it easier for your customers to pay you.

Sales

• Why you should boost your sales and marketing efforts
  Environmental consulting company BLDI saw business increase 15% as many of its competitors lost as much as 30%. The secret: a focus on sales. "At BLDI, we know about sales and the benefits customers receive from consistent sales contacts. It's the daily focus and the daily follow up that makes the difference," BLDI President Joe Berlin said. DaveKahle.com/Kahle Way B2B Sales Blog (7/22)

Introducing Free BlackBerry® Enterprise Server Express The power behind the world-class BlackBerry experience is free. Now you can give proven & secure tools — like full email and calendar sync, and core business apps — to more employees without additional software and license costs. >> Learn More

Hot Topics

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

• 9 rules every business leader should live by(Inc.com)

• How to create a note-taking system for sales calls(DaveKahle.com)

• The best free smartphone apps(PC Magazine)

• 6 tips for managing workers who know more than you do(Harvard Business Review online)

• Can you define your company culture in 4 words or fewer?(ERE.net)

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

Small Business Manager

• Why cash is king in securing a small-business loan
  As the value of equipment and property declines, banks are requesting another form of collateral -- often cash -- for small-business loans. One business owner looking to expand recounts banks asking him to use all his business' assets as collateral, sign a personal guarantee and deposit cash in a bank account equal to the amount of the loan, conditions he says he can't afford. The Wall Street Journal (7/22)

Featured Content

Executive Life

• Are airline passengers getting ruder?
  Some industry-watchers and frequent fliers say the stress of modern air travel is causing an increase in rudeness among passengers. Experts offer a list of do's and don'ts to make the experience more pleasant for everyone. USA TODAY (7/22)

• Column: Stop pining for the "Golden Age" of air travel
  Politicians who talk of overturning airline deregulation may be harking back to a Golden Age of air travel that never actually existed, writes columnist Scott McCartney. Sure, there were spacious seats and sumptuous meals, but don't forget the unreliable equipment, high prices and limited service, he writes. "Truth is, the good old days weren't all that good, with air travel of the past romanticized and comfort and safety issues glossed over," McCartney adds. The Wall Street Journal (7/22)

NAW Insider

• Become Lean and Become More Profitable and More Effective
  Becoming lean in distribution is more important than ever in today's challenging economic market. Applying lean concepts makes sense because becoming lean means becoming a more effective distributor. And becoming lean will lead to higher profitability. "Lean Operations in Wholesale Distribution" focuses on the lucrative operations area and discusses steps distributors must take to design and manage a lean culture.

• Save up to 29% with FedEx
  NAW members can save up to 29% on select FedEx shipping services. Enroll now -- enter passcode [WDJFRJ].

• How to Become an Exceptional Distributor Sales Leader
  Distributor sales leaders: Shorten your learning curve, prevent costly mistakes and implement practices that will lead to exceptional performance. Sales leadership is more crucial to the survival of wholesale distribution companies today than ever before. In his new book, Dave Kahle shares years of practical, hands-on experience with answers to the 50 most crucial questions asked by distributor sales leaders.