The next Ceramic Tile Distributors Association (CTDA) webinar will be “Overcoming the Payroll Challenge” with Dr. Albert Bates, chairman, president and founder of the Profit Planning Group. The session is scheduled for Thursday, January 31 at 11am (CST).
What’s it all about?
Distributors are continually being asked to “take costs out of the system.” At the same time, most distributors run extremely efficient warehouse and trucking operations as well as cost-effective administrative networks. From a cost perspective there appears to be very little left to squeeze.
The effort to control payroll going forward will still rely heavily on improving productivity. However, it will take on two additional dimensions—changing the workload involved and getting paid for the services provided.
From a workload perspective the challenge is straightforward. Distributors process way too many small orders, have too many “special situations” and handle too many returns. The key to improvement is to begin to work with customers to influence their buying practices. This is much more of a sales issue than an operations problem.
With regard to services, distributors have continued to add important additional services for their customers. However, they have failed to adequately charge for those services. The result is a severe gross margin to expense problem.
The session will address both of these issues. The intent is to help firms bring their payroll costs into line so they are perceived as being more productive and also drive higher levels of profitability.
About Al Bates:
Al Bates, chairman and president, is the founder of the Profit Planning Group, a research and executive education firm headquartered in Boulder, Colo. The firm works exclusively in the area of corporate financial planning. He makes approximately 100 presentations each year on topics such as and provides strategic direction for the firm’s investigation into profitability research for over one hundred different trade associations, including CTDA. Bates has written extensively in both the professional and trade press, including the Harvard Business Review, the California Management Review and Business Horizons. In addition he writes the quarterly Profit Improvement Reports for the firm’s trade association clients.
Register now!
This webinar is open to anyone interested but is free for CTDA members thanks to a generous sponsorship from MAPEI. Visit www.ctdahome.org.