THE WHOLESALER® —APRIL 2011• It’s yourASA!
would also. in closing, you know it is always a
good thing when everyone agrees with your thoughts or plans or be- liefs, but i don’t expect that at all, and especially on the issues i have cov- ered in this article. if everyone agreed with me, i most likely wouldn’t be addressing it here, would i? What i will ask of each of you
reading this — and especially if you are a business owner, or in executive management of a company, or in line
“ASA provides our company significant bene- fits that is not available in other groups in the area of bench- marking, advo- cacy
and education. The
data I get in my monthly reports is extremely current and allows me to benchmark my locations with our specific markets. This al- lows us to make management decisions on how to best attack the market. Educationally, the materials are complete and again focused on the needs of our com- pany, not of just management in general. Finally, we have a voice in Washington, D.C. that is talking the needs of the PHCP distribu- tor. Some groups are for distribu- tion in general or small business, etc., and not really interested in things like the Water Act, Energy Star, whower valve regulations, etc. This is the role ASA and they do it extremely well. We also support our buying/
marketing group (Affiliated Dis- tributors) where we find value in the incentives, vendor relation- ships and our network meetings where we exchange specific company management ideas.” — Joe Poehling, Chairman, First Supply Group
for future ownership of a business, etc. — take some time and stop to re- view with your team what your com- pany needs now and for the future to grow and compete and stay focused on the market, etc. Where will it be five years from now, 10 years from now, etc. if you are one that is in- volved currently in AsA and a buying group also, the industry is pleased, and would ask you to share all the reasons you are with maybe a mem- ber of your group that is not. if you are a member of one and not
the other, try to find out from some- one why they spend the money to be members of both. there have got to be positive reasons why, know what
MARTIN’S CORNER
i mean? if you are in leadership of a national company and have member- ship, the industry thanks you as well. i’d ask you to try to find a way to get more of your field locations or to allow your field locations to partici- pate. if you are in the field for a na- tional company and want to be involved in AsA, express that interest to your management. Finally, if you are the executive
head of a buying/market group and have membership in AsA, i’d ask you to try to find a way to have all your member/owners become active members of AsA also. if you are a member of AsA, but your group is not, talk to the executive of the group about “why not.” What about the vendors in this
equation? do not worry about ven- dors. You know those guys — they go wherever their customers go; you know that, just looking for orders and market share growth! no big deal, huh? Yes it is a big deal really! My company has been in the indus-
try and related associations since all have been in existence, and no matter how tough things get, it has always been the feeling and a reality that for us to not attend and support an AsA meeting or the old Central supply As- sociation meeting would just not be right. the independent wholesaler in the beginning is what helped make us what we are today — and we feel the need to always give back. We do the same with groups and
with the national companies, but we feel it is a must to support industry associations. We do the same with the contractor associations as well. You know the big difference between them and the wholesaler associa- tions? i just attended the MCAA An- nual Convention in, of all places, Maui! there were a total of just under 2,000 people registered. this is a combination of union mechanical and plumbing contractors, service compa- nies, vendors, etc. it would be hard for you to find a handfull (if that many) of union contractors in the U.s. that did not attend. Why? it is important to them to
find out what is new— to seek out peers and management of larger com- panies to see what they do about labor issues, new ideas and methods of construction, the green movement, new vendor products, education, ad- vocacy, student chapter new hires, etc., etc. they are all open when they talk of work, labor cost, back log, etc. they share information to help make their companies better. i know it is different. i know the MCAA members are contractors and you are wholesalers. some whole- salers are in attendance at the MCAA as well to promote more business
with maybe their larger customers and look for a couple more while they are there. Having said that, and with due respect, these companies all work together and talk about progress and process, but when several whole- salers get together in a convention room, they tend to close up or with- hold valuable opinions and learning tools about industry needs, because one or more of them may compete in a given market. i know there are cer- tain things you don’t or can’t talk about, but just from an education point of view, i’d prefer an educated competitor over one that is not, wouldn’t you? Being with a national company
(wholesaler or vendor) or being a member/owner of a buying group certainly has advantages, but most all of them are instinctively catering to and addressing issues that only a member company or the group and its management should address. Being a member of AsA gives you
open education opportunities, advo- cacy, peer group open discussion from across the country, industry vendor contact, benchmarking, full-
I’d prefer an educated competitor over one that is not, wouldn’t you?
blown networking and much more — plus a connection to everything in- dustry related that you may desire. national companies, in my opin-
ion, you also need all of this. And your field locations most likely would gain a lot from the education and networking. that’s it, my friends. i’ll most
likely be speaking for all the vendors you currently have when i say we support you — all of you, no matter which direction you take. More ven-
•75
“ASA and the ASA Education Foundation certainly bring value to A-D members. One key area is through the ASA education and training programs that our mem- bers use throughout their organi- zations. Several years ago, our Plumbing & PVF Divisions coor- dinated a mutual effort with ASA to highlight and encourage the use of those ASA educational re- sources. As an ongoing incentive, through our own internal Market- ing programs, we continue to pro- vide additional benefits to our members who take advantage of those ASA resources. We also view the ASA meetings as a very good industry networking oppor- tunity that certainly provides ad- ditional learning opportunities as well as social time for building business relationships.” Gary Jackson, VP-PVF Division, Affiliated Distributors
dors will be at AsA if you are, and that’s a fact. it would be a personal victory for
me if everyone stopped what they were doing and started the paperwork to become a member of AsA. But as they say in texas, “that ain’t gonna happen!” i realize that, but i just ask that you give it more thought and talk to a few folks about it. Call the AsA office and tell them you want to speak to someone about membership. You’ll get someone quick. Call me, and i’ll get someone for you. same way with any industry question, call me and i’ll help and support you. Gotta go for now! thanks for read-
ing and hope to hear from you on some of these points. Remember: “it is your industry — use it to Your Ad- vantage and to the industry’s Advan- tage! support, support!”
Attention ReAdeRs: i thought it would be fun to start adding a monthly “Wine tip” for you all to enjoy or think about as i end each Martin’s Corner article. Let’s start today for the month of April 2011. Please note: did you know that in the United states, a bottle of wine can be called and
Got wine?
labeled by a specific grape’s name only if that grape makes up at least 75% of the bottle. it can be 100% of the specific grape, but indeed must be a min- imum of 75%! Beyond this 75%, other red varietals may be used as fillers to finish the production. on the other side of the “wine coin,” a bottle of blended red wine does not mean it is sub-standard by any means. it is a fact that blending wines is a time-honored tradition. Cabernet sauvignon, merlot and cabernet franc have been blended for hundreds of years by the French into what is called a Bordeaux blend. during the 1980s, a very interesting blend came out of napa Valley, Calif., by the name of “Meritage.” to be called and labeled “Meritage,” it must contain juice from the varietals caber- net sauvignon, cabernet franc, merlot, petit verdot, malbec or gros verdot! the end game for me is a great bottle of “Meritage.” i believe that the proper blend of two or more red varietals makes the wine in total better than the in- dividual parts of the wine. Book it! i said it, i believe it, i stand behind it. Give “blends” a try!
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so long! see ya on the road! n — John
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