Insights from the Distributor Fast Fire Panel

Distributor/OTC Networking at CPNA

PBA's Distributor Fast Fire Panel at Cosmoprof North America featured members Max Wexler of Beauty Craft Supply & Equipment, Sydney Berry of Salon Services & Supplies, Josh Hafetz of The Raylon Corporation and Bob Peel Jr. of Peel's Salon Services. The panel format provided some great advice and led the way to in-depth networking with many of the attending distributors joining the discussion.

William Hendrix, CEO of Biuti, in particular invigorated the dialogue when he spoke up about distributing a single line using a network of salesmen armed with Blackberries. Hendrix explained that his consultants each had an exclusive line of products to sell, so that a salon might get visited by several consultants from the same distributor all selling different lines. Each consultant used their Blackberry to transmit orders instantaneously to the warehouse, increasing turn-over time on orders tremendously.

Sabrina Watson, VP of Smark Beauty Supply, remarked: "I changed my flight and extended my hotel stay just so I could attend this session. I'm not currently a member, but this will make me join...This was very well worth the flight change." Other attendees found the session similarly worthwhile and stayed after to chat and exchange information.

Kate Thomassen, a new PBA member and president of Thomassen Beauty Supply, was only too happy to share her enthusiasm for the event: "No amount books on business can substitute for this level of education specific to our industry! By offering this kind of interactive venue, PBA allows distributors to ask questions, hear advice from the pros on your panel and get creative suggestions from others to empower us to bring a higher level of service to our customers. We came to Las Vegas specifically to attend your networking meeting and we are, without question, glad we did."