Independent Dealer February 2026

INDEPENDENT DEALER

the official publication of WSA

Lisa Veeck talks to dealers about how to make the most of the available artificial intelligence platforms

FEBRUARY 2026

Editorial & Contents

Now the holiday season and the seemingly endless month of January are behind us, it is time to concentrate on how business will look in the year ahead.

The almost universal sentiment among dealers I spoke to toward the end of last year was that 2026 is going to be an “interesting” year. Although it might be a slightly clichéd expression, it is certainly not an understatement to suggest that the IDC is in a state of flux and I think may look very different in a year or two.

The vacuum filled by Essendant’s withdrawal will both attract new players into the IDC and change the way we see and do business with those already involved in the channel or operating adjacent to it.

Buying groups and other dealer associations will become even more important, as the need for independents to work together and combine their buying power increases to combat the threat posed by Amazon and the more traditional Big Box rivals.

Another way independent dealers can keep up with the competition is the effective use of artificial intelligence

Rowan McIntyre, editor and publisher rowan@idealercentral.com

(AI), which is the focus of this issue’s cover story.

I understand that this is a subject that has been covered extensively, both in these pages and elsewhere, and many of you may be tired of hearing about it; but there is little doubt that, used carefully and correctly, AI can be of great benefit to your business. It will certainly be worth your while reading about how it has helped some of your fellow dealers on page 26.

As a final note, I’d like to add my personal congratulations to Janet Eshenour, who has announced she is leaving ISG after over 20 years. I wish her all the best for her retirement in South Carolina with her husband Bob.

4 WINNER’S CIRCLE

Good things happening to independents

12 SECRETS OF SUCCESS

Parker’s Workplace Solutions, Farmington, New Mexico

14 INDUSTRY NEWS

22 WSA FOCUS

26 COVER STORY

Intelligent use of AI in the IDC: Lisa Veeck talks to dealers about how to make the most of the available artificial intelligence platforms

30 COLUMNS

32 West McDonald: The AI war on Main Street

36 Marisa Pensa: Seven great inside sales traits

38 Jennifer Vitanzo: AI marketing misses

40 Troy Harrison: Good onboarding is not optional

54 Tom Buxton: Inmates shouldn’t run your asylum

INDEPENDENT DEALER

Editor and publisher

Rowan McIntyre

Associate editor

Lisa Veeck

Head of media sales

Chris Turness

Finance and operations

Kelly Hilleard

Head of creative

Joel Mitchell

Digital manager

Aurora Enghis

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El Paso marks a quarter of a century

Back in 1987, Sandy Grodin acquired independent dealer Sturgis and Co. He subsequently sold to U.S. Office Products in 1994 and worked for the conglomerate for five years, before leaving in 1999. When his two-year noncompete clause ended, Grodin tried to make a go of an e-commerce office products business, but he soon discovered he missed the bricks-and-mortar world. So, in 2001—with many of his previous Sturgis employees willing to join him—he opened El Paso Office Products in El Paso, Texas. The company made $4 million in annual sales in its first year alone.

Today, nearly 95 percent of El Paso Office Products’ customers are in the public sector, including government, education and, more recently, healthcare. In 2024—a boom year, due in part to COVID-19 dollars financing bigger projects— sales reached $8 million; while the company closed 2025 with a still-impressive figure of $5.5 million.

Office products make up about 65 percent of El Paso’s business, with furniture accounting for the rest. This includes medical furniture, a category El Paso recently entered

thanks to a large project for a children’s hospital.

“We also sell a little jan/san, but not much since we have two big jan/san paper houses in our area, making the market very competitive,” says Grodin. “And we are a smaller, nonstocking dealer. We tried setting up accounts with some larger paper distributors, but they already have established relationships with distributors in our area. We buy direct from some manufacturers when we get a large PO from a

school; but, given our size, we mostly rely on our wholesaler, S.P. Richards. It has been our first call wholesaler for years, so Essendant’s exit from the market didn’t affect us.”

Grodin has noticed some significant changes since he opened his first dealership in 1987—including how office products are purchased in his area, and by whom. “In 1987, about 30 percent of our business was cash sales from people coming over the border from Mexico,” he recalls. “They would buy in bulk, since they would have to pay the import and export duty tax each time they crossed. It was good money; but every time we collected $10,000, we had to go to the bank and declare it, which meant several times a day.” According to Grodin, this trend ended as the number and size of distributors in Mexico increased.

Amazon has also influenced business models—but this time, Grodin fought back. “In 2017, we took on Amazon,” he explains. “NOPA, INDEPENDENT DEALER and most of the industry followed

the situation closely. What made it even more challenging was that back then, we didn’t have the data and information available to collect, as we do today. But we managed to present a compelling argument on why buying from a punchout/portal made up of independent suppliers, including ourselves, was the better choice for the University of Texas. We used our DDMS system to build out the connectivity. It allowed us to load our catalog and update our pricing quarterly and annually. It features the customer’s logo and automatically processes orders and issues purchase orders. These are things Amazon doesn’t do. We won the business and all the university’s departments use our portal.”

“I don’t pay on every dollar, as I

do with Amazon,” he continues. “Our portal is very efficient and easy to use, so it keeps the staff from looking at Amazon or other portals.”

That’s not to say Amazon is no cause for concern, but Grodin is confident the mega-retailer isn’t for everyone. “There’s no question Amazon affects us and every dealership,” he acknowledges. “But we have several customers that will not use Amazon as a vendor, for different reasons. For example, in 2017, the State of Texas passed House Bill 89. My eldest son’s fraternity brother actually helped craft the bill’s legs; it passed the House unanimously. Bill 89 prohibits state agencies from contracting with companies that boycott Israel. It also requires contractors to certify

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that they do not boycott Israel to secure state contracts. Because Amazon does business with so many vendors, it can’t sign this part of a contract because it can’t guarantee this. As a result, one of our community colleges and others that require this in their contract can’t use Amazon.”

Interestingly, while Amazon is a top El Paso competitor, it is also the dealer’s second-largest supplier. “Some customers can’t or won’t buy from Amazon, so they will send us a screenshot of what they want,” Grodin explains. “We get the items and add our mark-up. They understand this and we continue to grow.

“El Paso is a socioeconomic area where entities receive federal

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money to help families in need,” he adds. “Last October, a customer in New Mexico had a PO of $230,000 and wanted us to order 200 kids’ and adult bikes, 200 baby strollers, diapers and other baby supplies. The customer also wanted us to store them until March, which Amazon doesn’t do. We bought the products from Walmart and Amazon. In fact, many of our orders today aren’t office products. Right now, we have a pallet of over 100 blenders and 100 pancake griddles in our warehouse.”

Despite being an avid buyer, Grodin doesn’t discount the competition these grandiose retailers represent. “The big boxes stymie growth,” he admits. “Our business would triple or quadruple if Office Depot closed tomorrow.”

But again, he refuses to surrender market share without a fight. “Two years ago, I hired a friend I grew up with who had been let go from Office Depot after 28 years,” he says. “I had tried to hire him several times before, and for good reason. He’s great—he’s the one who brought us the hospital business.”

Grodin has some sage advice for other dealers looking for longevity: “Build and nurture strong customer relationships. Also, be proactive and think outside the box to find opportunities. For example, in 2014–2015, Walmart built its first Sam’s Club in our area. On my way out, I saw a cart filled with school supplies. I left, came back with a legal pad, wrote down what I saw and talked to the buyer about the chance to quote on the items. The buyer asked if I could match Sam’s Club pricing, and I said I could

not. Six months later, one of that company’s employees was in a car accident while en route to Sam’s for supplies. I took the opportunity to point out that if we delivered the supplies, there wouldn’t be the liability issues involved with all the driving back and forth—not to mention the time savings. Today, that company is our third-largest customer—and we sell $20,000 to $30,000 in groceries. So be proactive. Office product customers may not realize what else you can do for them.”

New acquisition for A&B Business Solutions

A&B Business Solutions, Brookings, South Dakota, has acquired Far From Normal Supply, Inc., a leading production graphic arts hardware and supply dealer headquartered in Fargo, North Dakota. The move expands the company’s capabilities to serve customers in the Northern Plains, Midwest and Lower Plains, including broadening its market access in the Wichita, Kansas area.

In separate news, A&B has named its office manager, Kimberly Winegar, its 2025 Volunteer of the Year. Winegar joined A&B in 2024. Determined to serve others, Winegar logged 100-plus volunteer hours in 2025.

“Kimberly’s passion for giving back inspires our entire A&B team,” said an A&B spokesperson. “We thank her for all she does for our community and us.”

Perry employees donate $6,000 to local charities

Perry, Temple, Texas, recently announced the 2025 recipients of the Perry Employee Giving Fund. Perry’s team selected Feed My Sheep, which serves the unhoused of Temple; Pearl’s Place, a medical dog rescue organization; and Operation Blue Santa, which presents Christmas gifts to Temple children. Each organization was presented with $2,000—funds directly donated by Perry employees.

“This was one of our top years for donations in the Giving Fund program and it’s just another of many reasons I’m so proud of our team here at Perry,” said president H.B. Macy IV. “They have a heart for so many great causes in our community.”

In a separate charitable act, the Perry team recently collected and delivered more than 200 items for the Communities in Schools program at Temple Independent School District to help support local students.

GOS CEO named to South Carolina 500

Built to Fit, Priced to Grow

Charles Scales III, CEO of GOS in Greer, South Carolina, has been named to the South Carolina 500, recognizing the nearly four decades he has owned and operated the distribution/logistics company. This recognition highlights leaders who drive innovation and success and represent commitment to excellence and entrepreneurial spirit across the entire state.

“Be better today than yesterday,” said Scales, reflecting on the best advice he received and the mantra by which he runs GOS.

Winner’s Circle

Strickland gains new leadership

Birmingham, Alabama-based Strickland Companies announced changes to its leadership during its end-of-year meeting. Effective immediately, Bayard “BT” Tynes has assumed the role of CEO; Beau Tynes has been promoted to president—the fifth person to hold this position in Strickland’s nearly 100-year history; and Forsyth Tynes Cheek has assumed the role of company vice president.

BT started working at Strickland in 1990 as a salesman for his father-in-law, George Elliott. He became a sales manager in just a few years and moved up from there, serving as president since 2000 before assuming his new position as CEO. After college, Beau worked in real estate to gain experience outside the family business, then transitioned into sales at Strickland in 2006. He was named vice president in 2016—a position he held until his most recent promotion. Forsyth joined the company in 2009 as a

sales rep and was promoted to director of business development in 2022.

“This leadership structure positions Strickland to continue delivering dependable service while building for the future,” said BT. “As we approach our second century, the company remains focused on serving customers with integrity, expertise and exceptional product options. Beau and Forsyth understand our company deeply, given their many years of service

at Strickland. I have complete faith in their leadership and vision for us going forward.”

Added Forsyth: “For almost a century, Strickland Companies has grown and evolved organically. As our customers’ needs grow and change, Strickland grows and adapts. Promotions at Strickland are similar; as job duties grow, employees are promoted to reflect that growth. Strickland is a stable, relational, evolutionary company that is fun to work for and grow with.”

FSIoffice named leading business of the month

FSIoffice, Charlotte, North Carolina, was named a Leading Business of the Month for January by the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce.

Each month, the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce announces a Leading Business of the Month. This special promotion, sponsored by South State Bank, recognizes a company that has been a member of Myrtle Beach Area Chamber for a minimum of five years. The company displays a banner at its place of business for one month, recognizing it as a leading business.

The accolade was first awarded in September 2015.

“We are truly honored to be named the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce’s Leading Business of the Month,” said FSIoffice executive vice president Beth Freeman. “This recognition reflects not only the hard work and dedication of our team, but also the strong relationships we’ve built within the Myrtle Beach area’s business community. Every day, we work to support our customers with exceptional service and solutions that help their organizations

succeed. We are grateful for this acknowledgment from the chamber and look forward to continuing to contribute to the growth and success of businesses across the region.”

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Tommy Sansom celebrates 50 years in the industry

January 2, 2026 marked a major milestone for the president of Texas dealer Officewise, Tommy Sansom: his 50th anniversary in the office products and furniture industry. His journey began in Lubbock, Texas, at Frank McGlaun Office Supply, where—as an 18-year-old— he started out unloading rail cars and trucks of office furniture. From those early, hands-on days to today, Tommy’s career has come full circle: he is now the president and co-owner of Officewise Furniture and Supply, which evolved from the company he first worked for as a young man.

During his two and a half years at McGlaun’s, Tommy gained experience in several areas of the business, including furniture

installation, supply delivery, warehouse operations, shipping and receiving and inside sales. From 1978 to 2008, he built a strong career as a sales representative, primarily in the wholesale distribution channel. Along the way, he developed expertise in sales, marketing, operations, IT and purchasing—and even spent a brief stint in design.

Tommy and his wife of almost 50 years, Tina, have two children: their daughter, Nicole Cryer, who now works at Officewise; and their son, Eric Sansom, a commercial lender at City Bank in Lubbock. Eric and his wife have five children and Tommy is grateful that his entire family still lives within ten minutes of him in Lubbock.

Throughout his career, Tommy “learned the business” at companies such as Stationers Distributing, Dallas Pen Company, Buddy Brown & Associates, C&L Pen Company and United Stationers. His 16 years at United Stationers were especially influential and proved to be vital preparation for becoming a business owner. By 2008, although it was difficult to leave United Stationers, Tommy nonetheless felt strongly that it was time to step away from wholesale and return to the dealer world. He took a leap of faith with what is now Officewise—and it

turned out to be the right decision. Since Officewise was his largest customer for many years, Tommy already knew the company well and understood the three West Texas markets it serves. Thanks to great partners, employees and customers, the company has more than tripled its sales over the past 16 years.

“I am so thankful for the people that believed in me over these 50 years,” says Tommy. “I have to start with Tina, Nicole and Eric. They have always been 100 percent supportive of me.” He also credits many industry leaders who have had a profound influence on his career, including Bob Anders, Richard Petty, Brian McPeak, Danny Brooks, Joe Templet, Steve Sailers, Shelly Hill, Ron Watts, Ron Edmondson and his partners today—John Navarrete, Cathryn Dail, Lindley Herring and Lupe Zermeno.

“In 50 years, I learned so much from so many people,” reflects Tommy. “Those many personal experiences have made my journey extremely rewarding. I am proud of our people and their professionalism and heart for what we do. Officewise is in great hands today, but I still plan to be here and working for a few more years. My hope and belief is: the best is yet to come!”

IN A GEL PEN

Parker’s Workplace Solutions Secrets of Success

In 1958, John Parker opened Parker’s Workplace Solutions in Farmington, New Mexico. In 1974, Roger Smith and his wife, Christina, decided to purchase the company. “My grandfather worked at a different company in the same building,” explains customer service supervisor and purchasing manager Katie Smith. “He figured he could go to Denver and be a doctor or stay in Farmington. He decided to stay here.”

In 2007, Christina and the couple’s three sons, Jeff, Jason and Preston, took over the company; and today, Katie and her two sisters work in the family business as well.

Parker’s biggest accounts are the government entities of the two largest Native American tribes in the area, followed by doctors’ offices and hotels—the latter in Durango, Colorado, the popular snow-sport town where Parker has a facility. While some of the major hospitals have turned to Staples, those relationships may ultimately have a short shelf life.

“The hospitals don’t seem to be pleased with Staples’ service, as it is half of what we provide,” explains Katie. “When Staples entered our area, we told customers it makes a lot of promises it can’t keep. Customers are discovering that and are moving business to us.”

Turning

challenges into strengths

According to Katie, one main factor for Parker’s longevity is its adaptability—but she admits this was not always the case: “One of the biggest reasons for our success, especially in the last 10 years, is our willingness to change. We fought it for a long time, sticking with how we had always done things and not adapting to the marketplace; but now we are continuing to evolve.”

Katie believes the “Buy Local” movement and the company’s community involvement have been big

Company info

Headquarters: Farmington, New Mexico

Top management: Jeff Smith, CEO; Jason Smith, vice president; Preston Smith, vice president

Number of employees: 10

Annual sales: $3–4 million

Sales by category: 45% office products, 55% furniture

business boosters: “We serve a large area that is heavy in the oil and gas industries, which can be fickle; there are a lot of economic ups and downs, and I think this makes them value relationships. And this goes both ways. Our team goes out and sets up flags on Veteran Flag Field and we are involved in other community organizations like Child Haven. We live in a beautiful area with a wonderful culture, and we want the community to know how happy and grateful we are to be here.”

She goes on to suggest that happiness in other areas is also key: “We are really happy with our team and the feeling seems to be mutual. Our furniture installer has been with us for more than 15 years and another employee, a wonderful woman I learned a lot from, retired from our company during COVID after 48 years.”

Beating the competition

Katie identifies Parker’s top challenge as Amazon, but that said, she is not overly worried by the online giant: “Our team provides excellent customer service, which is what I think sets us apart from Amazon and Staples. When Amazon first set up a distribution center in our area, it was really nerve-wracking. But after seeing their delivery, we soon realized we had the advantage. Our drivers are very good and they care. I think that’s the difference. This service is what makes us special: our team really cares. Our legacy is important to us. We take pride in our work, we want our customers to be happy and we do whatever it takes to ensure that.”

Katie has one parting tip for other dealers: “Embrace change. Once we realized we needed to keep evolving, we experienced growth.”

Office Partners signs furniture deal

US independent dealer group Office Partners has announced a new partnership aimed at increasing its members’ capabilities and reach in the contract furniture space.

The Alabama-based organization has entered into a “strategic agreement” with specialist group purchasing organization Consoll, a division of GCG Holdings.

Through the partnership, Consoll and Office Partners will collaborate to support over 600 dealer locations and provide access to 300 manufacturers.

Office Partners

ISG names new board members

Meanwhile, ISG has confirmed the results of its 2026 board of directors elections that took place at the annual shareholders’ meeting in December. Two new members were elected:

• DJ Hunsinger, CMF Business Supplies

• Ryan Puccinelli, IQ Total Source

Two members were re-elected for a second term:

Consoll, founded in 2018, has a membership that includes 82 commercial furniture-focused dealer locations and 131 office products-focused dealers as well as partnerships with 44 leading furniture manufacturing brands. Office Partners, meanwhile, represents over 600 dealer locations and partners with 300 manufacturers.

President Matthew Hebert said: “Partnering with Consoll takes our furniture offering to another level and strengthens our mission of supporting independent dealers with best-in-class solutions. Our dealers now have access to their programs, while their dealers have access to our programs. We’re still two separate organizations, but what we’re doing is giving dealers access to both worlds.”

• Robbie Clark, A-Z Office Resources

• Lisa Crowson, Advance Office & Janitorial Supplies

A week before the AGM, the ISG board elected its officers for the 2026 term. They are:

• Chairman: Paul McKinney, Eakes Office Solutions

• Vice chair: Justin Carpenter, Stationers

• Past chairman: Yancey Jones Jr, TSRC

• Secretary: Brian Kerr, Kerr Workplace Solutions

• Treasurer: Bryan Kristenson, Office Plus of Kansas

ISG also recognized and thanked two outgoing board members for their six years of service:

• Kevin Johnson, Warehouse Direct

• Jordan Kudler, Legacy Office Solutions

ISG’s Eshenour announces retirement

Long-serving Independent Suppliers Group (ISG) exec Janet Eshenour has announced her retirement.

Eshenour joined ISG in 2005 as director of marketing and was most recently senior meetings and events manager— responsible, among other things, for organizing the group’s Industry Week event.

“After many rewarding years in the office products industry, I am officially retiring,” said Eshenour. “I’m grateful for the relationships and experiences I’ve had along the way. I want to wish ISG members and suppliers continued success and all the best

in the years ahead.”

“With over 20 years at ISG, Janet has been a consistent fixture within our leadership and operations,” added ISG chief operating officer Charles Foreman. “From her early years in marketing to her recent oversight of Industry Week, she provided a reliable point of contact for our members and suppliers. We recognize her long-term commitment to the group and wish her the best in her next chapter.”

All those at INDEPENDENT DEALER would also like to add their best wishes to Janet as she enjoys her retirement.

AOPD reveals 2026 conference details

National accounts organization AOPD has announced the date and location of its Engage 2026 conference.

After holding its annual meeting as part of Industry Week in 2025, AOPD is organizing a standalone event this year. It will take place from June 7-10 at the Hyatt Huntington Beach in California.

As well as enabling dealers and business partners to discuss their sales and marketing strategies for the year, Engage 2026 will offer education and networking sessions that are spread throughout the program.

AOPD executive director Angela Price called the event “a catalyst for collaboration, strategic alignment and new opportunities.”

Essendant moving

Downsized wholesaler Essendant is moving to a new head office.

The company—which now specialises in jan/ san and foodservice products after exiting the US office supplies dealer channel last year—has confirmed it is relocating its headquarters from Deerfield, Illinois to nearby Lincolnshire.

Staff will officially begin operating from the new location in early March. Last September, CEO Dave Rickard admitted the company’s headquarters may be resized to reflect fewer corporate staff, but the organization would remain in the Greater Chicago area.

Clorox swoops for GOJO Industry News

Clorox has agreed to acquire leading hand-sanitizer maker GOJO Industries in a deal worth more than $2 billion.

On January 22, Clorox announced it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Ohio-based GOJO—owner of Purell, the US’s number one hand hygiene brand—for $2.25 billion in cash. Including anticipated tax benefits valued at around $330 million, the net purchase price is $1.92 billion.

The transaction is expected to close before June 30, the end of Clorox’s current fiscal year, subject to regulatory approval and customary closing conditions. Clorox plans to fund the acquisition primarily through debt financing.

Clorox said the deal will significantly expand its category position, adding skin hygiene to a portfolio that has traditionally focused on surface disinfection and creating a $3.5 billion health and hygiene platform. The company expects the acquisition to strengthen both its consumer and professional businesses, while accelerating the retail growth of the Purell brand.

The two businesses will integrate their R&D platforms, combining Clorox’s surface disinfection chemistry with GOJO’s proprietary skin health formulations and dispenser

technology. Clorox said this will enable cross-selling across the healthcare, education, government, foodservice and office environments.

GOJO will continue to be headquartered in Ohio and led by the company’s existing management team, including CEO Carey Jaros. Run-rate synergies have been estimated at $50 million, a figure Clorox CEO Linda Rendle described as “conservative.”

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Prima releases new CRM

Prima Software has announced the launch of Prima Engage, a new CRM built specifically for dealers and designed to work natively with Prima ERP.

The platform supports day-to-day sales activity by identifying at-risk accounts, highlighting high-opportunity customers and flagging category gaps or declining spend. It also helps prioritize sales activity through clear, actionable tasks, while giving business owners and sales managers better visibility into overall account health.

Engage works directly with Prima ERP, using live company and transaction data to keep customer information accurate without relying on manual updates from sales teams.

“Prima Engage was developed to help dealers make better use of the customer and sales data they already have,” explained Robert Harper, Prima Software’s marketing director. “While ERP systems contain valuable transactional insight, many traditional CRMs struggle to turn that data into something sales teams can actually use. Manual updates, disconnected systems and low adoption often leave sales reps spending more time managing tools than working with customers.”

The launch of Prima Engage reflects Prima Software’s continued focus on building tools purpose-built for the dealer model and designed to be used as part of

everyday operations.

“AI plays a supporting role within Engage, helping reduce noise and surface patterns that would otherwise be difficult to identify,” added Harper. “The focus is on practical insight that leads to action, rather than dashboards or analytics that add complexity. With increasing margin pressure and fewer resources available, dealers are looking for smarter ways to grow and protect their customer base.

Prima Engage helps teams move away from reactive selling and toward proactive account management, using existing data to support better decision-making.”

Engage is available to all Prima ERP users, with demonstrations also available for businesses evaluating the Prima platform.

RS Group names Americas president

Industrial and business equipment supplier RS Group has appointed Jonathan Bennett as president of RS Americas, effective immediately.

Bennett succeeds Doug Moody, who announced his retirement after a career spanning almost 30 years—the last four of those at RS.

Bennett is a graduate of Harvard Law School and the University of Pennsylvania and brings more than two decades of leadership experience across retail, distribution and building products. Most recently, he served as president of the Northern Division at Beacon Building Products, where he led a large, multi-region organization with full profit and loss responsibility. He previously held senior leadership roles at Beacon, including CCO, as well as executive positions at The Home Depot, Total Wine & More and Boston Consulting Group.

RS Americas has annual sales of around $1.2 billion and operates principally in the US, Canada and Mexico.

Industry News

ECI appoints sales leader

SMB technology provider ECI Software Solutions has named Graham Younger as its new chief revenue officer.

Younger will lead ECI’s go-to-market strategy, with responsibility for sales, customer success and commercial operations, as the company looks to scale its AI-powered software and services portfolio. The appointment comes as ECI continues to invest in AI-driven capabilities across its business management platforms.

ECI CEO Trevor Gruenewald said Younger was joining the company at a “pivotal moment.”

He added: “Our continued investment in AI is reshaping how customers run their businesses, and it’s critical we bring those capabilities to market with clarity and purpose. Graham has led revenue teams through rapid growth and competitive pressure, and his leadership will help us scale with discipline while staying focused on what matters most to our customers.”

Younger brings more than 20 years of senior revenue

COSTS

leadership experience, having held executive roles at a number of enterprise software companies. Most recently, he served as president at sales enablement platform Highspot. Prior to that, he was EVP of worldwide field operations at Box, where he helped drive significant revenue growth around the company’s IPO.

SSI delivers complete dealer software with no item file loads, fast B2B web store, responsive support, regular releases of new features, and much more —priced for the independent dealer.

Victor Technology adds Alba

Workplace products vendor Victor Technology has announced a distribution partnership with the US subsidiary of France-based manufacturer of office furniture and accessories Alba.

As a result, Victor Tech has become the primary distributor of Alba products across the US and Canada. This includes selling the Alba brand on the Victor Technology marketplace—a consumer storefront that already includes brands such as Portland Gear, Dacasso, Deskboard Buddy, Noteorious and LON Hub.

“While it’s a great fit for consumers browsing the marketplace, Alba is also a brand we proudly offer to our dealer partners,” wrote Victor Tech in a press release. “Its blend of beauty, utility and forward-thinking design makes it equally at home in retail, at the office and throughout the broader commercial workspace market.”

The US firm added: “With the transition underway, Alba USA’s existing partners will experience continuity as Victor Technology assumes day-to-day distribution and service operations. Alba and Victor will work together to ensure a seamless handoff and consistent customer experience.”

Another first aid acquisition for Acme

New CEO for Safco owner

Liberty Diversified (LDI), whose brands include workplace and educational furniture supplier Safco, has appointed Jim Morgan as its CEO.

Morgan is a veteran of the paper and packing industry, having held senior roles at DS Smith and Interstate Resources. He has also served on the board of the American Forest and Paper Association.

LDI’s previous CEO, Greg Theis, left in mid-2025, with chairman Mike Fiterman— grandson of the company’s founder—taking on the role on an interim basis.

“Jim is a respected leader in our industry and one that I’ve been acquainted with for many years,” said Fiterman. “He is passionate about customer experience and has a proven track record of driving profitable growth. I’m confident that he brings the right expertise and leadership capability to lead our organisation forward.”

Acme United has continued its expansion into the first aid category, this time acquiring the assets of a company that sells primarily in the direct-to-consumer channel.

The latest addition to the Acme portfolio is My Medic, a Utah-based supplier of tactical, trauma and emergency response products. Established in 2014, My Medic generated sales of around $19 million last year and employs 40 people.

Acme CEO Walter Johnsen stated: “We believe the combined marketing, distribution, sourcing and manufacturing capabilities of our two operations will greatly enhance the reach and value of My Medic’s life-saving products.”

He continued: “My Medic has an extensive library of training videos and over 500,000 followers on its social media platforms. We believe its direct-to-consumer presence for trauma and emergency response products is the strongest in the US. We intend to keep My Medic’s operations in North Salt Lake and to expand its product offering and distribution in the US and Canada.”

Takkt hires

Foodservices leader

German business products and equipment reseller Takkt has announced a change of leadership at its US-based Foodservices division.

Taking on the role of president at the unit—which comprises the Hubert and Central Restaurant brands—is Keri Llewellyn. Llewellyn brings over two decades of commercial foodservice industry experience, including executive roles at leading sector distribution and manufacturing companies such as Marcone Commercial Kitchen Group, Welbilt and TriMark.

At Takkt Foodservices, she succeeds Keith Kelly, who has departed after 21 months. Takkt credited Kelly with successfully developing the division’s future strategy while adding key industry talent.

Business products companies make prestigious environmental list

More than 25 firms directly involved in the business products industry have been included in the annual “Corporate A List” from environmental disclosure organization CDP.

Despite economic headwinds, CDP noted that momentum for environmental transparency remained strong last year as markets continued to demand reliable, high-quality data. It said 640 investors with $127 trillion in assets had called on companies to disclose through CDP, while over 270 major buyers had requested environmental data from approximately 45,000 suppliers via CDP’s Supply Chain program.

Globally, 877 companies achieved a place on the 2025 A List—out of almost 20,000 that were scored. Many, but not all, of the 26 business products organizations on the list are from the print and paper/packaging sectors. Here is a breakdown:

Print: Canon, Fujifilm Holdings, HP Inc, Konica Minolta, Kyocera, Ricoh, Seiko Epson, Toshiba, Xerox

Paper/packaging: DS Smith, Fedrigoni, Mayr-Melnhof Karton, Mondi, Sappi, Stora Enso, Suzano, The Navigator Company, UPM

Others: Best Buy, Essity, Henkel, Logitech, Nestlé, Reckitt, RS Group, Tesa

Paul A. Miller, legislative counsel, Workplace Solutions Association

Reviving a national voice for small business: the return of the White House Conference on Small Business

For decades, the White House Conference on Small Business served as one of the most effective mechanisms for ensuring America’s entrepreneurs had a direct, meaningful voice in federal policymaking. At critical moments in the nation’s economic history, it brought small business owners from across the country to Washington—not as spectators, but as participants shaping the policies that affected their livelihoods.

Now, after nearly 30 years without a national convening, that proven model is being revived. Through bipartisan leadership in Congress and sustained advocacy from the business community—including the author—the White House Conference on Small Business is once again poised to play a central role in connecting policymakers with the real-world experiences of small, independent businesses.

A history rooted in listening to small business

The White House has previously convened three White House Conferences on Small Business, held in 1980, 1986 and 1995. The first conference was authorized by executive order under President Ronald Reagan, while the latter two were approved by Congress. Each followed a deliberate and inclusive process, beginning with state and regional meetings that fed into a national conference.

This structure ensured that recommendations delivered to the White House and Congress

reflected broad geographic, industry and demographic input—not just the views of the largest or loudest stakeholders. The 1995 conference, held during the Clinton administration, resulted in 60 formal policy recommendations addressing access to capital, regulatory burdens, workforce challenges, healthcare and competitiveness. Many of those ideas went on to influence legislation and regulatory reforms in the years that followed.

What made the conference model so effective was its legitimacy. Small business owners were not reacting to policy after the fact—they were helping shape it.

A long absence in a time of rapid change

Despite its success, the White House Conference on Small Business has not been held since 1995. In the decades since, the small business landscape has been transformed by technology, globalization, consolidation and increasingly complex regulatory frameworks. Yet there has been no comparable national forum to systematically gather input from small businesses on how these changes affect their ability to compete, hire and grow.

That absence has been especially felt by independent dealers—locally owned businesses in industries such as office products, furniture and janitorial supplies—who operate on thin margins while competing against national chains, online giants and procurement systems that often favor scale over service.

Bipartisan leadership to reignite a proven model

That gap is now being addressed through the White House Conference on Small Business Act, introduced by Representative Brad Finstad (R-MN) and Representative Don Davis

(D-NC). The legislation reauthorizes the conference and establishes it as a structured, recurring forum for small business owners from all 50 states and U.S. territories to provide direct input to both the White House and Congress.

A key feature of the bill is its emphasis on state-based conferences, ensuring grassroots participation and broad representation. This bottom-up approach strengthens the integrity of the final recommendations, builds regional networks and helps develop the next generation of small business leaders—while ensuring national policy discussions remain grounded in local realities.

Congressman Finstad, a member of the House Committee on Small Business, underscored the importance of restoring this dialogue: “This bipartisan legislation reignites meaningful conversations between the small business community and the White House, ensuring small businesses from every state and background have a seat at the table.”

At a time when small, family-owned businesses face mounting regulatory and economic pressures, Congressman Finstad’s leadership has been instrumental in ensuring that small business input is treated not as an afterthought, but as a foundational element of sound policymaking.

Congressman Davis echoed this urgency, noting that after three decades without a conference, small businesses need a national platform now more than ever as innovation continues to reshape how they operate and compete.

Why this matters for independent dealers

For independent dealers in the office products, furniture and janitorial supply industries, the revival of the White House Conference on Small Business is particularly significant. These businesses are deeply

embedded in their communities— providing jobs, supporting local institutions and offering personalized service that national competitors often cannot match.

Yet independent dealers are frequently the most vulnerable to federal policies that increase compliance costs, disrupt supply chains or unintentionally tilt competition toward large national corporations and government-run procurement systems. Without a formal channel for input, their concerns are too often overlooked.

That is why the conference’s return is so critical for these industries.

“As an association representing independent dealers in the office products, furniture and janitorial supply industries, we see every day how federal policy decisions directly affect the ability of local businesses to compete and survive,” said Mike Tucker, executive director of the Workplace Solutions Association (WSA). “Reviving the White House Conference on Small Business gives independent dealers a long-overdue opportunity to bring their real-world experiences to policymakers—ensuring that regulations, procurement policies and workforce rules reflect the realities of small, locally owned businesses, not just large national corporations.”

For industries built on relationships, trust and service, being heard at the federal level is not about politics—it is about fairness, competitiveness and the preservation of the role of independent business in local economies across the country.

Broad support across the small business community

The legislation has garnered strong support from a wide coalition of business organizations, including the National Small Business Association, the Minority Business RoundTable, the American Franchisee Association, the

Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council, the Transportation Alliance, the WSA and many others.

Todd McCracken, president and CEO of the National Small Business Association, praised this bipartisan effort, noting that small businesses “desperately need the renewed focus from policymakers that this kind of convening would create.”

Roger A. Campos of the Minority Business RoundTable, who attended the 1995 conference, emphasized that the previous conference’s recommendations had real impact

and that it is “long past due” to reengage business owners to level the playing field and strengthen job creation.

A return to listening—and leadership

The revival of the White House Conference on Small Business represents more than a return to tradition. It is a recommitment to listening, collaboration and practical policymaking rooted in real-world experience. By restoring a proven forum that connects entrepreneurs directly with federal decision-makers,

Congress is reaffirming a simple but powerful principle: policies work best when they are shaped by the people who live with their consequences every day.

Thanks to bipartisan champions like Congressman Brad Finstad and Congressman Don Davis—and the persistent advocacy of industry leaders and associations across the country—independent businesses once again have a clear path to the national table. For America’s small and independent dealers, that voice has never mattered more.

Start with business goals, then technology

Mike Tucker, executive director, Workplace Solutions Association

If you want to launch an AI project successfully, it is important to start with a business goal that already matters. Identify the problem you want to solve and determine the outcome you want to achieve before you start involving technology. When the outcome is clear, it becomes easier to evaluate if AI is appropriate and which approach makes sense. Let the use case define the AI tools. Here are some suggestions to help you think through the steps more clearly.

What problems is AI good at solving?

AI tools are most effective when applied to problems with clear patterns, repeatable decisions or high volumes of similar work. These are situations where consistency matters—where staff spend time searching, sorting or responding— and where past data already exists

in some usable form. They can also assist in internal training and enablement. AI tools can help new employees find answers faster, surface relevant documentation or learn how processes actually work in practice.

Determine your business case

Start by selecting the specific outcome you want to improve. The outcome should be simple enough that someone outside of your company can understand it. Consider who benefits and how. A strong business case provides direction without overcomplicating the solution. It describes what success looks like and why it matters.

Assess your organizational readiness

Before getting too far down the road, it helps to analyze and understand

how prepared your organization is to support an AI project. Ownership and commitment of executive leadership really matter. Someone needs to own the outcome, make decisions and resolve conflicts when they occur. Awareness of where alignment is strong and where support is needed is crucial.

Your plan for risk management

Introducing new AI capabilities to your system makes risk management a critical part of implementation. Accuracy, consistency and appropriate use should all be closely monitored, as well as security and compliance. Alignment with existing policies, audit requirements and regulatory obligations should not be taken lightly. Keep your team engaged in oversight. Make sure your system is operating within defined boundaries and a plan exists to limit disruption, and take corrective action as needed. Early defining of problems and business goals will turn intent into an actionable/successful project, making timelines more predictable, implementation smoother and results easier to deliver.

by Lisa Veeck

In the blink of an eye, artificial intelligence (AI) has become ubiquitous in our lives. Consider just a few of the options most of us use daily: virtual assistants like Google, Siri and Alexa; personalized suggestions from entities like Netflix and Spotify; navigation apps such as Waze and Google Maps; spam filters; facial recognition; chatbots; shopping cart suggestions. Today, there are a dizzying array of AI software options— from ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini to Microsoft Copilot, Grok and so many in between, each with its own pros and cons. For most independent dealers, the question isn’t if they are using AI, but rather how and where they are incorporating it into their business. With these questions in mind, we explore how industry leaders are using AI in their operations.

Mark Porter, visionary of Porter’s Office Products, Rexburg, Idaho, calls on AI for a variety of tasks: “I use it to come up with ideas to help me draft LinkedIn posts. It doesn’t replace my own ideas. I give it as much information as I can—you have to tell it your exact

goals. I review the output to ensure things like whether it has the right tone. I also use it to help create images for my posts—a good visual image helps tell the story. There’s some gray areas regarding who owns what, but I am careful not to use copyrighted pictures or brand names, unless I am talking about a specific product. A year ago, the images AI would create weren’t very good, but now they are.”

And AI has other crucial advantages for Porter’s business: “I put our company policies online so they are all in one place. If there are updates, I

make them and AI automatically pulls the latest one. It was my pet project—as we are having staffing challenges, I didn’t want to add anything to our employees’ already overfull plates. Our current and new employees love it because they can go there to look up our vacation policy or whatever they need. We also put operational things on there, like how to process a credit card.” AI is assisting with communications too. “We have an employee who is great at what he does, but realized his emails often came across like he was upset,” says Porter. “Now he puts what

he wants to say through AI and he’s really found it useful.”

AI is also helping solve certain technical issues that previously involved contacting the company’s software provider, incurring both costs and often time delays.

That said, Porter does not believe AI is infallible and cites its potential to deliver wrong information as a major flaw. Another challenge AI presents for dealers concerns website optimization. “Before, it was all about search engine optimization and using the right keywords so Google wouldn’t list your site on page 50,” he explains. “Now, AI often provides answers without mentioning the site it came from, so the question is how to make a site AI-friendly.”

While Porter may not yet have the answer to this, he is testing out some theories: “I personally try to be consistent in things like our LinkedIn posts, to be authoritative. My hope is that as AI searches for sources and learns about everything, it will pick up some of it from us—but I have no idea if this will work.”

Porter advises dealers: “AI is not going anywhere. Whether you like it or not doesn’t matter—you’re going to need to build your business around it. So, start using it. AI is the wave of the

future and you want to be in front of it.”

Ian Wist, president of Wist Business Supplies and Equipment, Tempe, Arizona, avails of several AI platforms for personal use, including Gemini and ChatGPT. But for his business, he prefers Copilot. “It’s part of Microsoft and integrated in the price,” he says. “The Copilot dropdown is in the top-right corner of the screen, making it very convenient.”

Wist goes on to detail how his company is utilizing AI: “The first thing we started using it for was recording our meetings. Two people can hear the same thing and come away with two different versions. Copilot is amazing at summarizing them, including next steps and who is responsible for what, so we are all on the same page. It helps eliminate miscommunications.”

According to Wist, AI is also “extremely valuable” for prospecting: “AI helps our sales reps. They can ask questions about protocols, such as what protocols daycare centers use, and see which products we offer that fit those needs. It can also help by listing the biggest daycare centers in the area and even provide contact information. This removes a lot of the legwork and guesswork. It allows our sales reps to be laser-focused on a category’s needs and wants.”

Wist reports that AI also helps create product descriptions, including keywords: “Where it used to take maybe 40 minutes to complete a task like this, AI spits it out in seconds.”

The company is additionally using AI to assist with truck maintenance. “We used to subscribe to a service that would monitor and tell us when we needed to bring our vehicles in for oil changes, tire rotations, filter and wiper replacements, etc.,” says Wist. “But it was expensive. Now we enter the models and get an AI checklist, including when things should be scheduled. When it’s time for these things, we can go someplace less expensive to have them done.”

Despite its utility, Wist would acknowledge that not everyone is a fan of AI. “Incorporating AI is a

challenge in getting people to do it,” he admits. “They are used to doing the job and problem-solving the old-fashioned way. Now they are being asked to break habits and incorporate this new tool. Changing behaviors isn’t always easy.”

Wist suggests that dealers should start making AI use a daily habit: “Just like you brush your teeth morning and night, you have to be disciplined and force yourself to use it. Whether you are curious about it or scared, you have to get started. Begin by looking at how others are using it successfully.”

While Robbie Clark, president of A-Z Office Resource in Nashville, Tennessee, gravitates toward ChatGPT and Grok, employees are free to use their AI tools of choice. Currently, his company is using AI to

train internal sales team members; he also finds it especially helpful for researching products focused on client satisfaction and increasing sales. “If a customer is buying toner for an older printer, our sales reps can go to AI and quickly get a cost per page and use it to figure that cost over 15 years,” he reports. “They can show the customer the potential cost savings of upgrading the printer.”

Personally, Clark uses AI to proofread emails and keeps a running chat he updates so current sales information is available on demand. He also uses AI to help write documents like customer contracts and disclosure agreements, and to analyze sales—including comparing year-on-year customer spending trends, to determine why a customer

may be spending less. It has also helped improve efficiency, allowing employees to offload grunt work and focus on higher value-added activities.

The biggest challenge Clark identifies with AI is fully understanding its capabilities. He also acknowledges the need to check AI results but suggests spot checking still saves a lot of time compared to starting projects from scratch: “AI will at least point you in the right direction. It can save an hour on a project that requires an hour and a half of research.”

Clark’s advice for other dealers is to keep it simple: “Don’t start complicated and don’t start using it to speak to customers. Use it internally first for things you are already doing to improve efficiencies. Additional uses will come over time.”

Gary Molz, vice president of EZ Office Products, Madison, Wisconsin, observes parallels with past tech trends: “It reminds me of the early 1990s, when people were talking about the Internet. I don’t view AI as a separate entity, since it is already ubiquitous and integrated into just about everything we do in our private lives. It’s a tool that improves technology. The challenge is incorporating it in our businesses.”

To this end, Molz aims for specific results: “I look to AI to increase velocity by helping salespeople do research and get out in front of customers more effectively and reducing friction by enabling us to complete internal mundane tasks faster and more efficiently. I use it for social media posts—we posted three last week using AI and it cost nothing. I can do them myself when I know the product. AI gives me the basics and I can tweak things from there.”

Molz applies the same methodology to other communications: “For emails,

I come up with the idea of what I want to say and use AI to help craft it. It’s almost like using spellcheck.”

But he warns: “AI is a tool, not a crutch; it’s not a replacement for a sales rep that hones their skills over the years. Results always equal effort. It’s not the be all, end all. If you don’t have core competencies in place, it won’t create them for you. It won’t do your job.”

Like the other dealers, Molz appreciates challenges remain: “It’s like GPS—it’s a great tool, but not infallible. Sometimes, GPS leads you to a dead end. It’s the same with AI: it still makes mistakes.”

For other dealers keen to explore AI further, he suggests: “No matter what you do today, you are using some form of AI, so don’t be scared. It’s worth trying to use in business. Take small steps. We all have a lot to learn.”

Donata Barber, marketing director of Suburban, Inc., Middletown, Connecticut, believes AI “is fun but can be overwhelming.” Her AI

programs of choice are Google Gemini—“which is great for creating images that we can then alter as we see fit”—Copilot and, to a lesser degree, ChatGPT, which she finds less reliable.

“We use AI for everything and anything that is a heavy lift,” she says. “We match line items and compare products. Speed is one of AI’s top advantages, as things can be done using it that once would have involved the whole team. For example, part of our company strategy is to ask customers if we can quote their top 10 most used products. This can mean reviewing 40 or 50 invoices for the past quarter. Before AI, our sales reps would have to review them, then hand them over to customer service to do an analysis, all manually. Now, we scan the documents and AI puts them together. The turnaround time used to be two weeks, but now it’s less than a week. The time savings allow us to compete with Amazon and other big-box stores. Customers today

equate good service with fast service. AI enables us to meet this expectation without a 24-hour staff. We’re a small company, with 48 employees, and AI allows us to do more.”

According to Barber, Suburban uses AI for a multitude of other tasks, including helping employees and customers solve small technical issues that previously would require contacting their software provider, incurring costs and time loss. The company’s drivers also use it to track routes, while accounting relies on AI to check numbers and spreadsheets.

However, Suburban doesn’t use AI for customer communications—at least not without a human touch. “We want to ensure the quality of what we communicate to customers and add the Suburban voice manually,” says Barber. “We still have a person handling our website’s live chat, although we do use AI for quick,

standard responses. Also, you have to check what AI provides, as sometimes you will find errors that are ridiculous and customers will call you out on them. There still needs to be a person behind AI’s use and someone to factcheck.”

Barber concludes: “AI is amazing in many ways. It is definitely scary—but also exciting. Who knows how much further it will go? But if you don’t use it in your business, you will fall behind. Technology is ever-changing, but you have to keep up with the trends.”

THE AI WAR COMES TO MAIN STREET

Independent office product dealers are feeling it. Customers expect faster quotes. Better marketing. Cleaner proposals. Smarter follow-ups. Fewer mistakes. All while price pressure keeps margins tight and headcount stays flat.

Meanwhile, Amazon has not slowed down. Staples has not become less efficient. The majors are using automation and AI everywhere, even if they do not talk about it much.

That is the problem statement for 2026.

The work keeps increasing. The tolerance for inefficiency keeps shrinking. And most

independent dealers cannot simply hire their way out of it.

That is where AI stops being interesting and starts being necessary.

Why this year is different

AI has been “coming” for a long time. In 2026, it has arrived in a usable, business-grade form.

This is the first year we are seeing independent dealers using AI not as a novelty, but as a daily operating layer. Dealers are using it to:

• create marketing materials without waiting weeks;

• respond to customers

faster than national competitors;

• train new reps without pulling veterans out of the field; and

• analyze sales trends without living in spreadsheets.

The difference between leaders and laggards is no longer access. It is adoption.

And the market is starting to narrow around two platforms.

The AI war in 2026: ChatGPT vs Gemini

They are not perfect. They are not identical. But they are the two platforms showing up consistently across real business workflows.

This is not based on theory. It is based on daily use.

How we actually use AI at GoWest.ai

Let’s pull the curtain back. At GoWest.ai, we do not pledge allegiance to one tool. We use them all. And very often, we do something simple and revealing.

Despite dozens of AI tools on the market, the real competition has become surprisingly clear: ChatGPT and Gemini are separating from the pack.

We take the exact same

West McDonald, founder of GoWest.

ai, is a recognized expert in AI solutions, with extensive experience across various technology sectors. His work focuses on generative AI applications and strategies for maximizing recurring revenue, guiding businesses toward innovative growth. West is dedicated to fostering a culture of learning and excellence through AI-driven innovation.

West McDonald

prompt and run it through both ChatGPT and Gemini. Same instructions. Same background. Same objective. Then we compare the outputs and choose the better one that day.

Some days, ChatGPT wins clearly. The thinking is tighter. The structure is stronger. The logic feels safer for business use.

Other days, Gemini wins. Faster response. Better tone. More creative marketing ideas. Visual concepts that are ready to deploy.

And here is the honest truth: it changes day to day. That is not a weakness. That is the new advantage.

If we had to pick one today

If someone forced us to choose one platform today, we would still lean toward ChatGPT.

It remains the most reliable for deep reasoning, structured thinking and long-form business workflows. When accuracy matters and mistakes are expensive, ChatGPT is usually the safer bet. But that answer comes with an expiration date.

Gemini is improving fast. Very fast. The gap is not static. In three to six months, this conversation could sound very different. That is exactly why dealers should not wait.

Where ChatGPT still leads for independent dealers

ChatGPT’s strength is not flash. It is foundation. It excels when you need:

• step-by-step thinking that holds together;

• long documents that stay coherent;

• business logic that does not wander; and

• repeatable internal processes. Independent dealers are using ChatGPT for:

• sales playbooks and onboarding guides;

• customer service scripts and escalation paths;

• pricing explanations for reps and customers; and

• inventory analysis and forecasting.

This is the tool you trust when the output affects revenue, margin or customer confidence.

Where Gemini 3.0 is fast gaining ground

Gemini’s leap forward has been about speed, creativity and usability.

For many day-to-day tasks, Gemini simply feels faster—especially if your team lives in Google Docs, Sheets and Gmail.

Gemini shines at:

• marketing visuals and layouts;

• infographics and promotional content;

• campaign ideas and creative brainstorming; and

• quick summaries of notes and spreadsheets. For dealers who struggle to keep up with marketing demands, Gemini can feel like adding creative horsepower overnight.

What about the other AI tools?

This question always comes up, so let’s address it directly.

Claude by Anthropic Claude is interesting. It is thoughtful. It is powerful in the right hands.

But in our experience, it does not behave like a general-purpose daily tool in the same way ChatGPT and Gemini do. It feels more specialized. Internally, we joke that

West McDonald

Claude has a following similar to Linux. We know that statement will get us in trouble, and that’s okay. We use Claude too. Our honest impression is that people who love it really love it and they build their workflows around it. For most teams, it is not the first tool they reach for when the inbox is full and a quote is due in an hour.

Microsoft Copilot

Copilot can be very useful, especially if your business runs on Office 365. Inside Outlook, Excel, Teams and SharePoint, it can reduce friction and save time.

But Copilot is not your foundation model.

Even if you use Copilot, we strongly believe you still need either ChatGPT or Gemini as your base-level LLM. They are more flexible. They do more things better. They handle cross-functional work like marketing, sales enablement, training and operations far more effectively.

Why paid business licenses matter

This part is non-negotiable. Free AI tools are fine for experimenting. They are not fine for running a business.

Business-grade licenses give you:

• better performance and reliability;

• stronger data security;

• larger context windows for real work; and

• faster access to new features.

If AI touches customer data, pricing, marketing or operations, paid access is simply the cost of entry.

How independent dealers should start in 2026

Do not overthink this. Start with real work:

• Identify three tasks that consume the most time every week.

• Run those tasks through ChatGPT and Gemini.

• Compare the outputs. Choose the better one.

• Save the prompt and reuse it.

That is how momentum starts.

A little fun and a real-world test

Along with this article, we are sharing images below generated for our hobby YouTube channel, GONE, which you can find at @ GONE1970 on YouTube

If you like camping, adventure and getting outside when you can, you’ll probably enjoy it.

These are real thumbnails we have used or tested. One was created with ChatGPT. One was created with Gemini.

We won’t tell you which is which.

Look at them. Decide for yourself. Ask which you would click. Ask which feels more polished. Ask which feels more ready for business.

That exercise alone will tell you more than a feature checklist ever will.

The bottom line AI is no longer a future conversation. It is a present advantage.

The competition between ChatGPT and

Gemini is heating up in 2026 and that’s good news for independent dealers. Better tools. Faster improvement. More leverage for smaller teams. But only if you step onto the field.

Standing still isn’t neutral anymore. It’s sliding backward. The gap is closing fast and the longer you wait, the harder it will be to catch up.

Start small. Start today. Reach out at west@ gowest.ai or visit www. gowest.ai

About GoWest.ai

GoWest.ai helps independent office product dealers use AI in practical, business-ready ways. We focus on sales enablement, marketing, operations and training, with one goal in mind: helping independents move faster, compete smarter and protect margins in a changing market.

Make Hope

a Reality

Because of you, hope is more than a word — It’s a reality. And your support is what makes this possible. It’s how we power groundbreaking research and compassionate care that impacts patients and their families everywhere.

Greg Welchans President Distribution Management

For more than 40 years, the National Business Products Industry (NBPI) has helped City of Hope accelerate lifesaving research, expand access to compassionate, whole-person care—including for veterans and special forces communities—and bring leading-edge treatments closer to home across the country. Under the leadership of Greg Welchans, President & CMO, Distribution Management, this year’s campaign will play a vital role in supporting programs that deliver precision medicine and advanced cancer detection to those who serve. Learn more about Greg’s campaign and how you can get involved.

To learn more, visit: cityofhope.org/nbpi

Marisa Pensa

Marisa Pensa is founder of Methods in Motion, a sales training company that helps dealers execute training concepts and create accountability to see both inside and outside sales initiatives through to success. For more information, please visit www. methodsnmotion.com

TOP SEVEN TRAITS OF GREAT INSIDE SALES PROFESSIONALS

The most successful inside sales professionals think and act differently than your average salesperson. What sets them apart? They have discovered the traits that guarantee selling success and work tirelessly to cultivate those traits in themselves.

In the course of working with inside sales managers from high-performing companies, I have asked them what traits they believe make inside sales professionals great. Here’s a compilation of their top responses.

They are fantastic conversationalists and storytellers

Storytelling not only drives home the more entertaining, real-life examples that help prospects connect the dots on how a product or service could impact

their own unique situation but also serves to build stronger connections. It helps get past the often-transactional nature of a sales conversation.

In the office products world, great storytellers know how to share examples about helping similar businesses reduce costs, simplify ordering or improve productivity—bringing everyday solutions like furniture, supplies, print and breakroom services to life for the customer.

They have excellent phone voices and vary their pace, tone and volume

They take the time to rehearse and practice what they want to say and how they want to say it. They make their words sound more interesting by changing their tone and

inflection. By using vocal highlights and inserting some purposeful pauses, the speaker sounds enthusiastic and confident while maintaining clarity in their voice and delivery. This is especially important when most interactions with office managers, procurement teams and small business owners happen by phone rather than face to face.

They are entertaining to talk to

They make you smile and/or laugh in the first couple of minutes. They know we buy from sales professionals we like. If they sounded like a robot or just pitched a mile a minute without building rapport, they would diminish their ability to succeed. Top inside salespeople tend to be upbeat and radiate a sense

of humor, fun and general positivity. These qualities shine through when speaking with prospects and customers.

In an industry where customers can easily buy from Amazon or a national chain, personality and genuine connection often become the deciding factors in who earns the business.

They are highly organized They prepare to win by planning for purposeful calls. Sales professionals who achieve the best numbers quarter after quarter all have one thing in common: focus. They understand what they need to do to be successful and set goals for themselves to achieve that success. They act with purpose in their day-to-day activities and apply laser focus to all aspects of their work.

They have no fear of the phone

Many sales professionals today rely on email as their primary means of communication with prospective buyers. The best ones do not. They know the odds will not be in their favor if they default to email. That’s what average salespeople do. Great inside sales professionals pick up the phone first every time. Doing this not only demonstrates they are real people instead of spam bots, but also dramatically increases their chances of a successful connection. This is a critical advantage when trying to win back share from big-box competitors or online marketplaces, where personal outreach and live conversations are often the independent dealer’s greatest differentiator.

They are savvy users of technology—without losing the human element

Most inside sales teams already have a CRM system in place. The real advantage comes from how effectively it is used. Top inside sales professionals know how to access call recordings within the CRM, review notes tied to each conversation and track follow-up activity at a glance.

AI-powered call transcriptions and summaries are becoming more common and can be helpful for recall and coaching. However, the best sales professionals do not rely on AI to do their thinking for them. After each call, they still take the time to document their own insights—why the opportunity is winnable, how the customer is positioned, key objections

and clear next steps—so the CRM reflects both activity and strategy. For independent dealers, strong CRM discipline ensures that account history, pricing nuances and service details are captured accurately, so every customer interaction feels informed and personalized.

They combine preparation tools like AI with strong sales instincts

Today’s top inside sales professionals are resourceful. They use tools such as ChatGPT or Gemini to prepare for calls— researching industries, roles and common challenges—so they can ask better questions and have more informed conversations.

What sets them apart is not the tool itself, but how they use it. They rely

Marisa Pensa

on AI to sharpen their preparation, then trust their instincts, listening skills and judgment during the live conversation. They understand that technology enhances great selling—it does not replace it.

This balance is especially important when selling in the office products channel, where relationships, local knowledge and service reliability still matter as much as price and product availability.

As you read this list, did any or all of these traits ring true for you or your inside sales team? They may already be ingrained in your DNA; or perhaps a little extra training, diligence and creativity are required to truly become the best inside sales professional you can be.

Assess what it is you do that makes you effective in inside sales and continue to hone your craft in areas where you can improve. Ultimately, the mission in any sales role is helping people do something better and more efficiently—while positioning yourself as an advisor who truly understands their business.

For independent office products dealers, that mission is also about proving every day that personalized service, smart guidance and proactive communication can outperform any website or national chain.

Good selling out there!

OVERLOOKED AI MARKETING STRATEGIES TO IMPLEMENT IN 2026

While most marketing teams race to implement chatbots and generic content generation tools, a quieter revolution is unfolding that’s worth exploring, especially when it comes to improving your marketing reach. The most sophisticated marketers in 2026 are deploying underutilized AI strategies that competitors overlook. Here are some intelligent, under-the-radar AI tactics companies are using (which also consider an elephant in the room when it comes to AI usage— environmental impact).

Micro-segmentation through behavioral pattern recognition

Beyond basic demographic targeting, there’s a largely untapped opportunity to use AI to identify micro-moments of intent that reveal genuine purchasing psychology. To access this, advanced marketers go beyond broad audience segments to deploy AI models that recognize behavioral patterns across seemingly unrelated touchpoints—for example:

• a specific sequence of website visits;

• email engagement

timing; and

• social media interactions that predict conversion with remarkable accuracy. This approach requires feeding AI systems data from multiple sources simultaneously, allowing them to spot patterns human analysts might never detect. A customer who views product pages on mobile during lunch breaks, then revisits on desktop after 8:00pm, represents a distinct behavioral archetype requiring different messaging than someone who researches exclusively

on weekends. Smart marketing messaging will take that information to heart and put it to good use. This precision targeting dramatically reduces wasted ad spend and the energy consumed serving irrelevant content to disinterested audiences.

Improved retention via predictive churn analysis over acquisition

Customer acquisition costs have skyrocketed, yet most AI marketing budgets still prioritize finding new customers over keeping existing ones. Forward-thinking teams are redirecting resources toward AI-powered predictive churn models that identify at-risk customers thinking of jumping ship weeks before they do so.

These predictive churn models analyze subtle

Jennifer Vitanzo is a content writer for Fortune Web Marketing. She has been writing professionally for over 20 years. When not wordsmithing, Jenn is performing onstage as a singer/songwriter or out in nature photographing wildlife for conservation organizations.

engagement shifts—like decreased email open rates, longer gaps between purchases and changes in product browsing patterns—to trigger personalized retention campaigns. Something else worth considering: retaining customers requires far fewer computational resources than the constant cycle of prospecting, targeting and converting new ones. Every customer retained is one fewer customer that needs to be acquired through energy and cost-intensive advertising campaigns.

Generative AI for localized content adaptation

While everyone focuses on creating new content, the real opportunity lies in intelligent adaptation. AI can transform a single

piece of core content into dozens of culturally and linguistically nuanced variations that resonate with specific local markets without the need to create entirely new assets from scratch.

Rather than producing separate campaigns for each region, sophisticated marketers use AI to adapt messaging, imagery selection and even humor styles to local preferences while maintaining brand consistency. This approach can lead to cost reductions in the form of fewer production shoots, reduced file storage and more efficient content distribution networks.

Sentiment analysis for real-time campaign adjustment

Most brands still measure campaign performance through lagging indicators like conversions and clicks. The overlooked strategy is deploying AI sentiment analysis tools that monitor social media, reviews and customer service interactions in real-time to detect shifts in brand perception as campaigns unfold.

When sentiment unexpectedly dips in specific demographics or regions, intelligently implemented AI can automatically adjust ad creative, pause problematic messaging or redirect budget to better-performing variations. This prevents

Jennifer Vitanzo

the massive waste of continuing campaigns that aren’t resonating, saving both money and the computational resources spent serving ineffective ads.

Edge computing and AI model compression

Running AI models on edge devices rather than centralized cloud servers can reduce latency to boost real-time processing capabilities. For customer-facing applications like personalized product recommendations or real-time chat support, processing data locally on users’ devices reduces latency while dramatically cutting the energy consumption of data center operations.

Progressive marketers are also implementing AI model compression techniques that maintain accuracy while requiring fewer computational resources. A smaller, optimized model might deliver 95 percent of the performance of a massive one while consuming a fraction of the energy—a tradeoff that makes both environmental and economic sense.

Automated A/B testing with resource optimization

Traditional A/B testing runs multiple variations simultaneously until statistical significance is reached, consuming

server resources the entire time. AI-powered multi-armed bandit algorithms solve this problem by dynamically allocating more traffic to winning variations as tests progress, quickly phasing out poor performers. This approach reaches conclusions faster while serving better-performing content to more users throughout the test. Plus, AI can be programmed to optimize ad delivery schedules and run them during off-peak energy hours when renewable sources comprise a larger percentage of the grid mix.

The competitive advantage of conscious implementation

The marketers thriving in 2026 recognize that AI strategy isn’t about adopting every new tool—it’s about identifying overlooked applications that deliver positive results while considering broader sustainability commitments. As consumers increasingly favor brands demonstrating environmental responsibility, the efficiency gains from these approaches create both a performance edge and a values-based marketing story.

At the end of the day, success is not about using the most AI, but about using it thoughtfully in ways that extract maximum value from minimum resources while working to build genuinely sustainable marketing operations.

Troy Harrison is the Sales Navigator and the author of Sell Like You Mean It and The Pocket Sales Manager He helps companies navigate the elements of sales on their journey to success. He offers a free 45-minute sales strategy review. To schedule, call 913-645-3603 or email troy@troyharrison.com.

WHY A QUALITY SALES ONBOARDING PROGRAM

ISN’T OPTIONAL

What does “onboarding” mean? If you said that “onboarding a salesperson” involves doing the HR paperwork, giving them a facility tour, having them spend a few days shadowing existing salespeople and then expecting them to “hit the ground running,” you’re not alone. Entirely too many sales managers feel that way—and then they wonder why they don’t get the desired results.

“Onboarding” is defined as “the time period, processes and activities to prepare your new hire to make a quality sales

call on your behalf.”

Doing it properly takes 90 days—not nine.

The first 30 days of onboarding should be focused exclusively on knowledge. During those first 30 days, your new salesperson should be a sponge. You should be focused on teaching them everything they need to know in order to make a quality sales call and answer at least the most common customer questions. That means teaching them about:

• your products and services and the problems they solve;

• your target customers and prospects;

• the specifics of their territory;

• your internal processes for order processing, shipping, billing and profit generation; and

• your sales culture and sales training system.

And yes, it takes a month to do that correctly. Anything you shortcut here will come back to bite you and cost you money. During this period, you should have no metrics for sales or sales calls; in fact, you shouldn’t even have the new salesperson

making a sales call, with the exception of shadowing a current sales rep. The second 30 days should be focused on activity. Now that your salesperson knows enough to make sales calls, it’s time to get them out in the field (or on the phone or video). The purpose here is to have them ramp up to your normal required weekly run rate for activities—number of discovery appointments, solution appointments, proposals, LinkedIn activities etc. You do have those numbers, right? If not, you should. During this time, you shouldn’t impose a sales quota on your salesperson. Instead, the first week should be aimed at achieving 25 percent of the normal weekly run rate; the second 50 percent; the third 75 percent; and by the fourth week and ongoing, the salesperson should be

hitting their normal weekly activity run rate.

The third 30 days should be focused on achievement. This is where the results can vary widely. If your sales cycle is 30 days, it’s completely fair to expect your salesperson to sell some business during this period (the expectation is that some of the proposals from Month 2 will close). On the other hand, if your sales cycle is long, you may want to measure “achievement” by viable proposals, funnel size etc. What’s important is that you have a standard and are willing to live with it.

You should have checkpoints for each of those first 30-day periods. After the first month, some sort of “graduation exercise”—such as a quiz with a pass/fail number, a presentation or a facility tour that demonstrates learning—is appropriate. Month 2 can be rated based on achievement of the activity numbers and Month 3 against whatever metric you have put in place, based on your own sales environment.

Here’s why this matters. Most onboarding can be summed up as: “Here’s your book; here’s your desk; here’s your phone— good luck, you’re on your own.” Many managers like to say that “Good salespeople—the ones worth keeping—figure it out on their own.” That’s an ineffective and costly approach, and it’s a great

way to lose a hire that you should have kept.

New sales hires typically fall into three categories:

• salespeople who are so naturally gifted that they will, in fact, “figure it out” and succeed, no matter what you give them or don’t give them;

• salespeople for whom quality onboarding, training and coaching can have a great impact on success or failure; and

• salespeople who just aren’t going to “get it,” regardless of how much training you give them.

The bad news for the “figure it out” managers is that most sales hires— about half, but in some candidate pools as many as two-thirds—fall into the second category. When you don’t provide quality onboarding and training, you will lose on a lot of these hires. Then you have to go back to the well, do another search and hire again—and

your next hire will have the same probability of success as your first.

But what about the other two categories? A good onboarding program helps with these too.

For the first category, the “naturals,” quality onboarding gives them a much better springboard for success. Those who would have reached their quota in, say, six months by themselves will do so in three or four months. That’s a win in anyone’s book, and it will help them hit their performance ceiling quicker. That means strong ROI, because usually the naturals will make better use of training.

For the third category, the monthly checkpoints let you know that you’re on a path to failure. In this case, the philosophy is, “If you’re going to fail, fail quickly.”

This still saves money, time and effort compared to plodding along for a year or more.

Of course, a failed checkpoint needn’t lead to termination—use your best judgment. Sometimes, a little coaching or even remedial training can help overcome obstacles. If you determine that your hire falls within the second category, coaching is a great investment.

Sales hiring is getting harder and candidate pools are getting smaller. Once you’ve made your hiring selection, it’s incumbent upon you to get the most out of that hire. Shifting away from “I want someone to figure it out themselves and hit the ground running” toward the mindset of “I’ve won a good candidate and now I’m going to take the time to lock that win in through quality onboarding” is an essential part of effective sales management in 2026.

And you don’t have to depend on “good luck” for your results.

Tom Buxton

PROVEN: YOUR “INMATES” SHOULD NOT RUN YOUR “ASYLUM”!

It has been an interesting three months at my margin company, which works with ECI’s Margin Accelerator dealers, as well as with other IDC members that want custom margin assistance. Essendant’s decision to move away from the office supply space made November and December very exciting, to say the least.

Interbizgroup currently helps manage nearly $300 million in dealer pricing and, beginning in November, big adjustments were necessary for approximately 40 percent of our customers. To no one’s surprise, for many dealers, there were measurable changes in their product costs that, if left unaddressed, would have jeopardized

their very existence.

The delta between the costing of Essendant and S.P. Richards averaged low double digits, so something needed to be done immediately. And just to be clear, I am not criticizing S.P. Richards in any way, because Essendant got out of supplies rather than continuing to price as it had until November.

So, put yourself in our prior Essendant dealers’ shoes for a minute. If they absorbed the margin “hit,” they risked losing their entire business; but if they raised their prices, they risked losing a bunch of customers. And had they asked their reps about what to do, all hell might have broken loose.

My least favorite rep saying is: “The only reason

the customer buys from us is because of me, but if we raise their prices they will leave.” There is something functionally wrong with both a rep who says this sort of thing and a company that allows it to go unchallenged. Over the years, I have worked with over 250 independent dealers to help grow sales and profitability and in every case, if management allows (enables) this sort of culture, the company will always be crippled. In fact, letting the “inmates” run the “asylum” results in company failure in more cases than I would like to count.

So, here’s the good news—in fact, great news— that has come out of last quarter’s trauma. In each case, with every dealer that worked with Essendant before November 2025, prices were adjusted up significantly. Some dealers started with only a 5 percent increase, while others applied the entire increase to their matrices and custom contracts. And we have asked every dealer to tell us if they received any complaints about the pricing or noticed fewer sales from their best customers. So far, 75 days into the process, no dealer

In addition to serving as national sales manager for AOPD, Tom Buxton, founder and CEO of the InterBizGroup consulting organization, works with independent office products dealers to help increase sales and profitability. Tom is also the author of a book on effective business development, Dating the Gatekeeper. For more information, visit www.interbiz group.com

has noticed a change or had many complaints from their customers. Some reps became apoplectic, but that was absolutely to be expected.

Could it be that customers buy from your company for other reasons besides your rep or your pricing? Talking to real people on the phone, receiving excellent delivery service from your uniformed driver, being local and approachable—these might be the reasons that your dealership maintains its better customers. And in reference to the small accounts that I recommended you “dump” in my column last month, who cares if they go away?

So, do your company and your stress levels a favor: prioritize profitability and don’t let your “inmates” run your “asylum.” Make the effort to see your customers during the next few months, thank them for their business and maybe even ask them why they buy from you.