“You have to be honest with the end user customer,” Mike Bailey of Nucor Fastener said. “There are long memories in this business.”

“Don’t overpromise,” Marc Strandquist of Würth Industry North America advised.

“Not every customer is a good customer,” Field CEO Bill Derry cautioned.

The “Future of Fastener Distribution” panelists spoke on a variety of subjects during the joint conference of the National Fastener Distributors Association, Mid-West Fastener Association and Pacific-West Fastener Association in San Diego.

Bailey, Nucor regional sales manager, emphasized treating customers as partners. “The human role continues to be more important than online ordering at Nucor,” Bailey said. “It is our strong selling point.”

Ultimately, selling is about providing “value” to the customer, Bailey said.

Derry said a distributor needs to “ask good qualified questions and listen to the answers” from customers. The chairman of Field suggested “spending 25 minutes listening and five minutes answering.”

Bailey said an example of creating a customer problem is promising delivery in six to eight weeks when you know it is 10 to 12, Bailey cited. That can be a serious difference in structural construction, he pointed out. “Don’t over or under promise,” Bailey advised.

Derry agreed that there is “too much neanderthal thinking” among fastener buyers – expecting shorter lead times.

Strandquist, Würth’s senior director of business development, declared the starting point for a company’s success “is people.” And that is at all levels from recruiting to inspiring and relationship with employees, he explained.

Strandquist cited Würth’s employee early development programs. Entry level employees who show “spark” travel to Germany for more training. That starts networking relationships, he pointed out. As they develop employees demonstrating “high potential” are put on tracks preparing for vice presidential roles. They develop relationships “all over the world” in a program that “is kind of a MBA program.”

Strandquist acknowledged that the current job market can make it hard to hold on to employees, but Würth tries by investing in the individual.

Bailey noted the importance of preparing employees: “To put a bolt maker on a machine is a six-month process.”

Bailey commented that Nucor has a two-day at the headquarters process in hiring for some roles. That involves psychological exam and “blood draws.”

Derry said Field frequently relies on “internal referrals” in hiring. Successful hires yield a bonus to the referring employee.

Strandquist emphasized the process of onboarding new employees. “Don’t just put them on a desk and throw manuals at them.”

Field hosts a “Welcome Lunch” for new employees vs. when they leave, Derry said. “Onboarding is critical.”

Derry rated the order of importance to a company as first people, followed by product and then process.

Derry predicted there will be “greater emphasis on company culture,” especially as companies become “less local. Every company has a culture – by design or by mistake.”

Standquist acknowledged that to customers “fasteners can be boring” and the industry needs to “continually educate buyers.”

With the three fastener associations participating in a joint conference, Strandquist said associations “have to continue to demonstrate relevancy and bring value to members.”

Derry, the 1998  NFDA president, recalled associations have talked of consolidation for decades and added there is “still opportunity.”