Top Story

• Do it Best to invest $30 million for Missouri distribution facility
  Do it Best will spend $30 million to construct a distribution center in Sikeston, Mo. "This investment -- and the new facility it will create -- will not only help us continue to meet our members’ current needs but will position us well for our future growth plans," said Bob Taylor, president and CEO of Do it Best. Home Channel News (3/28)     

• Other News

• O.W. Eric Nowlin named Acklands-Grainger's president
  RTT News (4/5)     

Operations and Technology

• How to get better visibility into costs
  Companies that are able to get granular visibility into the costs of their inventory will have a leg up on the competition, writes Frank Tomany of Manhattan Associates. "Only by fine-tuning the logistics strategy at the individual SKU or unit level can you maximize profitability while maintaining high levels of customer satisfaction," he writes. The key to accomplishing this is to use cost-to-serve analysis, he writes. Logistics Viewpoints blog (4/5)     

• Can cloud computing reduce energy use?
  Cloud computing might enable organizations to save on energy costs, according to a survey by CDW. More than 60% of respondents said cloud computing is an energy-efficient option. Another environmental benefit of cloud computing is that it can help employees to telecommute. GreenBiz.com (4/5)     

Sales and Marketing

• How a client advisory board can help your business
  Setting up a client advisory board, which should include five to seven current customers, can help you to gain new insights into your business, writes Ken Thoreson. "We recommend that organizations select not just [their] 'pet' clients but a cross section of clients that will make a commitment for a two year term on the committee," he writes. YourSalesManagementGuru.com (4/2)     

• How to fix your performance-management program
  The key to implementing a successful sales-performance-management initiative is to not get ahead of yourself, writes Joshua Meeks. Two important metrics to focus on from the outset are customer acquisition cost -- how much money are you spending to gain a customer -- and customer lifetime value, he writes. After you have a program in place, it's important to evaluate it to make sure it is successful. Sales Benchmark Index/Sales Force Effectiveness Blog (4/4)     

• Does your marketing speak to all the parts of a sale?
  Savvy business-to-business search marketers will think beyond predetermined conversion goals when constructing digital campaigns and acknowledge there are several important actions customers take on the road to a sale, writes Patricia Hursh. Assign a measurable value to all those actions, then look for clues as to whether prospects are in the early, middle or late stages of the purchase, so communication can be tailored to the stage. Search Engine Land (4/4)     

Hot Topics

Top five news stories selected by NAW SmartBrief readers in the past week.

• The quarterly analysis every sales organization should be doing (Sales Benchmark Index)

• 2 traits of trainable salespeople (OMGHub.com)

• Do It Best CEO: Why shoppers should buy local (IndependentWeStand.org)

• Find the right type of salespeople for the roles you need to fill (The Globe and Mail (Toronto))

• How to make strong connections with B2B buyers (iMedia Connection)

• Results based on number of times each story was clicked by readers.

The Business Leader

• 3 ways to ensure changes don't go disastrously wrong
  When a change effort goes catastrophically wrong, it's often the fault of the leaders behind the project, writes Mary Jo Asmus. Micromanaging your team and undermining their decisions is a quick way to hamstring change efforts and make your workers feel unappreciated, Asmus writes. SmartBrief/SmartBlog on Leadership (4/4)     

• How to lead a pack of alpha dogs
  Every boss dreams of leading a team of truly world-beating talents, but it's often harder to work with superstars than to manage a merely average group of employees, writes Martha Finney. Talented workers are usually opinionated and strong-willed, Finney explains, and bosses must up their game to retain their authority. "Whether you see that challenge as a drag or an adventure will determine your own success moving forward," she writes. HRCareerSuccess.com (4/2)     

• The road to innovation is paved with lousy ideas
  The best corporate innovators are those with a high tolerance for failure, Anne Fisher writes. "Trying to create something truly new means generating lots and lots of ideas, with the understanding that most of them are going to be flops," she adds. "Few businesses are prepared to tolerate, much less encourage, the inevitable failures." CNNMoney/Fortune (4/4)     

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SmartQuote

Faced with the choice between changing one's mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the proof." --John Kenneth Galbraith, Canadian-American economist