Tom Fournier at ISSA

Field Trip Report – ISSA Chicago

I feel like a school kid writing a report on a recent field trip! I did travel to Chicago in October, 2022 for the annual ISSA Show. For those not in the industry, ISSA is the International Sanitary Supplies Association also known as the Worldwide Cleaning Industry Association.  This is where I have spent my…

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MarketsConnection. What is this all about?

By Tom Fournier ***Update March 23, 2023*** We have processed a real sale and were able to generate a shipping label and schedule the delivery pickup. It appears at long last we can move forward! Next step is to flesh out the site properly and set up our first complete vendor store. *** Update February…

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Tom Gale at Balpex

Traveling with Tom Gale

By Tom Fournier In September, I had the unique opportunity to host Tom Gale, CEO of Modern Distribution Management on a Canadian visit. I have always enjoyed Tom’s webcasts and podcasts as well as the outstanding distribution and industry related content that his organization generates. It was wonderful to have the time with Tom, whether…

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Great summer tribute

What a Great Summer!

I had a fantastic summer which included renewing a number of work relationships that have stood the test of a career shift to stay lasting friendships. I also had the distinct honour of being invited to join my former team as they were wrapping up a meeting that included all of their Canadian employees. I…

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Being Creative Graphic

Being Creative – Applying Writing Techniques to Focused Work

I was sitting at my desk thinking I needed to come up with some fresh content for my website blog which in turn would anchor my monthly newsletter. Maybe it was because of the summer and being in “vacation mode” but I had nothing. Then as I was scrolling through Twitter, I came across a…

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What is Tom Up to Now?

You may have seen me teasing the launch of a new business venture and then kicking off MarketsConnection.com at the ISSA Show in Toronto several weeks ago. I realize this begs some questions: What does this mean for the Shade’s Mills Group? And also: What is exactly is MarketsConnection and how do the two businesses…

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Download Sales Lexicon

B2B Sales – Terms and Definitions

As you go digging into sales strategies and sales models, you will encounter a whole new language that is acronym rich! For several years now I have been keeping a document where I will jot down a new term and then find an explanation or a definition. Seeing as it has been some time since…

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Tom Fournier on MDM Podcast

Talking Canada With MDM!

Our Tom Fournier joins Tom Gale, CEO of Modern Distribution Management to discuss the world of selling jan-san products in the Canadian B2B market.

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warehouse

I Have Been Thinking About Inventory

A number of things that I have been working on has me thinking about the inventory that a distributor holds. What metrics do distributors use to measure their inventory in terms of their business performance? I have come across the term:  GMROI That is Gross Margin Return on Investment. GMROI evaluates profitability of your inventory…

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Talking on the Use of LinkedIn for ISSA Canada

On March 23rd, 2022 Tom Fournier made himself available for ISSA Canada’s Coffee Talk Forum to discuss how to maximize an individual’s use of LinkedIn as a networking and a selling tool. That video can be seen here:

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