Booe's information typically comes from relationships he has created during his 32 years in the industry. Therefore, he hears when a distributor is having trouble paying its bills, or if a certain salesperson is unhappy with his or her current employer. "If there's one channel I focus on, it's the supplier channel," he said. "You know the reps are out every day calling on the distributors, so they're on the front lines. They know, they hear, they see. They're the first ones that know if there's a problem or John Doe at XYZ is not happy because his owner just changed his compensation plan. So that's where I spend my time."
Amanda L. Cole is the editor-in-chief of NonProfit PRO. She was formerly editor-in-chief of special projects for NonProfit PRO's sister publication, Promo Marketing. Contact her at acole@napco.com.