By Alan Wolf, YSN
While 2020 is a year that most would prefer to forget, the past 12 months saw many memorable events that were chronicled by YourSourceNews.
As we head into a new and hopefully better year, YSN takes a last look back with the top five stories of 2020. Their selection was hardly scientific, and understandably dominated by the pandemic. But we believe these articles best sum up the challenges of the year, and how the members and the group responded with grit, determination and good cheer.
In no particular order:
Vendors Contend with COVID Concerns
As the gravity of the health crisis began to sink in, the industry was hit with the first wave of COVID-related factory closures, setting the stage for inventory shortages and months’ long back orders.
Better Together Has Never Been Truer
BrandSource members demonstrated their resiliency and esprit de corps by quickly adapting to the “new normal” and selflessly sharing their best practices.
BrandSource Gets Kudos for Virtual Convention
As trade show producers delayed and cancelled events, AVB took the bold step of being first to move its Convention online. The move was praised by members and industry pundits, and led the way for others to follow.
AVB’s Ristow Leads Region Calls with Head and Heart
In the absence of on-site events, AVB CEO Jim Ristow led a series of virtual fireside chats that complemented a new slate of regional call-ins. The virtual forums allowed members to reconnect; provided merchandising updates and industry news; and reminded us that we’re all in this — and will get through this — together.
BrandSource Releases Playbook for Servicers
Amid the health crisis, BrandSource’s National Service Committee stepped up to the plate and forged a successive series of service initiatives that included online training agreements, distributor deals, call-to-action checklists and trade association partnerships. But perhaps none had more immediate impact than the BrandSource Service Playbook, an exclusive 32-page tactical guide and how-to manual for the 75 percent of members that continue to perform their own appliance repairs in the face of industry headwinds.
Bonus Pick: The Top 5 Digital Tools for Winning Online
COVID may have pushed quarantined consumers to the web in record numbers, but most agree it was an acceleration of an already inevitable trend. To help members reap the rewards of AVB’s advanced digital marketing know-how, the group compiled a checklist of critical website sales tools, essential both during and long after the pandemic.
BrandSource, a unit of YSN publisher AVB Inc., is a nationwide buying group for independent appliance, home furnishings and CE dealers.
