Business

At VAI, we are even more excited to welcome Fall, as we set our eager sights on Nashville, the destination of Prevail 2018, VAI’s Customer Conference. Taking place November 8-10 at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center, Prevail 2018 is expected to be our biggest, most attended, and advanced conference to date.

The old saying is, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” This holds true especially with your company website. The design of your website has the power to intrigue and entice your viewers, or send them straight to your competitors. With a well-designed website, your company can potentially increase and maintain web traffic and visibility, leading to greater sales and a better bottom-line. According to Aberdeen, Embracing Change in Wholesale and Distribution, online ecommerce has altered the way organizations take orders and how they get their products into the hands of their customers. As retailers continue to increase global transactions, they must adapt to enhancing the user experience by presenting customers with more immersive and interactive web interfaces.

We have all been to an event or business meeting at some point in our careers. Learning the do’s and don’ts of networking takes experience, trial, and error. Business networking is an effective, low-cost marketing method that can help develop sales opportunities. It is the connecting of individuals, through trust and relationship building, and these individuals can become walking, talking advertisements for your business. Networking doesn’t have to be your typical face-to-face encounter. Rather, it can be a simple phone call, email or social media connection. Immersing into one or all of these business savvy communication methods can give you the chance to not only discuss your business with professionals, but also the opportunity to learn from others.

Many people today consider themselves skilled members of the social media community, logging in frequently to their Twitter, Facebook, and/or LinkedIn accounts. We tend to view social media as a communication tool as routine and necessary as email and phone calls. However, many probably don’t view these accounts as an engine to enhance customer service across their organization.

As the Thanksgiving Holiday approaches, I would like to give special thanks to the core of VAI’s business operation…… both family members and our extended family, our VAI employees. Immediate family members have important roles in the organization and are ultimately responsible for maintaining the highest level of customer satisfaction and providing leading edge products and services. Equally important are our employees, many whom have been with VAI for 20 to 30 years. They are also part of the VAI family, based on our years and time spent together, our mutual goals and objectives, and shared recognition that to be successful, we need to work together as a cohesive team. We take pride in running a business centered on core values that deliver exceptional customer service and expertise to our worldwide customer base. I consider myself very fortunate to be able to work with such a talented and motivated team, as it has given VAI the opportunity to grow over the years by offering the highest level of customer satisfaction.