Like the swallows returning from their 6,000-mile trip to Argentina to the mission at Capistrano, face-to-face association meetings are returning. We are so happy about the situation that we are walking around the office with giddy smiles and goofy grins on our faces.

We attended the Spring 2021 AHTD Meeting.
For everyone there, this was a sneak preview to the “New Normal”. Masks were at the ready, hand sanitizer showed everywhere, but the painful dread of a COVID cell sending us to the hospital was not blatantly hanging over our heads. Most of the attendees had at least one of their vaccinations and while precautions were taken, the atmosphere was abuzz with normalcy. We enjoyed the session.

Here is a short list of why we had such a great time:
• Zoom/Google Meets/MS Teams Burnout.
We have all been totally, exhaustively burned out by these meetings. While “zooming” in these meetings and seeing our friends’ faces is better than an email or a phone call, the experience is lacking. The nature of the meetings insures, we stick to an agenda. While the agenda thing is efficient, there is often no time for the kind of brainstorming required to create really good ideas.
• Room to better understand our clients as real people.
People are not just talking heads. When in the presence of others, you pick up the small things that make life interesting. In a relaxed setting like the “World Famous” KYKLO Beer break, you learn more about clients. For a quick moment, business is eclipsed by hobbies, stories of their families, and interests outside of work. Mutual interests are discovered, explored, and deeper trust established.
• Meeting new people.
It never fails, we get to meet new people. The cool part is many of these folks have heard about us from an existing client. When people feel strongly about the services and solutions you provide, they tell others. New friends with old friends in common equals the brass ring of this merry-go-round we call life.
• Ideas, new ideas, and innovative ideas flow like beer at Happy Hour.
The association meetings we attend have some very thought-provoking speakers. The breaks and networking time is filled with stimulating conversations. Will the idea work? Does it apply to our business? Would others on our team embrace the idea? We find ourselves surrounded, perhaps immersed in an articulate discussion of these potentially life changing matters. Frankly, several have gone on to become part of the KYKLO experience.

Association meetings are only a fraction of the interactions we enjoy.
Many of our trips involve KYKLO’s ongoing dedication to creating successful digital solutions with distributors from sea to shining sea, and across the fruited plains of North America. Each trip is a new opportunity to better understand the many facets of distribution.

KYKLO clients range from some of the smallest and most specialized distributors to larger broad-based wholesalers. While the far-reaching goal of these companies is to match their solutions to customer problems, each of these enjoys a unique personality, and often, a very customer focused value proposition.

Seeing, listening, and observing, the KYKLO team can pick up on how to better help the distributor push their own brand of service out via ecommerce. Further, speaking having a one-on-one with the client’s team always uncovers a few opportunities for us to help, but this is not a one-way thing. In these relaxed settings our clients share thoughts on system improvement and processes for training new members of a client’s team.

As we cruise into summer, we at KYKLO look forward to warm days, cool nights, and family get togethers, but we are also looking forward to walking up, tossing out a firm handshake, fist bump, or whatever salute you prefer and seeing you live and in person.

Distributors using KYKLO can be sure their top vendors have the proper (approved and vetted) product content. This includes new products, and new features added to the product. With KYKLO all of this is part of the “plug and play” format of the system.

Let’s press the flesh, soon!