3 takeaways from NAHAD: Love, AI and a simple way to grow sales

SAN DIEGO, Calif.—The hose industry was out in full force in San Diego this week at the NAHAD annual convention.

Complete with a full schedule of learning, networking activities and sales meetings, the meeting reached its peak with more than 115 companies showing off their products and services at the tabletop exhibit, held April 30 on the final day of the 2024 convention.

Here are three takeaways from NAHAD's four days at the Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina, where the nearly 1,000 attendees—affectionately known as "hosers"—honored one of their own, listened to the (mostly) pros and cons of artificial intelligence, and were advised on one seemingly simple way to add sales.

The highest honor NAHAD gives out is its George W. Carver Outstanding Commitment to Industry Excellence Award. It honors the memory of the founder of Catawba Industrial Rubber, who also was one of NAHAD's founding members and the association's third president.

And this year's honoree, Sam Foti Jr., CEO of metal hose producers Hose Master L.L.C., let his emotions proudly shine through as he was presented with the award.

After all, his father was the first George Carver Award honoree in 2007, and his sister, also active in the business, presented the honor to him at the convention.

Anne Marie Foti, the family-owned company's promotions director, said her brother was the driving force behind the first working group to develop NAHAD standards program. And helping lead the company their father founded was a mission very close to his heart.

"For Sam, all of this was never a job, it was simply his passion," she said. "It burns within him and lights the flame that spreads quickly to those around him. His enthusiasm is infectious and inspiring."

In accepting the award, Foti said it's no secret that family businesses can be challenging, but that's not the case with their family. And the credit for that, he said, goes to their parents.

Sam Foti Sr., now 93, was determined to be at the ceremony, a fact that made his son emotional. "I am honored that we get to share this award. You are my mentor and any good that I may have accomplished can be directly attributed to you," Foti Jr. said.

The younger Foti said the company's board is critical of the fact that one of the firm's stated core values is love.

"They say it's probably inappropriate and unprofessional," Foti Jr. said in accepting the award. "However, we genuinely have passion for what we do and, more importantly, who we do it with. I know that the company's reputation is a factor in winning this award. And there's no questions that Hose Master's reputation is defined by my colleagues."

He advised those in attendance to pay close attention to your relationships. Nothing is more important to him than the partnership he has with his wife, who he said handles the most important aspects of their lives so he can concentrate on his job.

Foti also honored the relationships he has built within NAHAD.

"I'm a manufacturer and I don't like it when my distributors are referred to as customers," he said. "Certainly they give us the purchase orders and the money. But they're not the users of our products. They are our partners that we team up with to more effectively serve our markets. I maintain that these partnerships are critical, and you should find companies that are most consistent with your strengths and values.

"... It's a joy to me to be able to work with people I so deeply respect and enjoy. For me, I believe these friendships are common and that we are in fact part of a very special industry. It's one that's critically important, large enough to be interesting, and yet small enough to be intimate."

Zack Kass, who worked as the head of Go-to-Market for OpenAI, was a key player in channeling the firm's innovative research into tangible business solutions.

And in his keynote speech at the NAHAD meeting in San Diego, he gave the members much to think about. A huge proponent of the potential of artificial intelligence, he said he believes at some point AI will be intellectually equal to humans.

"I think it will be the last technology humans will have to invent," Kass said. "It will be more important than fire, the wheel and the internet combined."

He said that one of the key reasons for the rise in AI was the period of time where capital was available at 0-percent interest rates. That gave OpenAI the opportunity to raise "sovereign nation" types of money to build "Oppenheimer-like projects."

With the future unfolding much faster than most realize, there are a number of monumental decisions that must be made.

One will be deciding the difference between the "Technological Threshold"—or what can the machine do—and the "Societal Threshold"—or what do we want that machine to be able to do.

"Society has no tolerance for mechanical failure, and abundant tolerance for human failure," Kass said.

Now he does have some concerns. Chief is that AI will make humans dumber.

Kass isn't as worried about potential job displacements, noting that both industrial revolutions had a net gain of new jobs that are safer and pay better. A bigger problem, he said, could be identity displacement, as many link their work and personal identities.

The OpenAI alum predicts that artificial intelligence will accomplish unimaginable things, including curing cancer and bring the costs of goods and services to new lows. He also conceives of a world where people have more free time and will have to choose what they do with it.

As to whether there is anything that can derail the rise of AI, he said developers "can science their way out" of such things as computing and energy deficits.

But bad policy and politics could be the one thing to shut AI down.

Many books and courses have been designed around unlocking the secret of how to grow sales. But three-time Wall Street Journal bestselling author and revenue growth consultant Alex Goldfayn said he's designed a method for companies to win market share and predictably grow sales.

The key isn't what your closing rate is, Goldfayn told NAHAD attendees, but how many efforts sales staff members make a day. He said that sales people should be expected to make what he calls 10 "efforts" a day, designed around "Did you know" questions, 20 percent of which he said will result in at least one sale.

Even more effective are "reverse did you know" questions—known as "rDYKs"—a tactic that 80 percent of the time results in at least one product being requested, according to Goldfayn.

In fact, every conversation a sales person has with a customer should include the question, "What else can we get you and when?"

"The work is to choreograph these actions between your customers and your people," he said in his speech.

Goldfayn said the best tactic is a voicemail followed by a text, which he said will bring a response two-thirds of the time, compared with 22 percent by voicemail alone.

Many people don't call because they assume everyone's phone is ringing off the hook, but in reality no one is calling much these days. "A phone call makes you instantly memorable. An email invites you into the garbage," he said.

Another key is to ask a customer what they are buying elsewhere that they could be buying from you, something that can increase your share of "their wallet."

"When you show up proactively, price almost doesn't matter because they need it," Goldfayn said.

He also encouraged NAHAD attendees to aim much of their efforts—and phone calls—at happy customers, the ones you almost never hear from because they are satisfied. The leading indicator of sales growth is that increased actions predict better results.

"Perseverance and resilience are twice as important to sales success as talent is. That means not giving up," Goldfayn said.

"You never know if the next effort is the one that will get things done. If you stop making efforts, you'll never know."