In its series of informal member surveys as a way to provide a snapshot of distributor activity, HARDI most recently turned its lens toward operations and recovery-oriented issues.

The Pulse Survey results released this week reported that just under half of participants were allowing sales teams to visit customers as of the last week in May. Ten percent were allowing in-person visits, but only at the customer's request.

More than half of respondents say they envision a longer-term normal that involves less in-person interactions and more "serve yourself" activity like ordering via text, web, and email.

New questions in this week's survey also inquired about sanitizing distributor locations. Six out of ten reported no struggles in managing this area. Nineteen percent did report either running short or having trouble finding adequate cleaning supplies. Only 9 percent indicate they "don't have the most effective sanitizing strategy," according to the association.

Six percent responded that they still have no documented sanitizing procedures in place.

On the HR side of operations, a solid 70 percent report having no issues. Fifteen percent report trouble with either employees or customers not following documented procedures.

As for sales, the survey's questions shifted context to ask about year-over-year as opposed to the previous week. Not surprisingly, over half of participants indicated their sales are down between 5 and 20 percent compared to this time last year. Seven percent said their sales remained steady.

Six percent of HARDI respondents said that they have at least one employee who has tested positive.

Fifty-five percent of respondents said cooling season had not begun in their areas quite yet as of Memorial Day weekend. Related, HARDI has published a "Five Keys To Peak Season" guide for distributors on its website.

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