Regardless of how we got here, what many of us discovered is a career that offers more than just selling and moving boxes.
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WMS, LMS, OMS, WES, YMS: whatever acronym we use, they’re all tools, but they’ll never replace the need for leadership.
Trent Gillespie will detail approach to AI in a keynote entitled “Designing an AI-enabled business” at Distribution Strategy Group’s Applied AI for Distributors conference.
Upcoming Programs
Join us on June 4, 9 PT/12 ET, as we delve into strategies for leveraging these platforms to boost sales and stay competitive.
Join us on Thursday, June 5, 2025 at 9 PT/12 ET for a new AI News and Gurus: The Show for Intelligent Distributors
Join us on June 11, 2025 at 9 PT / 12 ET as we delve into the current state of distributor pricing and costing
Join us on June 18, 9 PT/12 ET, to explore the data infrastructure behind the electrical, HVAC, and plumbing industries, and where it’s headed
Whatever else happens in the world, your competitors will use AI to drive performance.
In logistics, we track everything: fill rates, dock turns, labor ratios. But leadership? That’s harder to quantify.
Forget the buzzwords—these five practical strategies are helping distributors turn AI into real-world profit gains.
Recent Reports
If created and managed well, outbound and inbound calling programs can be very effective. What’s more, implementation does not have to be expensive or
For many, inside sales involves ordering, technical support, returns handling and credit management. Rarely does it involve proactive, outbound sales. Simply put, those with
When we ask successful distribution company executives about the sweet spots in their market, they readily provide a confident answer. The problem with the
Up-selling and cross-selling are the two primary means of growing an account. Among these, cross-selling is paramount. Here’s why: many distributors have regular customers
One of the biggest challenges for any sales and marketing organization is when to reach out to a customer with an offer or promotion.
Good product data is crucial for any successful distributor catalog or e-commerce website. This includes accurate and complete specifications of products as well as
Catalogs and e-commerce are critical individual components in distributors’ marketing arsenals. Distributors that have taken advantage of clear synergies between the two are reaping
Distributor measurements of effectiveness primarily include return on marketing investment, customer retention and lifetime value, and secondarily include share of wallet and internal rate
There was heavier participation from industrial, electrical/electronics, building, safety, hardware, and HVACR. Other participating sectors include chemicals and plastics, building materials, pulp and paper,
The research performed included interviews with nearly 10 distributor senior executives and an online survey taken by 170 participants across a variety of distribution
There is a very wide variety of marketing practices within the distribution sector. In general, the MDM Market Leaders more broadly embrace marketing as
Historically, distributors were limited to in-store marketing vehicles such as print flyers, catalogs, some telemarketing and tradeshows. Marketing vehicles that have become prevalent in
It may be that many distributors are just guessing when it comes to positioning and messaging. Their beliefs about what attributes are important to