In a recent Distribution Strategy Group panel discussion, Ian Heller spoke with two distribution industry leaders: Molly Langdon, Senior Vice President of Customer Experience at Stellar Industrial Supply, and Stephanie Kuntz, Director of Marketing at Palmer-Donavin, to explore how distributors are evolving to meet rising customer expectations.

Here’s what they shared.

Missed the webinar? You can watch it here on-demand.

Customer Experience is Everyone’s Job

Most distributors sell products customers can get elsewhere. What makes a lasting impression, Heller said, is the experience: how easy you are to work with, how reliable you are and how much customers trust you.

Langdon shared how Stellar Industrial has shifted its organizational mindset to put customer experience at the front. “We renamed Operations to Customer Experience,” she said. “It puts a whole different lens on every activity. Everyone—from the person picking an order to the branch managers, who are now called customer experience managers—understands their role in the customer journey.”

“There isn’t one person in our organization who isn’t responsible for customer experience,” Langdon added. “When you connect the dots for employees about how their role impacts the customer, it changes behavior and builds accountability.”

Kuntz echoed that sentiment, noting that at Palmer-Donavin exceptional experience starts with simple, honest communication. “You’re not overcomplicating it. It’s being open, getting customers the answers they need quickly, and anticipating their needs based on data and past behavior,” she said.

“When you understand your customers’ history and their expectations, you aren’t just reacting, you’re proactively solving their problems before they even call you.”

Technology Should Enhance, Not Complicate, Customer Experience

The panelists agreed that technology is essential, but only when it improves customer experience. “The minute you feel like you’re fighting technology, something’s wrong,”  Langdon said.

Kuntz described how they learned this lesson firsthand at Palmer-Donavin. After launching a chatbot on their website, they quickly realized it wasn’t a fit for their customers, at least not yet. “We pulled it down within four hours. We realized we needed to meet our customers where they are. Instead, we’re using AI internally first, so our team can refine it before we ever expose it externally,” she said.

Both leaders stressed that the goal isn’t just more technology; it’s about better, more seamless service.

“If your internal systems aren’t easy to use, it’s going to translate to poor service externally. Ease of doing business has to start inside your company,” Langdon said.

Clean Customer Data is Critical 

If distributors want to personalize customer experiences, they must start with clean, reliable data.

Kuntz emphasized the importance of maintaining data hygiene in CRM systems. “We don’t allow sales reps to just add contacts. We control that process tightly,” she said. Palmer-Donavin even switched marketing platforms to fully integrate CRM and their marketing efforts, so that every contact record stays clean and actionable.

“Our CRM is our single source of truth,” Kuntz said. “We transitioned our marketing automation to Microsoft Marketing so everything from contact records and segmentation to customer preferences lives in one system.”

Langdon added that the data should reflect each customer’s influence, needs and role within their organization. “The more you understand the customer, the more you can meet their needs,” she said. Distributors should understand the customer’s influence level, how long they’ve been at their company and how their decisions impact the buying process.

The Importance of Training 

One key challenge in building a customer-centric culture is balancing employee empowerment with the need for consistency.

Langdon said that empowerment without training is useless. “You can empower someone all day long, but if they don’t know what to do, it’s not going to happen,” she said. Stellar gives employees guardrails: empowering them to “do the right thing without betting the farm.”

“We don’t leave employees guessing. We give them structured training, clear expectations and shared services support so they can focus on solving customer problems quickly and confidently,” Langdon said.

At Palmer-Donavin, Kuntz said that their employee ownership structure reinforces this mindset. “Our number one principle is ‘think and act like an owner,’” she said. “That mindset supports empowerment with responsibility.”

Both Stellar Industrial and Palmer-Donavin use Customer Experience Rx, a specialized solution for distributors from Distribution Strategy Group.

Langdon said that customer feedback is vital, but it’s just one piece of the puzzle. “We also measure operational KPIs like on-time delivery and order accuracy down to the branch level. You have to look beyond financial metrics to truly gauge customer satisfaction.”

Palmer-Donavin has seen strong results, with NPS scores typically ranging in the 60s and 70s. But Kuntz said that they also use qualitative feedback to highlight successes and coach improvement areas. “We export all customer comments and highlight when employees are mentioned by name. It reinforces positive behavior internally,” she said.

“Celebrating the wins is just as important as fixing the misses,” Langdon said. “When you recognize and replicate what’s working, you build a positive momentum across the organization.”

Kuntz said that looking at trends across locations has helped Palmer-Donavin prioritize where to invest in process improvements, ensuring customer experience remains consistent even as they grow.

Customers Expect More

One major shift Langdon sees is the move toward deeper customer partnerships. “Customers are making us part of their team,” she said. “They expect us to be proactive, to tell them about usage trends before they even ask. Expectations are higher than ever.”

“We’re no longer just a supplier; we’re a partner embedded in their business operations,” Langdon said. “That means we need to anticipate their needs, not just react to them.”

Kuntz said that internal collaboration across sales, marketing and customer service is crucial to meeting those expectations. “Customer experience can’t live in just one department. It’s a companywide effort,” she said.

Both leaders agreed that customers now expect real-time visibility, proactive communications and personalized service. Companies that can’t deliver risk losing business to more agile competitors.

Be Intentional About Culture 

Perhaps the most important takeaway was the importance of an intentional culture. “Culture eats strategy for breakfast,” Heller said. A culture of continuous improvement and customer focus doesn’t happen by accident; it must be nurtured.

Distributors that build organizations where every employee owns customer experience, supported by the right technology and data, will lead the way.

“If the employee experience is good, the customer experience will be good. It all works together,” Langdon said.

“When employees feel empowered, supported, and trusted, it shows up in every customer interaction,” Kuntz said. “Culture isn’t just about values on a wall; it’s about what people live out every day.”

Watch the full program on-demand.