Industry Insights
-
The Minefields of Building Companies through Acquisition
A study of both successful and disastrous consolidations finds 10 common mistakes that drive employee misunderstanding and mistrust after the deal.
-
2 Trends to Watch in B2B: Item Recognition and Voice Ordering
This post previews some of the key findings in the third report based on our research for the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors into how technology will transform the wholesale distribution industry.
-
Pull Your eCommerce System Back from the Jaws of Defeat
The increase in digital buying behavior is here to stay, pandemic or no – especially as the number of millennial decision-makers rises. If your ecommerce system isn’t delivering expected ROI, now is the time to uncover the real culprit holding your site back.
-
How to Fend Off Amazon with AI Strategies of Your Own
Amazon Business is projected to make $52 billion in sales by 2023. For distributors to fend off this AI-powered giant, they’ll need to understand and adopt AI strategies of their own.
-
When Your Sales Team Sabotages Your eCommerce Initiative
When salespeople are slow to embrace ecommerce, they miss opportunities that not only hurt the company, but the customers they are trying to help. They’re even hurting themselves.
-
Why Some Distribution Verticals Are More Vulnerable to Disruption
To understand how vulnerable a distribution vertical is to disruption, look at the relationship between the product category’s complexity and the ability for the distributor to deliver that product using common small-package carriers.
-
Burned But Not Destroyed: How Crises Foster Innovation
Recently, the Atlantic posted a story about the resilience of human societies in the face of disaster. The author made a strong historical argument that disasters have, in fact, stoked the development of modern cities.
-
How Minimum Order Quantity (MOQ) Can Solve Small-Order Problems
Setting a Minimum Order Quantity is quick, predictable, and perfectly suited for the V-shape recovery. It’s a great strategy for distributors that have taken a hit to their cashflow over 2020 and are looking for short-term relief.
-
Why Sales Reps Go Straight to Price: 3 Challenges in Selling Value
We talk a lot about the importance of sales reps’ selling value, rather than going directly to price.
-
Want to Succeed with Industrial Vending? Stop Making These 5 Mistakes
Read about five common mistakes distributors make when considering and offering vending and inventory control solutions, and how to overcome them.
-
Wholesale Change Show: Fix Your eCommerce System (September 23, 2020)
Do you feel like your ecommerce platform is broken – not delivering the ROI you expected? You’re not alone.
-
Blockchain in Supply Chain Management: Why You Should Care
This post summarizes some of the key findings in the second report based on our research for the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors into how technology will transform the wholesale distribution industry.
-
The 3 Ingredients You Need to Build a Successful Marketplace
Marketplaces are among the most successful business models of the modern era. From Amazon to Google to Grainger’s Zoro, there’s clearly good money in the marketplace.
-
Why Is Cross-Selling Effectively So Difficult for Distributors?
Selling more to existing customers is more profitable than acquiring new customers. So why don’t many distributors succeed at effectively cross-selling to their customers?
-
What is Your Product? Knowledge, Information and Service
Here’s what to consider when considering what “product” means to your distribution business and your customer relationships.
-
The Role of AI in Building a Better B2B Sales Model
Here’s why hybrid models are ideal for this new sales landscape, how outside sales reps are primed to dominate this disrupted environment, and what tools including AI they’ll need to do it.
-
Only Bad Leaders Qualify for ‘Undercover Boss’
If you hide so well – in your office or among your own employees – that your employees can’t recognize you, then you are not prominent in your own company and you aren’t a leader.
-
The Art of Sales Prospecting When You Can’t Be There: A New Challenge for Field Sales in Distribution
Distributors’ field sales teams are adapting to a new way of reaching prospects now that they cannot just get in the car to visit in person.
-
HD Supply White Cap-Construction Supply Group Deal is a $4B Look into the Future of Distribution
If you’re a distributor, keep an eye on White Cap, which – thanks to the help of CD&R and The Sterling Group – is modeling one of the only viable paths to a successful future.
-
Real Advice About AI in Distribution: Get Ready for the Next Tech Revolution
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not just “advanced technology” – it’s a learning technology that improves on its own without human intervention. AI relies on big pools of data that are fed into machine learning algorithms (math formulas) to continually make decisions, evaluate their own performance and get better over time.