Distribution Strategy Group

According to Mike Kunkle, to become more customer-centric, distributors should: ?? Better understand the market, including customers’ challenges, opportunities, impacts, needs, outcomes and priorities (COIN-OP). ??Adapt sales models and connect the dots based on customer expectations. ??Listen to customer feedback to improve products and services. Customer advisory boards can be helpful. ??Invest in sales excellence, including tailoring approaches to customer preferences and adding insight, data and expertise to every interaction. ??Foster long-term relationships through consistent and high-quality service. Becoming more customer-centric is 1 of 3 pillars of sales transformation for distributors. Read about the other 2 in his latest post for DSG: https://lnkd.in/g-zDYXV6

?? Happy 100th to The Wholesale Change Show! ?? Over the past four years, The?Wholesale Change Show has featured CEOs from MSC Industrial Supply Co., Global Industrial Company, Zoro.com, Lawson Products, Johnstone Supply and dozens of other leading distributors. Join us for a special milestone event on Oct. 30 as we celebrate our 100th episode! ?? We’ll look back on what we’ve learned and talk about the state of the distribution industry today and where it’s going. Distribution Strategy Group’s own Ian Heller, Jonathan Bein and Brian Hopkins will be joined by long-time distribution executives and frequent guests Ronald E Paulson, who spent decades at Grainger, and Eric Wessinger of Richards Supply. We’ll see you there Oct. 30 at 9 PT/11 ET. Register now to attend our show live: https://lnkd.in/gS9a-MUx Thank you to our sponsors: White Cup , Epicor and Zoro.com

Product content has always been thought of as a cost center. If you have that mindset, Jason Hein of Acumental B2B says, you’ll miss out on opportunities to improve profitability on your ecommerce site. Product content does a lot of what your sales reps do – but online. Your ability to help your customers navigate to what they need is critical to getting the most from your website. But without the right methods to optimize your product content, you could leave a lot of money on the table. Jason will be speaking on this topic at our upcoming Profit & Productivity Summit for Distributors in Chicago, Nov. 11-13. Explore our agenda: https://lnkd.in/gagwkCGp #ProfitSummit24 #ProductivitySummit24 #ProfitandProductivity Ian Heller

Brooks Hamilton will be sharing his insights at this year’s Profit & Productivity Summit, but he’s also looking forward to meeting with the innovative vendors and hearing more about their solutions to the problems faced by today’s distributors. Don’t miss out. Register now to join us in Chicago, Nov. 11-13: https://lnkd.in/guwXmdE7 #ProfitSummit24 #ProductivitySummit24 #ProfitandProductivity

The Biggest Event in Distributor Profitability is Coming to Chicago -- Don't miss it!

Rising interest rates, increased labor costs and the ongoing labor shortage have combined to make profitability more challenging for distributors than it used to be. According to Randy MacLean of WayPoint Analytics Inc., those profits are still there for the taking. Distributors just need to be able to properly leverage their data to find them. In fact, Randy believes that 2025 could be any distributor’s best year ever — as long as they focus on implementing more sophisticated analytical tools and strategies. Randy is joining us as a speaker at our Profit & Productivity Summit on Nov. 11-13. Hear more from him below, and be sure to register for this year’s Profit & Productivity Summit: https://lnkd.in/guwXmdE7 #ProfitSummit24 #ProductivitySummit24 #ProfitandProductivity

If your goal is to drive more profits, here are a few lessons Ian Heller has learned in his 4 decades in distribution. ?? Lesson 1: Profitability is complicated. It’s not only about NOT discounting, it’s about reducing cost to serve, improving purchasing, increasing efficiencies and more. ?? Lesson 2: You need a profitability leader. Why do most companies have a VP of sales and not a VP of profitability? Optimizing profits is a complex process. Why not have specialized leadership? ?? Lesson 3: Margin equals value. The reason you can sell products for more than you paid for them is that you add value to them. The challenge: Each customer values different things. Don’t oversimplify your process, or you’ll fail to capture this value. Get more from Ian on these lessons in his latest blog: https://lnkd.in/grDEN85c *** Ian will be moderating a panel of experts on “What I Wish I Knew About Driving Profits 20 Years Ago” at our upcoming Profit & Productivity Summit for Distributors, Nov. 11-13, in Chicago. Given the incredible opportunities you have to improve your profitability and the complexity of the challenge, how can you skip the industry’s only dedicated conference on distributor profitability? Learn more or register today: https://lnkd.in/guwXmdE7

We're delighted to announce our panel, "What I Wish I Knew About Driving Profits 20 Years Ago" at our upcoming conference. We have amazing experts on the panel with decades of experience, including Scott Sinning, Abhi Singh and Lisa Wodis Backlin. Don't miss this panel or this conference if you want the lates information on how to optimize profitability!

In a panel discussion on Oct. 16, hear from tech providers who are helping distributors leverage AI to drive dramatic improvements in working capital performance that can: ?? increase profitability ?? improve cash flow ?? strengthen supplier relationships ?? create better customer experiences You’ll learn how AI tools can take the guesswork out of customer demand, ensure the right levels of inventory, optimize the source-to-pay and order-to-cash processes, and more. Our panelists are: ??Graham Smith, Esker U.S. ??Chandra Subramanian, ORS GROUP ??Greg Hartunian, Epicor Join us Oct.16 at 9 PT / 12 ET: https://lnkd.in/gSP-Qunz Thank you to our sponsors: Epicor, ORS GROUP and Esker U.S.

Will AI lower payroll costs? That’s one of the myths that speaker Al Bates will dig into in his presentation at the Profit & Productivity Summit for Distributors in November. His take? It’s not that AI won’t lower costs and isn’t worth doing. But to gain a competitive advantage, you have to think bigger. “It’s my view that you have to take technology and do something beyond it, something your competitors are not doing, and that’s awfully difficult to do.” Al shared other myths around profitability in our recent Q&A: https://lnkd.in/g4unFN_n Hear it from him and our other expert speakers firsthand at the Profit & Productivity Summit for Distributors, Nov. 11-13, in Chicago: https://lnkd.in/guwXmdE7 #ProfitSummit24 #ProductivitySummit24 #ProfitandProductivity