How Agentic AI Could Change How Industrial Supplies Are Bought
Amidst the conversation about AI, data centers and the industrial construction market, all of which distributors benefit from, there is another conversation that, as typical, starts on the consumer side and then migrates to B2B. This is how AI is / may change business models … and when Inevitably it does not occur as quickly as the Big 4…
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3M’s Solid Results Signal Industrial Demand and Pricing Power Driven by Manufacturing Recovery
3M, a multinational conglomerate in the industrial, safety, and consumer goods segments, announced 2Q 2026 earnings on July 21, 2026. Revenue was $6.5 billion, an…
The New ISA Board: What It Tells Us About the Industrial Channel
ISA recently announced their 2026 / 2027 Board of Directors to represent the membership and guide the leadership on the member’s needs. Further, with ISA…
The Death of “Trust Me” Selling
How One Distributor Turned a Top Performer’s Instinct into a Methodology Their Whole Sales Team Could Use Recently I was talking to Susan Merlo from…
NetPlus Members See Positive 2nd Half
NetPlus shared insights from its member survey and their performance” “A strong start to the year for NetPlus Alliance members is also signaling a strong…
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The Death of “Trust Me” Selling
How One Distributor Turned a Top Performer’s Instinct into a Methodology Their Whole Sales Team Could Use Recently I was talking to Susan Merlo from The Digital Distributor, and we were discussing the industrial distribution market and distributor challenges. One of the topics was how distributors need to adjust their sales techniques in order to differentiate themselves to capture share…
NetPlus Members See Positive 2nd Half
NetPlus shared insights from its member survey and their performance” “A strong start to the year for NetPlus Alliance members is also signaling a strong 2026. Distributors shared their optimism grounded in sound strategies and industry observations. The Industry Outlook, a quarterly report based on a survey of NetPlus members, tracks business results and trends in the industrial and contractor…
Are You a Market Maker or a Market Server?
With this article we’re introducing a new contributor – Frank Hurtte from River Heights Consulting. Frank is known for his industrial sales expertise and has written two books on industrial sales – The Distributor Specialist: Customer Champion, Profit Generator and The New Sales Guy Project. Frank and I talk regularly, and we’ve collaborated on some projects together. Now he’s going…
MSC 2026 FYQ3 – Navigating the Pivot – Price, Sales Growth and Headcount
Price-Led Growth Gives Way to Early Volume Recovery MSC Industrial reported third quarter results on July 1, 2026. Net sales increased 7.8% to $1.047 billion, driven mainly by price with a little volume. Price contributed about 720 bps to growth; volume contributed roughly 50 bps, indicating an inflection back to positive volume after Q2 weakness. Gross margin was 41.1%, slightly…
“Be Like Mike?” Perhaps Data Like Grainger
Grainger probably has more eCommerce experience than any distributor. I remember back when they acquired a stake in MRO.com to form FindMRO.com. People thought they were crazy. In reality, it was probably a great experience from a learning perspective. They’ve built an eCommerce machine that also enables them to power Grainger.com and Zoro.com but also is the backbone of the…
The Hidden Tax of Returns: How Industrial Distributors Turn Dead Stock into Cash
Every distributor has seen it: return shelves overflowing with parts that came back from a customer, parts that never sold, and parts that are technically inventory but functionally furniture. Returns are the sleeper line item for industrial distributors (and even manufacturers!) They don’t show up in the sales meeting. They show up in the margin — months later, wearing a…
Can eCommerce Help Your Silver Tsunami?
Noted B2B eCommerce guru Jason Greenwood on his THE ECOMMERCE EDGE (which, if you are in senior management, sales leadership, marketing, or eCommerce you should subscribe) recently wrote about “the silver tsunami” and the opportunity, and role, for eCommerce … and AI. We’ve all seen the number of people retiring from the industry. We all look around at conferences and…
Was there an Elephant in the Room at the Applied AI for Distributors Conference?
Mark McGready, Director Data Analytics and Solutions for IDEA, attended the 2026 Applied AI for Distributors Conference organized by Distribution Strategy Group. While he spoke to attendees about IDEA’s Data Whispers solution and how Nudge (its avatar) helps drive sales, profits and acts as a virtual sales coach and information resource tailored to each distributor’s offering and is based upon…
