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…
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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…
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…
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…
Manufacturers – Data Cleanup Doesn’t Work on Autopilot
Most distributors are dependent upon their manufacturers for product data (some have internal resources) to power their eCommerce systems and, increasingly, to support AI-powered applications.…
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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…
Manufacturers – Data Cleanup Doesn’t Work on Autopilot
Most distributors are dependent upon their manufacturers for product data (some have internal resources) to power their eCommerce systems and, increasingly, to support AI-powered applications. Most manufacturers rely on their internal staff to develop it. But here’s a sneaky, albeit obvious observation … manufacturers 1) develop new products, 2) occasionally have enhancements / refinements, and 3) desire to upgrade the…
The Most Valuable Feedback You’re Not Reviewing
Every company seeks to improve profitability. While you endeavor to price everything correctly with a goal of achieving the desired margin, there are the inevitable. This why the phrase “sh*T happens” was invented. People are not infallible and most people do not make errors on purpose. Sometimes a typo is a typo. Sometimes mistakes occur because of lack of training…
Q2 Pulse of Industrial Supply is Open till June 22
Fastenal’s headline number for May was 15%. Dig into the numbers and another area (non-contract accounts) is 8%. Online is 11%. The question becomes, what is the market doing? Q2 Industrial Supply Dynamics Q2’s dynamics included higher energy costs, tariff changes, commodity price increases. The industrial segment, overall, appears to be rebounding, especially oil / gas and industrial machinery.…
Adding a Nudge to Sales Coaching to Accelerate Sales
Every conference has some session about AI. And every reception at every conference has someone asking about what you’re doing with AI. So, imagine being at a conference that is all about AI and where everyone is talking AI 24x7x3. This is what will happen next week at DSG’s Applied AI conference in Chicago. If you are attending get ready…
The Industrial Inventory Paradox & Central Surplus Origin
In 2009, my construction company was hired by an MRO and industrial electrical distributor for a warehouse renovation project. The owner knew exactly what he wanted, we were in constant, direct contact. As we built a working relationship, I started asking questions about the mechanics of industrial distribution—the supply chain dynamics, manufacturer relationships, logistics, and inventory management. It was captivating.…
Fastenal’s May Outperforms. The Market?
Last month Fastenal reported sales of $751.5 million, putting them on track for around $9 billion (or slightly more at their growth rate) at the end of the year. May’s corporate sales were up nearly 15%. Looking at it from customer market perspective: Heavy manufacturing customers up by 18.7% Non-residential construction sales increased by 16% Other manufacturing sales climbed by…
Who Has Margin Responsibility in Your Company?
While national chains reported strong growth in Q1, and independents performed comparably based upon our 2026 Q1 Pulse of Industrial Supply report, aided by increased pricing tied to tariffs, commodity price increases that supported manufacture price increases, and industrial end-user performance, the challenge for distributors is that their operating costs continue to rise … and they don’t have the luxury…
