Hope Is Not a Sales Strategy (But Most ITeams Are Running on It)
While we all know that hope is (or should not be) a sales strategy, most industrial supply sales teams, whether they are distributors, manufacturer reps, or manufacturer direct salespeople, are running on it. Yes, there are planning processes and yes everyone sets goals based upon bottom-up input (until the field’s number doesn’t match management’s expectations (or their goals!) At…
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Thriving Amid Consolidation: Talent Opportunities for Independent Distributors
Independent distributors know that business is won based upon their people. It’s relationship and knowledge that makes the difference, In a word, it’s “caring.” Achieving…
The Manufacturer / Rep Alignment Ecosystem
A little background … Channel Marketing Group manages Industrial Supply Trends as a service to the industry. Our core business is consulting with distributors, manufacturer…
NetPlus Members Forecast a Successful 2026
NetPlus Alliance, the industrial and contractor supply distributor marketing group that represents over 400 distributors who purchased over $600M through the group, recently shared their…
2026 Q1 Pulse of Industrial Supply Survey
Last year we launched our Pulse of Industrial Supply survey, and subsequent report, to democratize information and provide distributors, reps, and manufacturers free marketplace information.…
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NetPlus Members Forecast a Successful 2026
NetPlus Alliance, the industrial and contractor supply distributor marketing group that represents over 400 distributors who purchased over $600M through the group, recently shared their members’ 2026 outlook, in conjunction with a recap of their Q4. And the membership, by and large, is looking for growth to continue in 2026. NetPlus Delivers Growth in 2025, Forecasts Same in 2026 According…
2026 Q1 Pulse of Industrial Supply Survey
Last year we launched our Pulse of Industrial Supply survey, and subsequent report, to democratize information and provide distributors, reps, and manufacturers free marketplace information. The research, sponsored by William Blair, asks you to share quarterly performance and outlook, by key product category (if applicable) and key market segments (again, if applicable,) 2026 Q1 Pulse of Industrial Supply Survey Now…
Unlock Margin and Cash Flow Through SPA Enterprise Governance
SPAs, whether you define them as special pricing agreements or ship and debit initiatives, are a way to simultaneously capture business and ensure, perhaps improve, gross margin … if you manage them right. But like most things, the devil is in the details and, with SPAs, because the administrative process touches so many people within a distributor, many distributors do…
Winning Orders with AI-Powered Sales Quoting & Ordering
Last month I participated on Prokeep’s webinar on order quotation and order automation. For a pre-launch event, the attendance was great. Winning Nowadays Goes to the Quickest – Customers Don’t Have Time to Waste Customers want speedy responses to quote and questions. The reason – they are running fast. Not enough time, or maintenance labor, to get all the work…
AI for HR
How AI Can Transform HR for Industrial Distributors The Bottom Line: People are a distributor’s largest asset — and AI can now automate the HR burdens that slow leaders down. HR expert Tracie Sponenberg identifies five accessible, affordable AI tools distributors can pilot today to streamline onboarding, scheduling, performance reviews, employee experience, and HR Q&A. For industrial supply distributors, their…
Distribution Sales Managers: What Top-Performing Sales Teams — And How Leaders Create It
If you lead a sales team for an industrial supply distributor, you already know the pressure. Margins are tight. Competition is aggressive. The number of SKUs continues to grow. We win customers, or current customers leave, for a lower price or faster order turnaround. Customers expect speed, technical accuracy, and competitive pricing. And every year, sales expectations increase, regardless of…
Manufacturers … “Why You?”
For manufacturers, getting your message through the channel, let alone to end-users, can be a challenge. Most are conditioned (could be trained, sometimes it’s historical repetition) to promote features and benefits. And it is always the latest products (which is interesting given that, while they track NPI … the percentage of business driven by new product introductions … there are…
The Friction Gap: Why the Industrial Buyer Journey Has Stalled
Sales cycles are getting longer. Win rates against ‘no decision’ are climbing. The instinct is to blame the buyer for going dark, but the real issue is that the industrial buyer journey has evolved past the channel’s ability to support it. Craig Martin is President of C3 Team, a strategy and marketing agency that works with industrial manufacturers on growth,…
