AD’s 2026 Theme

Recently AD held its IESD networking meeting in Denver. Lots of distributor attendees and, while I wasn’t there, after attending well over 125 NAED and marketing group meetings, I’m confident that I how the opening reception went.

In fact, you could almost say that a Wi-Fi-enabled microphone transmitter was embedded into the forks and dishes or perhaps it was integrated into a mesh network in the napkins that were sponsored by (pick your preferred manufacturer name.)

The conversation went like this:

Hey, (name). How are you? The family? I haven’t seen you since NAM.

All is well, thanks. I didn’t get to NAED this year.

Me neither.

How’s business?

It’s been pretty challenging this quarter. Most of the business is slow but a couple of data centers have helped us out. Lots of quoting and requoting. Commodity pricing has also helped.

Yes, us too.

And we just finished our FMS with our suppliers. Seems like lots of meetings q1. I’m hoping the training and messaging we gave to the sales group and some of the supplier interaction will help stimulate some business.

We’re similar but the challenge with salespeople seems to be an age-old challenge. They call on the same people and sell what they always sell.

I know, and its rarely selling, more like responding to their customers, which we need them to do. If we could be a little more effective, we would take some share.

That’s what I see will be the key to success this year, taking share, targeting selective customers, and maybe some companies who we know we could serve better that are worthwhile and buying from others, and executing on some of the manufacturer initiatives. I hope our sales team isn’t using hope as their strategy.

We’re similar too and doing something a little different with our house accounts.

Yeah, what’s that?

The two individuals we’ve been eavesdropping on decide to continue the conversation, but they have planned dinners to attend so they make plans to connect at the bar later that evening or get coffee first thing the next day to share ideas and continue the networking.

Account Specific Growth Strategies

A couple of ideas to consider that our distributor friends may be discussing include:

Account Penetration

Every year distributors discuss how to better penetrate their key accounts. Most distributors know that there is an opportunity to increase their share within every account. Knowing it and doing it are two different things. The knowing it is frequently intuitive. Many customers support the “gut feel” with some analytics tools that display sales by product category. Salespeople have access to dashboards. Maybe their CRM has it. All nod their heads, say they’ve looked at it, and then move on. If they revisit it, it is sporadically.

IDEA launched a service earlier this year called Data Whispers. It’s part analytics tool and part on-demand virtual sales coaching. And it is designed to be accessed via phone (by texting) when a salesperson is getting ready to visit their customer (so at the point of entry.) They reach out to “Nudge” (IDEA’s avatar), enter the customer information, and then get key insights. It could tie to recent orders, SKUs or product categories not sold, order frequency, pricing / margin concerns and so much more. It can be account specific or compared vs comparable accounts. It’s bite-sized sales insights that turn a sales visit into an informational session that benefits the customer and the company.

If you are not aware of Data Whispers, check it out or reach out.

House Accounts

this harkens to the phrase “there’s gold in them thar hills.” Every sales manager says there is more opportunity in these accounts, if we had the time to call on them. The reality is that there is research needed first to determine account applicability as well as account potential. Most distributors have not classified these accounts or appended applicable information.

Channel Marketing Group is helping some distributors with this aspect. Further, we’re helping companies implement strategies to pursue these accounts. One tactic, that, when executed well can become a strategy, is a customer frequent buyer program. Think airline frequent flyer strategy. When develop well, these strategies are revenue generators to higher margin opportunities. There are 4-8 different program structures that can be modeled to generate sales performance. But they require a well-designed strategy, modeling, communication and, if there is commitment, this can become a platform for penetrating these accounts. Companies like ITA Group can help with program implementation (and we can recommend other resources for smaller initiatives.)

Being Intentional. Hope Isn’t a Strategy

AD’s 2026 Theme

Currently, the market, when looked at nationally, is being driven by data centers, price increases, and commodities (copper was a driver until recently). Its base is artificially higher due to tariffs. Some markets have projects that are driving locale markets.

This means that growth needs to come from intentional strategies. It’s about focus. At the account level. At segments of accounts. Specific geographies.

It’s about account penetration and building moats around your customers.

Like our two AD friends who we listened on inferred, hope cannot be your sales strategy.

If you are choosing to win, what is your strategy?