The MDM Podcast

Larry Davis has strong opinions on change and opportunities to make the supply chain work more effectively as customers have moved quickly to digital procurement. We discuss hybrid sales roles, the power of digital content, value creation and the era of collaboration that is defining new models of competitive advantage going forward.

Peggy Carrieres has worked more than 20 years in the semiconductor industry, including the past six at global electronic components distributor Avnet. An expert in supply chain issues, customer management contracts, pricing negotiations and other industry elements, Carrieres talks about how distributors can ensure a financially healthy inventory mix while working with customers to enrich end-to-end design functions.

After a career leading digital transformation for large distributors and B2C firms, Williams launched networking platform Factrees to digitize and modernize distributor-rep-manufacturer relationships. Think ‘LinkedIn meets a dating app’ to streamline how industrial/construction products sellers find sourcing partners.

Shift7 Digital CEO Andrew Walker draws on his extensive B2B consulting experience with distributors and manufacturers — including Global Industrial — to share what makes for an effective technology strategy. Listen to hear why a product-first focus doesn’t work in distribution e-commerce, the benefits of content storytelling and other ways to differentiate your company’s online experience.

In this episode, Al Bates, principal of Distribution Performance Project and guru of financial performance benchmarking, shares three factors for how smaller distributors can gain competitive advantage against larger competitors as he sees high-touch customer opportunities developing. He also discusses why he wrote his latest book, Profit Guide for the Small Distributor, where he details a profit-first methodology and playbook.

In this podcast, Tracy Buelow, senior director of business development at Zoro, talks about the business elements that are essential to the success of e-commerce platforms and the pandemic's lasting effect on distributors' approach to e-commerce.

What separates businesses that are successful at recouping inflationary pressures versus those that aren't? Drawing from more than a decade of experience in B2B pricing, sales and strategy consulting, Will Humsi, partner at consultancy Simon-Kucher, shares ways distributors can be strategic about their pricing strategy to combat inflation and other margin-reducing factors.

A lot has changed in distribution training best practices in the decade-plus since Jinny Kcehowski took over internal employee training at Curbell Plastics. And that was before the pandemic sent everything virtual. In this podcast, Kcehowski discusses how to use training as a retention technique, pitfalls to avoid and the future of employee development.

Distribution sales strategist Mark Roberts has one question for you: Do you really need more sales people? Perhaps the real question should be: How can I make the most out of my existing sales team? Roberts breaks down the latest thinking on distribution sales team effectiveness, including how to determine who might be better placed in another position.

In this podcast, Motion President Randy Breaux talks about the lessons learned last year and this year, and what he sees coming down the pipe in 2022. There has been an abundance of lessons learned by distributors ever since the pandemic hit last year, but Motion President Randy Breaux says some of the biggest include a better human touch with employees and keeping a laser focus on what customers want.