AI is already fueling next-gen sales models, but data analytics are the foundation to better engage, sell and service customer needs. Here’s the growth roadmap MDM is exploring at our Data Analytics Summit.
Tom Gale
Tom Gale has been an MDM researcher and industry analyst for 30+ years on independent distribution channel trends, consolidation, technology and competitive landscape. He is a frequent speaker and moderator on these topics at company, marketing group and association meetings in North America and Europe.
Posts By Tom Gale
Tom Gale recaps the unique industry event that connected distributors exploring disruptive tech and emerging solution providers, including insights from Grainger and Graybar's CEOs.
James Dorn summarizes Dorn Group’s latest survey results that hold some surprising insights for distributors on the pricing front.
James Dorn and Tom Gale outline ways to leverage manufacturer incentives, create strategic tiered suppliers at a product category level and capture every available dollar before year-end.
Mike Marks and Tom Gale discuss data points from the 3Q23 Baird-MDM Survey, what the front lines in distribution are saying about how 4Q is shaping and things firms can do now to outperform in 2024.
Distributors who build a learning organization empower creativity and agility, differentiating themselves in the face of challenges and nurturing growth.
Where is your team today in the skills and capabilities that will define your future growth rate and ability to out-compete effectively? Tom Gale eyes the critical next few years in B2B distribution.
Teams that pivoted faster have outperformed competitors. Tom Gale and Mike Marks discuss how to assess your team’s transformational capabilities.
With budgets and action plans already looking to next year, Tom Gale examines how to identify where your team is today across the dimensions of people, sales process, technology and data analytics.
Having discussed the shift from a gen-one to gen-two distributor, Mike Marks and Tom Gale explore the industry's larger business model transformation, and where competitive advantage is being won and lost.
Revenues generated through Amazon Business have grown by 40% and its global customer base by 20% over the past two years.
Deal activity outpaces most expectations, but valuations and market dynamics have shifted dramatically from the previous two years of a hot seller’s market environment. Here are some key themes emerging for the year ahead for buyers and sellers alike.
Like the industry it serves, NAW is undergoing a powerful transformation as an organization. Here, Tom Gale and Mike Marks debrief from an energizing program of content, networking and ideas-sharing.
What’s out? Doomscrolling. What’s in? Distribution industry executives making more data-informed decisions supported by stronger technology and analytics. In our first Quicktake podcast conversation of the year, IRCG’s Mike Marks and MDM’s Tom Gale look at the opportunities for distributors to take what the business cycle and competitors will provide in the year ahead.
Tom Gale takes an appreciative look forward to 2023, highlighting some exciting things we have in store for the year ahead.
In a discussion on threats, themes and strategic planning for 2023, James Dorn of the Dorn Group and MDM’s Tom Gale discuss thinking beyond rebates, the rise of customer self-serve, the power of segment focus and pain relief, and a call to rewrite the operating manual for distributor-supplier relationships and value creation.
Decades before digital transformation became an imperative, Jay Platt, CEO of BlueVolt and former CEO of Platt Electric, was on a mission to improve how his customers, team members and vendors could access information, whether for training, customer support or building a stronger company culture. He’s still at it.
MDM’s team has been on the fall conference tour. Here, Tom Gale and IRCG’s Mike Marks compare notes from conversations at Affiliated Distributors, NetPlus and ISSA's recent summits, as well as MDM’s SHIFT event. They also cover the latest Baird-MDM quarterly MarketPulse survey, with most distributors reporting double-digit growth amid few signs of a slowdown.
Mike Marks and Tom Gale examine a California lawsuit against Amazon, the broader trade practices at play for distributors and the broader issues for how distributors can differentiate with stronger value propositions.
There's an old saying that GPS has gotten more people into trouble than out of trouble. They lose sight of the bigger picture. The same can be said for investments in technology and other big change projects
