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.
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
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
MDM's Tom Gale discusses the acceleration of change in wholesale distribution brought on by the pandemic and how our upcoming SHIFT event will give attendees the tools needed to succeed in the new normal.
MDM CEO Tom Gale recounts what he learned at Global Industrial's recent expo in New Orleans, which included an exclusive interview with CEO Barry Litwin.
MDM to host unified industry summit Sept. 25-27 in Broomfield, Colorado to help distributors navigate business model transformation across sales structure, digital and data analytics.
In this week’s MDM Podcast, Gartner’s Maria Boulden, Mike Marks of Indian River Consulting Group and Tom Gale tackle all things sales transformation: Massive shifts in customer buying behavior, digital-first go-to-market strategy, supplier partnerships and the new sales skills needed to compete, including situational awareness, data literacy and digital dexterity.
Distribution leaders have played a mostly reactive role as conduits for products and services — but more are now taking on proactive approaches as facilitators and value creators. In a new MDM podcast, Tom Gale and Dirk Beveridge talk about how evolving leadership dynamics are changing the industry.
Tom Fournier, president of Shade’s Mills Group, a sales strategy consultancy based in Cambridge, Ontario, shares insights from a career managing sales channels in Canada and the U.S. with an international jan-san products manufacturer.
The pandemic is a giant tipping point that has accelerated the rate of change. The cost of not adapting your current sales model could be a slow death.
The outlook for 2022 remains bright, but government efforts to restrain inflation, global instability and continued supply chain challenges seem to shift the variables almost daily.
MDM welcomes content leader with deep industry experience as it strengthens industry coverage in 2022.
The tools your sales team needs to be successful look very different than just a few years ago. Technology is an increasingly important part of the equation to sell better in turbulent markets, but it’s part of a bigger picture.
In this week's MDM podcast, Walter SVP Chester Collier shares four decades of international sales management and business development experience across industrial distribution channels. We discuss the current state of channel dynamics and how sales management has — and has not — evolved in the face of rapid change the past few years.
The field salesforce is the heart and soul of distributor go-to-market strategies. For great reasons. It’s also the biggest hidden bite to profitability today. Here’s a primer on the challenges and 3 keys to successful sales transformation that every distributor can profit from.
Download MDM's M&A Report: Activity in all industries finished 2021 at record levels, with more than 5,000 deals completed in the fourth quarter alone.
In the MDM Podcast this week, Global Industrial CEO Barry Litwin discussed the company’s 2021 financial performance, as well as the strategic initiatives it is undertaking to continue a transformation process.
John Gunderson has one of the most extensive networks across distribution verticals, including electrical, datacom, general-line MRO and construction supplies. In a new podcast, we discuss how 2022 might shape the ways executive teams manage inventory, pricing, margin expansion and digital.
In this week's MDM podcast, ProfitOptics CEO Tony Pericle shares his passion for how distributors can use analytics and technology to make better decisions. He discusses prescriptive analytics, AI, workflow automation, profit optimization and more.
Motion Industries President Randy Breaux shares details on how the deal came together, synergies and future growth opportunity in this deeper dive into the $1.3-billion transformative acquisition combining the No. 1 and No. 3 power transmission/motion controls distributors in North America.
Complexity of industrial markets and professional end users bodes well for traditional distributors, but as AgoNow's Larry Davis says in an MDM podcast, creating value means combining strong digital support and new sales roles.
