Distributors need to consider new approaches to doing business and differentiating themselves in what’s been referred to as the “new normal.” As Publisher Tom Gale wrote in a recent issue of MDM, market-leading distributors are rethinking their models for 2010 and beyond. They are focused on building a leaner, productive operation, built on the strengths and the values that made them successful in the first place.

“If you want to get back to 2007 revenues, you have to identify where that business will be because the drivers of 2007 will …