Editor's Note: In this article, survey results are frequently presented showing Market Leader response vs. other distributors. MDM’s Market Leaders lists are available at mdm.com/marketleaders. The lists show the largest distributors in eight sectors.

There is a wide variety of marketing practices within the wholesale distribution industry. Real Results Marketing in partnership with Modern Distribution Management conducted an online survey to better understand these practices. In general, distributor respondents that appear on MDM’s Market Leaders lists more broadly embrace marketing as evidenced by the amount of resources they apply. Not surprisingly, they obtain better marketing results than other distributors. This article, the first in a two-part series, explores approaches to sales channels. The second article, to be published May 25, examines how marketing vehicles are used in independent distribution channels.

Over the past 20 years, there has been a broad movement by distributors to make various operational improvements through the use of warehouse automation, RFID, transportation management systems, 3PL outsourcing, process …