If you haven’t yet signed up for our upcoming forum, “How Distributors Should Respond to Amazon Business,” you should hurry. Martin Rohde, General Manager for Commercial Customers for Amazon Business, has agreed to speak to attendees; we’re excited about it and grateful to Martin for taking the time. 

Since Amazon Business has grown to $10 billion in revenues in three years, I know Martin has been very busy. I can’t wait to get some insights into how they’ve done it and what it could mean for distributors. I met Martin back when he was VP of B2B eCommerce at Hewlett Packard; he’s brilliant, dynamic and compelling. It will be great to hear him speak at our forum. 

Of course, we have some other powerhouse speakers coming as well:

Alan Adams, the Founder and CEO of Navazon Consulting, will follow Martin on Wednesday. Alan is also teaching a workshop on Tuesday afternoon, teaching attendees how they can maximize sales, profits and branding when selling through Amazon. Alan spent years as a Senior Program Manager at Amazon. He knows what he’s talking about and will help you understand how to negotiate and how to promote your products on Amazon.

Mark Dancer, who runs the Network for Channel Innovation, is a distribution legend. Not only is he a Fellow for the NAW’s Institute for Distribution Excellence, he’s also the author of the association’s upcoming, “Facing the Forces of Change” report, due out next year. He’s an expert at understanding how to respond to disruption and we’re delighted to have him at the forum. 

Justin King, the author of “Digital Branch Secrets” and the founder of the digital e-commerce agency B2X Partners, is one of the thought leaders on how traditional distributors can become true omnichannel companies. Formerly the “Chief Evangelist, B2B E-commerce” at Oracle (how’s that for a title?!), Justin is a brilliant thinker and a terrific speaker. His talk alone will be worth the price of admission. 

Jason Hein is a Principal Consultant at Justin King’s company, B2X Partners. Jason has a fascinating background, including a long stint at McMaster-Carr and then at Amazon Business. Jason understands the contrast, advantages and challenges of both traditional and digital distributors because he’s lived in both worlds. 

Alex Moazed is the co-author of “Modern Monopolies: What it Take to Dominate the 21st-century Economy,” the founder of Applico and a familiar face on business television shows. Alex is one of the world’s leading experts on platform business models (including Amazon’s retail and B2B marketplaces). We’re delighted that Alex is taking time to speak at our conference to explain how platform models work and how B2B distributors can use them to fight back at digital disrupters.

David Sass was one of our most popular speakers at our June conference, “SalesGPS.” David is the President of Source Office & Technology, an office products distributor, and has a long and impressive career in an industry that Amazon entered years ago. David completely overhauled Source's strategy and selling and marketing organization and has built a business that is thriving even though Amazon now sells most of the same products. He’ll explain how he did it and help you understand how you can, too.

I round out the speaker pool. After 30 years working in the distribution industry as an executive and consultant, I joined MDM a year ago and have spent much of that time divining the strategy of Amazon Business. I’ll share my views on Amazon’s strategic motivators, such as growing with technology, innovative cash management strategy, and avoiding antitrust action. There are powerful indicators that can help you understand what the company may do next and how you should respond. 

Essential Information for Strategic Planning

There’s never been a conference like this – about how Amazon Business differentiates and grows and what it means for the distribution industry. As you can tell from our speaker line-up, we are presenting all sides of the story. Martin will no doubt be very compelling in telling you why you should collaborate with one of the world’s fastest-growing and successful companies and get your share of sales on its marketplace. Other speakers will offer their views on the risks and benefits of such a partnership. This is the most qualified group of experts in the industry to give you the information you need to think through your own digital and business strategy in the age of Amazon Business. If you can’t make it, I strongly suggest you find someone in your organization to attend.

By the way, if you’re already selling on Amazon – or considering it – you should attend the pre-conference workshop, too. Alan Adams will help you improve your sales and profitability. You can register for either or both of these events here: https://www.mdm-forum.com.

As always, I welcome your comments and feedback. Please leave a note below or email me at ian@mdm.com.