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.
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
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.
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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.
While some aspects of the supply chain have adapted to digital communication tools, the distributor-sales representative-manufacturer business model is still largely analog.
In MDM's first 2022 podcast, we explore three factors for how smaller distributors can gain competitive advantage against larger competitors.
The deal strengthens Motion’s ability to compete – particularly for wallet share – against other broadline industrial product distributors.
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'Highly synergistic' acquisition valued at $1.3 billion, according to Genuine Parts Company.
Each of the 19 major sectors that define the U.S. wholesale distribution sector are on pace to experience positive 2021 revenue growth rates.
Some distribution sectors will feel stronger tailwinds than others from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
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Economic forecasts are firming up for the final quarter of 2021 and for 2022. Here’s a summary of the leading forecast resources.
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Mixed signals mark third-quarter financial and economic indicators impacting distribution, such as LEI, industrial production and PPI.
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Retaining and growing the customer base is more complex in the current business cycle, and sales processes are showing a lot of strain as a result. But MDM's upcoming Sales GPS can help.
