There is a subtle difference between a new technology's features and how they are applied by distributors, according to Facing the Forces of Change author Guy Blissett in a 2013 MDM Interview: Uncertainty + Change = Opportunity? Recognizing that difference is critical to effectively leveraging new technologies, he says.

"There are so many developments happening now that I think there’s a tendency to become enamored with new technologies," Blissett says. But distributors need to think innovatively about what the technology will allow them to do differently.

With tablets, for example, it’s about much more than just getting them into the sales team's hands. "It’s about what the sales force is now able to do when they meet with customers that’s completely different from what they used to do," Blissett says. "The technology enables a different conversation and the capture of information more dynamically, so the technology itself is less relevant than the processes and the interactions that we’re able to change by leveraging that technology."

Get more insight from Blissett on technology innovations in distribution in the MDM Interview: Uncertainty + Change = Opportunity?.