Most distributors are sitting on more data than they know what to do with. The challenge is turning it into decisions that move the business forward. Analytics has become a practical tool for identifying market opportunities, at risk customers, underperforming product lines, and where sales teams should focus their energy.

In this Distribution Leader Panel, experienced distributors share how they are applying analytics to real sales and profitability challenges. The conversation will cover what works, what does not, and how companies at different stages of analytics maturity are making progress without overhauling their entire technology stack.

Key Takeaways

• How distributors are using analytics to identify growth opportunities within existing customer accounts
• Practical approaches to improving gross margin through better product mix and pricing management
• The importance of understanding and managing service costs
• How sales teams are using data to prioritize their time and focus on the right customers
• What it takes to move from reporting to decision-making with analytics

What You'll Learn

• Which analytics use cases are delivering the clearest return for distributors today
• How to build internal buy-in for analytics initiatives across sales, operations, and finance
• Common pitfalls when implementing analytics tools and how to avoid them
• How to measure whether your analytics investment is actually improving performance

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About our panelist:

Emma Hoten

Commercial Director on Demand, TheYoda.ai

 Emma Hoten is the Founder of TheYoda.ai, a commercial intelligence platform built for independent distributors and wholesalers. With more than 15 years of operating experience inside B2B merchants and distribution businesses, Emma helps distributors uncover margin leaks, build smarter pricing architectures, and turn ERP data into clear commercial decisions. Her work focuses on the gap between what distributors know and what they can act on. 

About our host:

Ian Heller

Chief Strategy Officer, Distribution Strategy Group

Ian Heller joined Grainger as a part-time truck unloader in college and left fifteen years later as the VP Marketing. Since then, he's held senior executive positions at four other publicly-held firms, consulted with dozens of distributors, and continues to write and speak extensively on how AI, strategy, channel evolution, and other major trends affect the industry. Ian holds a B.A. in History from Roosevelt University and an MBA from the Kellogg School at Northwestern University.