In the Mind of a Distributor
In the Mind of a Distributor
Podcast Description
No one teaches you how to run a distribution business. There’s no playbook for navigating shifting markets, growing sales, or making the right bets on technology. The best distributors figure it out by talking to the right people and learning from experience.That’s what In the Mind of a Distributor is all about. Each month, Benj Cohen—founder of Proton, the CRM built for distributors—sits down with industry leaders, from owners to operators to sales pros, to break down what’s working, what’s not, and where the industry is headed.If all goes well, listeners will leave each episode a little sharper, a little more informed, and a step ahead of the competition.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
Covers various aspects of the distribution business including sales strategies, market trends, and technological advancements, with episodes like the one featuring Chuck Cohen discussing scaling a business from $85 million to over $1 billion, emphasizing long-term planning and customer-centric services.
No one teaches you how to run a distribution business. There’s no playbook for navigating shifting markets, growing sales, or making the right bets on technology. The best distributors figure it out by talking to the right people and learning from experience.
That’s what In the Mind of a Distributor is all about. Each month, Benj Cohen—founder of Proton, the CRM built for distributors—sits down with industry leaders, from owners to operators to sales pros, to break down what’s working, what’s not, and where the industry is headed.
If all goes well, listeners will leave each episode a little sharper, a little more informed, and a step ahead of the competition.
In this episode, Benj talks with Paul Kennedy, CEO of DSG, about cracking the code on multi-vertical distribution. Paul reveals how DSG profitably serves towns of 10,000 people by selling electrical, plumbing, HVAC, and waterworks all under one roof—a model that lets them win in markets where focused competitors simply can't make the math work.
He breaks down the strategy behind spreading costs across verticals, then dives into the real operational challenges: structuring sales teams for focus without sacrificing breadth, leveraging back-of-house efficiency that most distributors overlook, and deciding when to go local versus regional with your resources.
Paul also tackles the digital side: why contractors care more about knowing what's in stock than finding the lowest price, how e-commerce fits into a broader digital ecosystem, and the one thing that makes or breaks technology adoption (hint: it's not the technology itself).
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