Distribution warehouse
Industry · Trading & Distribution

Grow beyond the owner's address book.

Most trading and distribution businesses grew on a few big accounts and the founder's relationships. That model stalls when buyers consolidate suppliers. We help you win new regions and segments, grow share of wallet, and stop your team retyping the same documents three times.

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The context

What is changing in trading & distribution

01
Buyers consolidate suppliers.

Large customers trim vendor lists and push for better terms, so a business that relies on a handful of accounts is exposed when one of them moves.

02
Procurement starts online.

Purchasing teams in India and the UAE shortlist suppliers through search, LinkedIn and AI assistants before they call anyone they do not already know.

03
Margins hide in the detail.

Margin varies sharply by product, customer and payment terms, but most owners only see the blended number once the accounts close.

04
Paper still moves the business.

Quotes, purchase orders, delivery notes and invoices arrive by email and WhatsApp as PDFs and photos, and someone keys every one of them in.

Both numbers

Where we move revenue and cost in Trading & Distribution.

Revenue ↑ · The leak

Growth that depends on a few big accounts and the owner's relationships, with no system for winning new ones.

Positioning for B2B buyersDefine why a buyer should switch to you, by segment and region, and rebuild the website and catalogue around range, reliability and service.
Lead generation by regionBuild target lists of buyers in new regions and segments, then run LinkedIn and email outreach that books meetings for your sales team.
Account growth plansMap what each key account buys from you and from others, then plan cross-sell and range extension to grow share of wallet.
Quote follow-up disciplineTrack every open quote in the CRM with timed follow-ups, so fewer quotes go quiet simply because nobody chased them.
Cost ↓ · The drain

Quotes, purchase orders and invoices retyped between email, spreadsheets and accounting software, with errors found only at month end.

AI document captureUse AI to read purchase orders, supplier invoices and delivery notes from email, extract the lines and key them into your ERP for review.
Automated remindersSend quote follow-ups and payment reminders automatically on a schedule you set, with escalation to a person when an account goes overdue.
Live margin reportingReport margin by customer, product and salesperson every day from ERP data, instead of waiting for month-end accounts to show what happened.
Receivables visibilityGive owners and finance a live ageing view of receivables by customer, so credit decisions are made on current exposure, not memory.
Your first 90 days

From review to results in one quarter.

Days 1-7

Review

Review account concentration, quote-to-order conversion, document flow and receivables, and identify the biggest revenue and cost gaps against a written baseline.

Days 8-30

Position

Agree target segments and regions, sharpen positioning and catalogue, set up quote tracking in the CRM, and pilot AI capture on one document type.

Days 31-60

Build

Launch outbound lead generation into one new region, extend document capture across purchase orders and invoices, and automate payment reminders.

Days 61-90

Report

Switch on daily margin and receivables reporting, review pipeline from new segments, and set next-quarter targets for accounts, margin and hours saved.

What we measure

Judged by the numbers, not the activity.

We take a baseline in Review week, agree targets in writing and report against them every month.

Revenue share of top five accounts
Quote-to-order conversion
Documents keyed in manually
Days sales outstanding
Typical starting points
Lead Generation: Many established businesses still rely on referrals and the founder's network.
Go-to-Market: A new product, market or segment fails more often on its route to market than on the offer itself.
Workflow Automation: Much office work is moving information between systems, chasing approvals and producing the same reports.
FAQ

Questions trading & distribution leaders ask us.

Our business runs on relationships. Will outreach damage that?
No. Outreach goes to buyers you do not yet know, in segments you choose, with messages your team approves. Existing accounts stay with the people who own them. The aim is to add new relationships alongside the old ones, so the business is less exposed when one key account changes.
Yes, AI can extract lines from PDFs, scans and photos in varied layouts. We start with your most common documents, test accuracy against real samples, and route anything uncertain to a person for checking before it reaches your ERP. Every extraction is logged so errors can be traced.
Usually not. We integrate with the ERP or accounting software you already use. Where a system has no way to accept data automatically, we show you the options and their cost so you can decide whether to work around it or replace it.
Keep exploring

Services we usually start with.

Lever 04 · Fill the PipelineLead Generation

Many established businesses still rely on referrals and the founder's network.

ExploreLever 01 · Plan the WinGo-to-Market

A new product, market or segment fails more often on its route to market than on the offer itself.

ExploreLever 03 · AutomateWorkflow Automation

Much office work is moving information between systems, chasing approvals and producing the same reports.

ExploreLever 04 · BuildCustom Software & Integrations

Sometimes the right answer is configuration.

Explore

Tell us which number to move.

Thirty minutes with a Growth Architect. You will leave knowing where your biggest revenue and cost opportunities are in Trading & Distribution, whether or not we work together.

Talk to a Growth Architect