Wired for Sales

Back in the day, people had a saying: “They know where the bones are buried.” It wasn’t just about secrets – it meant someone had deep intel. For those of us in distribution sales, that phrase means something even more specific: You need to know where the buried opportunities are. If you don’t and someone else does, they’re going to win.

Let’s be clear. Salespeople and sales organizations that know where the opportunities are – and track them – consistently outperform those who don’t. Every time. It’s not about guessing. It’s about knowing.

YOU CAN’T SWING WITHOUT A HANDLE

Tracking opportunities is like using a hammer. Without a good handle, it’s just dead weight. For distributors, the handle is your CRM, or whatever system you use to keep track of what’s in play. Don’t have one? Or worse, have one and barely use it? That’s amateur hour.

Here’s the kicker: Long before CRMs existed, top-performing distributors still had a method. Maybe it was a notebook. Maybe a whiteboard. In my case? A cigar box and index cards. Not glamorous, but still effective.

WHY OPPORTUNITY TRACKING ACTUALLY MATTERS

This industry moves fast; faster than most people want to admit. Supply chain chaos, new tariffs, surprise M&A deals, old technologies going obsolete overnight. If you’re not tracking which customers are buying what, from whom, and when, then you’re flying blind. No reaction time. No strategy. And a lesser chance of picking up the order.

I’ll give you a real-world example. Years ago, during a house closing, our realtor mentioned her husband and his best friend, both longtime distributor sales guys, were retiring soon. One was moving out of state. The other was just done. I saw the play before anyone else.

I told my team to track their accounts, find out what was being sold, and step up the engagement. No digital wizardry, just focus, timing, and follow-through. And when those two veterans stepped away? We were already embedded. We set up management meetings and made the case: “Your guy’s retiring. Maybe now’s a good time to look at some new options.” That one move brought in nearly a million dollars in revenue within two years.

THE PROBLEM WITH SHORT-TERM SELLING

Here’s an uncomfortable truth: Most distributor salespeople are short-term thinkers. If the order isn’t going to land in the next 30 to 90 days, they’re already moving on. I’ve seen it a hundred times.

Sure, there are exceptions – industries with two-year sales cycles, capital project timelines, etc. – but those reps are rare. Most want the quick hit. They don’t play the long game. That’s a missed opportunity.

The best distributors do more. They track long-term projects. They map out who’s influencing the decision. They develop relationships early. They align with suppliers before the customer even finalizes specs. This isn’t just sales; it’s strategy. It’s chess, not checkers.

WHAT’S A “WORTHY” OPPORTUNITY, REALLY?

A common mistake is only tracking opportunities where the salesperson thinks they have a high probability of winning. It sounds logical, but it’s lazy. It’s an ego-based sales approach.

Here’s why that approach falls short: Tracking only the slam dunks gives you a warped view of the market. It also means you’re missing out on valuable intel. The opportunities that might go to a competitor today could be yours tomorrow – if you’re paying attention.

Tracking long shots tells you which competitors are strongest. It shows you where customers are headed. It tells management where to invest resources. It gives you patterns. And patterns are everything.

HOW MANY OPPORTUNITIES DO YOU NEED?

Great question. After decades in this business, I’ve landed on a clear metric: A healthy distributor should be tracking opportunities worth five times their sales goal. Not two. Not three. Five.

That level of activity tells you who’s really hunting and who’s just farming. Farmers process orders. Hunters chase new business. If you’re not sure which type you’ve got, just look at their pipeline. It won’t lie.

Bottom line, this game is about knowing. Knowing where to look, who to call, when to move. The bones are out there. The question is, who’s digging? That’s what I call being wired for sales.