Customer development: Executing profitable growth in wholesale and distribution into realized growth

Wholesalers and distributors are becoming increasingly sophisticated in how they segment customers and differentiate pricing. But differentiated GTM execution and customer development often lag, with many wholesalers and distributors relying on broadly similar coverage and activities across customers that have different needs and growth potential. 

The commercial challenge across wholesale and distribution is increasingly one of execution. Simon-Kucher’s 2026 Global B2B Sales Study found that high-performing organizations achieve higher impact on conversion rate and margin, while spending similar or even less time (~40%) customer-facing. The differentiator is not more customer interaction: high performers are simply better…