{"id":9723,"date":"2026-03-10T19:05:41","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T02:05:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dsgmain.wpenginepowered.com\/?post_type=report&#038;p=9723"},"modified":"2026-06-21T11:12:37","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T15:12:37","slug":"closing-the-execution-gap","status":"publish","type":"report","link":"https:\/\/distributionstrategy.com\/report\/closing-the-execution-gap\/","title":{"rendered":"Closing the Execution Gap"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>How Wholesale Distributors Can Apply Profit Intelligence to Achieve New Levels of Performance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Most distributors measure profitability. Far fewer act on what they learn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In this report, Distribution Strategy Group and Cavallo examine a pervasive but underaddressed crisis in wholesale distribution: the gap between knowing where margin is lost and doing something about it. Drawing on survey data from 84 industry participants, the research quantifies four sources of margin erosion \u2014 incomplete supplier price pass-through, manual pricing errors, small order losses, and unasked-for discounts \u2014 and provides a practical framework for closing each one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Key insights include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Why 69% of distributors measure customer profitability but only 34% provide sales teams with real-time access to that data \u2014 and what it costs them<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How the execution gap translates to an estimated 3-5% of revenue annually, or $750,000 to $1 million in recoverable margin for a $50 million distributor<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Why volume-based customer segmentation actively destroys value, and how profit-based ABCD tiering changes the math<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How 38% of orders requiring manual pricing intervention creates compounding errors that no amount of strategy can overcome<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Why 63% of distributors still rely on Excel for profitability analysis \u2014 and the four-stage technology path to move beyond it<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What immediate actions distributors can take in 30-90 days to begin recovering margin before these practices become industry standard<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The report provides a staged action framework \u2014 from immediate wins to advanced predictive capabilities \u2014 designed for distribution leaders ready to move from measurement to execution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For executives who know their numbers but are ready to change them, this is the operational roadmap for turning profit intelligence into profit results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How Wholesale Distributors Can Apply Profit Intelligence to Achieve New Levels of Performance Most distributors measure profitability. Far fewer act on what they learn. In this report, Distribution Strategy Group [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9724,"template":"","report_category":[],"coauthors":[222],"class_list":["post-9723","report","type-report","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"related_event_id":0,"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Closing the Execution Gap - Distribution Strategy Group<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/distributionstrategy.com\/report\/closing-the-execution-gap\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Closing the Execution Gap - Distribution Strategy Group\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How Wholesale Distributors Can Apply Profit Intelligence to Achieve New Levels of Performance Most distributors measure profitability. Far fewer act on what they learn. In this report, Distribution Strategy Group [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/distributionstrategy.com\/report\/closing-the-execution-gap\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Distribution Strategy Group\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-06-21T15:12:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/distributionstrategy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image-5.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1042\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1348\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"Austin Heller\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/distributionstrategy.com\\\/report\\\/closing-the-execution-gap\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/distributionstrategy.com\\\/report\\\/closing-the-execution-gap\\\/\",\"name\":\"Closing the Execution Gap - Distribution Strategy Group\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/distributionstrategy.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/distributionstrategy.com\\\/report\\\/closing-the-execution-gap\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/distributionstrategy.com\\\/report\\\/closing-the-execution-gap\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/distributionstrategy.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/image-5-792x1024.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-11T02:05:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-21T15:12:37+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/distributionstrategy.com\\\/report\\\/closing-the-execution-gap\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/distributionstrategy.com\\\/report\\\/closing-the-execution-gap\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/distributionstrategy.com\\\/report\\\/closing-the-execution-gap\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/distributionstrategy.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/image-5-792x1024.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/distributionstrategy.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/image-5-792x1024.png\",\"width\":1042,\"height\":1348},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/distributionstrategy.com\\\/report\\\/closing-the-execution-gap\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/distributionstrategy.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Reports\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/distributionstrategy.com\\\/report\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Closing the Execution Gap\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/distributionstrategy.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/distributionstrategy.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Distribution Strategy Group\",\"description\":\"Thought Leadership and Software for Wholesale Change Agents\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/distributionstrategy.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/distributionstrategy.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/distributionstrategy.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Distribution Strategy Group\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/distributionstrategy.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/distributionstrategy.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/distributionstrategy.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/Logo.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/distributionstrategy.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/Logo.svg\",\"caption\":\"Distribution Strategy Group\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/distributionstrategy.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Closing the Execution Gap - Distribution Strategy Group","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/distributionstrategy.com\/report\/closing-the-execution-gap\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Closing the Execution Gap - Distribution Strategy Group","og_description":"How Wholesale Distributors Can Apply Profit Intelligence to Achieve New Levels of Performance Most distributors measure profitability. Far fewer act on what they learn. In this report, Distribution Strategy Group [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/distributionstrategy.com\/report\/closing-the-execution-gap\/","og_site_name":"Distribution Strategy Group","article_modified_time":"2026-06-21T15:12:37+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1042,"height":1348,"url":"https:\/\/distributionstrategy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image-5.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes","Written by":"Austin Heller"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/distributionstrategy.com\/report\/closing-the-execution-gap\/","url":"https:\/\/distributionstrategy.com\/report\/closing-the-execution-gap\/","name":"Closing the Execution Gap - Distribution Strategy Group","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/distributionstrategy.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/distributionstrategy.com\/report\/closing-the-execution-gap\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/distributionstrategy.com\/report\/closing-the-execution-gap\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/distributionstrategy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image-5-792x1024.png","datePublished":"2026-03-11T02:05:41+00:00","dateModified":"2026-06-21T15:12:37+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/distributionstrategy.com\/report\/closing-the-execution-gap\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/distributionstrategy.com\/report\/closing-the-execution-gap\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/distributionstrategy.com\/report\/closing-the-execution-gap\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/distributionstrategy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image-5-792x1024.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/distributionstrategy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image-5-792x1024.png","width":1042,"height":1348},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/distributionstrategy.com\/report\/closing-the-execution-gap\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/distributionstrategy.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Reports","item":"https:\/\/distributionstrategy.com\/report\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Closing the Execution Gap"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/distributionstrategy.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/distributionstrategy.com\/","name":"Distribution Strategy Group","description":"Thought Leadership and Software for Wholesale Change Agents","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/distributionstrategy.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/distributionstrategy.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/distributionstrategy.com\/#organization","name":"Distribution Strategy Group","url":"https:\/\/distributionstrategy.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/distributionstrategy.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/distributionstrategy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Logo.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/distributionstrategy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Logo.svg","caption":"Distribution Strategy Group"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/distributionstrategy.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/distributionstrategy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/report\/9723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/distributionstrategy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/report"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/distributionstrategy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/report"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/distributionstrategy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/distributionstrategy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/report\/9723\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/distributionstrategy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/distributionstrategy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"report_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/distributionstrategy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/report_category?post=9723"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/distributionstrategy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=9723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}