"How Can My Wholesale Distribution Strategy Keep Up With Tariff Changes?"

Around the Horn in Wholesale Distribution Podcast

Is your CRM really driving revenue growth, or just storing notes no one reads?

In this episode of Around the Horn in Wholesale Distribution, hosts Kevin Brown and Tom Burton pull back the curtain on how AI-enabled customer intelligence platforms like LeadSmart Channel Cloud™ are transforming sales enablement, workflow automation, and decision-making in distribution.

You’ll hear fresh economic insights, a candid look at tariff strategy, and why agentic AI workflows could be the future of competitive advantage in B2B.

What You’ll Learn:

• Why redefining “CRM” as a Customer Enablement Tool changes adoption rates and sales results
• How to prepare your organization for agentic AI workflows by codifying your processes
• The economic signals driving the Fed’s next move and what that means for distributors
• How tariff extensions create hidden opportunities for future-proofing distribution supply chains
• Why AI policies are as important as HR policies in protecting your business

Episode Highlights:

• 04:15 – Why Kevin thinks it’s time to rebrand CRM for the modern salesforce
• 13:35 – Breaking down the PPI spike and its tariff-driven impact on inflation
• 22:48 – The overlooked advantage of the U.S.–China tariff extension for supply chain planning
• 33:12 – Agentic AI workflows: what they are and how B2B can catch up to B2C
• 44:50 – Build vs. buy: deciding between low-code prototypes and industry-specific platforms
• 55:19 – The silent AI adoption wave—why 40% of employees use banned tools at work
• 01:04:38 – Balancing innovation with risk in AI implementation
• 01:21:05 – Closing reflections and calls-to-action for distributors

Tools, Frameworks, or Strategies Mentioned:

• LeadSmart Channel Cloud™ – AI-enabled CRM + customer intelligence platform for distributors
• Hidden Revenue Detection – uncovering untapped sales opportunities in ERP and eCommerce data
• Customer Enablement Tool (CET) – reframing CRM as a proactive sales asset
• Agentic AI Workflows – autonomous, decision-making processes powered by AI
• Future-Proofing Distribution – strategies for mitigating supply chain and economic risks

Closing Insight:
“Data and workflows are the key readiness factors for adopting AI, you can’t automate what you haven’t defined.” – Tom Burton

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Learn more about the LeadSmart AI B2B Sales Platform: https://www.leadsmarttech.com/

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