Around the Horn in Wholesale Distribution Podcast
Around the Horn in Wholesale Distribution is the weekly podcast sponsored by LeadSmart Technologies that takes a deep dive into the topics impacting manufacturers, wholesale distribution, independent sales agents, and the global wholesale supply chain.
Hosted by Kevin Brown, a 30-year veteran of wholesale distribution, and Tom Burton, a recognized thought leader in SaaS platforms for distributors, each episode reveals a unique perspective and valuable information about wholesale distribution. Debuting in February 2023, the ATHIWD podcast springboards from Kevin & Tom's popular LinkedIn and Facebook Live shows, bringing their industry insights to a wider audience.
Whether it's M&A, SaaS and cloud computing, B2B e-Commerce or supply chain issues, we peel back the onion into the topics that impact your business most.
Around the Horn in Wholesale Distribution Podcast
Jason Hein on Hybrid Selling, AI-Powered Customer Intelligence, and B2B E-Commerce
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What does the next era of B2B e-commerce look like when buyers, bots, AI agents, and self-service expectations all collide?
In this episode of Around the Horn in Wholesale Distribution, Kevin Brown and Tom Burton welcome Jason Hein, Vice President of Academy at the B2B E-Commerce Association, for a sharp conversation on digital buying behavior, AI-powered customer intelligence, hybrid selling models, CRM-ERP integration, and the future of consultative commerce. This episode explores why e-commerce is no longer just a transaction portal, it is part of a broader digital customer experience that helps distributors build trust, support complex sales, and future-proof distribution.
What You’ll Learn:
- Why B2B e-commerce should be viewed as a digital customer experience, not just a website with a checkout button
- How younger buyers research, compare, and validate distributors before ever talking to sales
- Why complex products still need consultative selling—and how digital tools can support that buyer journey
- How AI agents, bots, and non-human traffic are changing how customers may interact with distributor websites
- Why CRM-ERP integration, product content quality, and AI-powered customer intelligence are essential for revenue leaders in distribution
- How distributors can use hybrid selling models to combine self-service, sales expertise, and human-centric sales automation
Episode Highlights:
- 06:01 – Jason Hein explains the mission of the B2B E-Commerce Association and why education matters in digital transformation
- 11:59 – The Fed, inflation targets, and why economic uncertainty still affects distributors and manufacturers
- 31:50 – AD’s Supply Force acquisition and what buying group consolidation means for independent distributors
- 44:08 – AI job displacement, software engineering, and why leverage may matter more than replacement
- 1:00:21 – Bots, AI agents, and the “dead internet” problem for B2B e-commerce
- 1:04:23 – Complex vs. commodity products: why self-service does not eliminate consultative sales
- 1:09:49 – How trust, product content, and McMaster-Carr’s digital experience shape buyer loyalty
- 1:15:23 – Why e-commerce alone does not drive demand generation—but a strong digital experience can
- 1:22:35 – Omnichannel strategy, silver tsunami knowledge loss, and institutionalizing customer intelligence
Meet the Guest:
Jason Hein is Vice President of Academy at the B2B E-Commerce Association, where he helps manufacturers, distributors, agencies, and technology providers understand how to build better digital experiences. With nearly 30 years in B2B, Jason has worked across manufacturing, distribution, consulting, software, and e-commerce strategy.
Tools, Frameworks, and Strategies Mentioned:
- B2B E-Commerce Association Academy
- Digital customer experience strategy
- Hybrid selling models
- Consultative commerce
- Omnichannel customer experience
- Product content quality and product data standards
- AI agents and agentic buying behavior
- CRM-ERP integration
- CRM data enrichment with AI
- Smart CRM strategy
- Sales Co-Pilot and AI Co-Pilot for Sales
- LeadSmart Channel Cloud™
- LeadSmart Enterprise Growth Platform
- Hidden revenue detection
- Sales automation without losing the human touch
- Future-proofing distribution
- Digital readiness for succession
- Customer knowledge institutionalization
Closing Insight:
E-commerce in wholesale distribution is not just about letting customers place orders online. It is about creating a digital experience that helps buyers research, trust, validate, reorder, and engage with your team more effectively.
As Jason explains, younger buyers may prefer self-service, but that does not mean they reject expertise. The winning distributors will combine strong product content, connected data systems, CRM-ERP integration, and human-guided consultative commerce to meet buyers wherever they are in the journey.
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