"One of our biggest challenges is understanding customer churn across all our locations." - CFO
Many distribution leaders struggle to answer critical questions about their business performance:
- Why did sales decline with a key customer?
- Are pricing overrides helping or hurting your bottom line?
- Which product categories are bleeding margin?
- How much profit are you leaving on the table?
Traditional ERP reports often fail to provide these insights. As one distribution manager told us: "I wish I had this data eight months ago because this is a lot quicker than pulling three, four different reports out of our ERP."
Customer Spotlight: Midsize Industrial Distributor
A multi-location industrial distributor with annual revenue over $70M was experiencing declining margins on a particular branch despite healthy sales volumes.
Using our GM Variance Analysis, they discovered:
- Root cause identification: What initially seemed like a "mix" issue in this branch turned out to be a flaw in execution. They assumed that purchasing more at better costs would lead to higher discounts and increased GM$ through volume. However, the price discounts they offered exceeded the GM$ gained from buying deep.
- Targeted improvement: $782,000 in margin was left on the table due to price overrides
- Real-time visibility: Branch managers could see which specific products, customers, and salespeople were driving margin changes
- Fast implementation: ~75% adoption rate across most of the branches within 120 days
As their COO noted: "When you go to somebody and say, 'I know you're working really hard, but you're not making any money'... now we actually have the data to show it."
How GM$ Variance Analysis Works: Breaking Down the Waterfall
Our GM Variance Analysis provides a comprehensive breakdown of exactly what's driving changes in your business:
1. Volume Impact: Customers buying more or less of the same products
2. Customer Changes: New customers gained or existing customers lost
3. Price Impact: Changes in pricing for the same products to the same customers
4. Mix Changes: Customers buying different products than before
5. Product Changes: New products added or discontinued products
For each factor, you can drill down to specific:
- Branches/locations
- Product categories
- Individual customers
- Sales representatives
- SKUs
"This solidifies it. This is a lot of facts," noted one operations director who previously struggled to identify margin leakage.
Three Ways Distribution Leaders Are Using GM$ Variance Analysis
1. Inventory Optimization
- Identify slow-moving products that aren't generating adequate returns
- Discover new opportunities to reduce aged inventory
- "If you could show it to them on the graphic, like, 'Yeah, you sold a million and a half bucks more, but at lower margin, and we had to hold the inventory... you're not really making any money.'"
2. Sales Performance Management
- See which sales reps are maintaining margins and which are not
- Create accountability with clear, fact-based data
- "Now it's just a matter of guidance... and who's the worst offender."
3. Strategic Account Planning
- Analyze customer profitability beyond simple revenue metrics
- Identify which customers should receive pricing concessions
- Focus resources on growing profitable customer relationships
Why This Matters to Your Leadership Team:
In today's market, protecting and growing margins requires precision. Our clients report:
- Time savings: "Instead of pulling 10 reports and figuring this out, this is telling you exactly where it's coming from."
- Fast ROI: One client captured over $533,000 in additional gross margin in the first year
- Accountability: "You spend the less time finding the problem, which helps you out."
- Better decisions: "Sometimes that happens. We have so many parts we're dealing with, we don't know that it's gone until four months later."
Next Steps: See Your Variance Analysis in Action
Ready to discover where your margin opportunities are hiding?
Schedule a 30-minute demonstration to see how GM Variance Analysis would work with your actual data.
Or download our Distributor's Guide to Margin Retention for more strategies on protecting profitability.
Best regards,
Nelson Valderrama
CEO | Intuilize, Inc.
📢 Product Update – Intuilize 4.0.1 Highlights (March–April 2025)
We’re excited to share the latest updates now available in Intuilize 4.0.1. This release focuses on improved performance, more reliable data exports, a smoother filter experience, and a more intuitive dashboard layout.
⚙️ Performance & Export Enhancements
- Faster Dashboard Load Times: We’ve implemented lazy loading across all dashboards to significantly improve performance, especially for larger data sets.
- Improved Export Button Experience:
Users can now export data more reliably — even with larger datasets — thanks to behind-the-scenes improvements. Additionally, the export feature now includes any filters applied by the user, so the exported data better matches what’s on-screen.
🔍 Smarter Filtering
- Filter Selection State Improvements:
We’ve enhanced the filter experience with clearer indicators for selected values, easier multi-select capabilities, the ability to “select all” or “deselect all,” and a built-in search for faster navigation. Watch the Tutorial.
🧭 Easier Navigation
- Show/Hide Sidebar Menu:
You can now toggle the dashboard sidebar for a more focused workspace — especially helpful during presentations or deep dives. Watch the Tutorial. - Streamlined Navigation Modules: Dashboards are now grouped into three core modules — Foundation, Price Optimization, Inventory Optimization — making it easier to navigate and find what matters most to your team. Watch the Tutorial.
Thank you for sharing your valuable feedback. At Intuilize, we are dedicated to constantly improving your experience and deeply value your insights. If you have any questions or further thoughts to share, we’d love to hear from you. Feel free to reach out to us at support@intuilize.com.
Coming Next Month:
May's newsletter will feature:
- Exclusive Workshop: Tariff strategies that are up to date and actionable
