What everyone told you about picking a distributor:

What everyone told you about picking a distributor:

- Go with the relationship you have

- Pick the biggest one in the territory

- Trust your gut

What nobody told you:

- Strategic alignment (does their portfolio complement or compete?)

- Commercial capability (real salespeople or order-takers?)

- Operational fit (can they handle service, returns, support?)

- Accountability (will they sign to targets and be reviewed?)

The wrong distributor costs you 18 months of market opportunity.

A scorecard would have caught it in week one.