2026 Sales Planning Insights:
Unlock Untapped Growth

Recently I was on a call with a number of home builders from around the country. As they discussed their local markets, all essentially said, “business is okay, I would consider it ‘controlled slowdown.’” But, at the same time, they commented that every market is a local market meaning that business is changing locally and by season.

As we look toward 2026, the outlook appears to be more of the same. Some markets prosper, some are “eh,” and others are “challenged.”

There are questions of “what will drive the market?” Artificial Intelligence (AI) is driving data center development, which helps some areas. Perhaps you are in a market that will benefit from industrial development? Will interest rates drop enough to stimulate homebuilding or will the cost of homes outweigh interest rate savings? Will the retail construction market ever come back? Or perhaps you are in an area that benefits from relocation or retirement migration?

The bottom line is that it appears that organic growth will be difficult to find. Growth will need to come from taking share.

You’ve heard this before. You know the playbook of customer gap analysis and penetrating existing accounts. But how many times can you rely on the same playbook?

2026 DEMANDS A NEW PLAYBOOK

For decades, plumbing distributors relied on a proven formula: relationships, counter sales and outside reps driving the business. This traditional model worked. But how repeatable is it when it is targeted, repeatedly, at the same customers? Change represents an opportunity to win “new” customers so that they can experience your value proposition and how you out-serve your competition…especially in the age of consolidation.

But in 2026, market conditions are dramatically different. Buyers now expect fast responses, personalized engagement and multiple communication channels—text, email and digital—rather than waiting for a rep to stop by.

Further, your “top” customers are other distributors’ targets. You can no longer solely rely upon them to generate more business for you next year. (And, as an aside, don’t get fooled by sales increases driven by price increases. Make sure you are tracking unit sales to determine if you are selling more!)

The challenge for plumbing distributors is clear: the old playbook no longer guarantees growth. Instead, success depends on a proactive strategy. It requires reaching out to more of your customers, to more contacts within your customers and to prospective customers.

In a world that has become digital, it should also include a digital strategy—one that expands engagement beyond a handful of large accounts, and contacts, and into the long-ignored “house,” or unassigned, accounts as some of them represent significant untapped revenue.

And I’m not talking about unassigned accounts that do not fit your core customer profile unless that is an intentional strategy. I’m talking about targeting those contractors who are not assigned accounts.

While a digital strategy historically is considered a web-first approach, and this could be an important component for you, a digital strategy first relates to outreach/communications.

THE GROWTH GAP: WHERE DISTRIBUTORS ARE FALLING SHORT

Earlier this year, Channel Marketing Group surveyed distributors across the construction and industrial trades on behalf of a client, Prokeep (prokeep.com). Our findings highlight a growth gap:

• Top 10% of accounts: In distribution, a small group of customers often drives 80–90% of total sales.
• House/unassigned accounts: These make up 85–90% of the customer base but contribute only 10–20% of sales.

This imbalance creates both risk and opportunity. Over-reliance on a few accounts leaves revenue vulnerable, while ignoring smaller accounts leaves dollars on the table.

From our experience, 30-50% of these unassigned accounts fit a distributor’s core business profile. Maybe they do not purchase your key line due to brand allegiance, but the “parts and pieces” element of the business can be earned.

For plumbing distributors, these underengaged customers—small contractors and remodelers—are where there are growth opportunities. Unlike larger contractors, they’re more responsive to promotions, value added service, proactive communications and inside sales/counter relationships. And they typically prefer the small to mid-sized independent distributor.

TWO WAYS TO ACCESS UNTAPPED REVENUE

The research identified two clear approaches:

1. Proactive Sales

• Move beyond reactive order-taking.
• Use inside sales or marketing teams to initiate contact, highlight promotions and educate customers.
• Focus on upselling and cross-selling into accounts that only buy a small portion of their plumbing needs from you today.

2. Technology-Enabled Demand Generation

• Outbound tools (like text management and email marketing) allow distributors to scale consistent outreach.
• Automated reminders, segmented messaging and customer data insights make it easier to nurture overlooked accounts.
• For smaller distributors with lean sales teams, tools act as “force multipliers.”

PROACTIVE SALES IN PRACTICE

Distributors in the study rated proactive sales activities a 7.35 out of 10 in importance for achieving their revenue goals. Yet only 22% of inside sales engage in outbound selling consistently.

The disconnect? Everyone knows they should be proactive, but most lack the time, systems and confidence to do it effectively.

For a plumbing distributor, proactive sales might look like:

• Calling small contractors with bundled offers or promotions, especially on Fridays with next week’s specials!
• Texting customers about in-stock water heaters or weather is predicted.
• Segmenting customers by purchase history (e.g., those who buy pipe but not fittings) and sending targeted promotions.

While these are some of the takeaways from the research, we also know that most inside salespeople do not desire to make outbound “cold” calls and marketing typically is more marcom. Here’s a couple of ideas:

• For inside sales, compensate them for outreach and incremental sales to these accounts. Also, teach them, or empower them, to use technology to do their outreach. It can be less “threatening” to them and helps overcome call anxiety.
• For marketing, again, encourage digital strategies. More importantly, charge marketing with being responsible for outreach to accounts between X and Y dollars that meet your customer profile. Give them a sales goal, and an appropriate compensation model. This helps monetize marketing and gets them to focus.

SURVEY INSIGHTS: DISTRIBUTOR PRIORITIES FOR 2026

The survey included 344 distributors and revealed where the industry’s focus is shifting:

Top Outbound Priorities:

• Promote key suppliers (70%)
• Enhance customer retention (60%)
• Increase sales to house accounts (55%)
• Increase brand awareness (45%)

Most Used Channels:

• Outside sales (95%)
• Email (43%)
• Events/trade shows (38%)
• Text messaging (24%)

It is expected that outside sales dominates revenue generation. Nurturing these relationships is why you hired them, but it is inefficient for small accounts. Underused tools like marketing, targeted email, text are better suited for consistent engagement at scale.

The opportunity isn’t just knowing what to do—it’s developing a plan, charging someone with responsibility for the plan, providing resources and consistent execution.

For plumbing distributors, this evolution doesn’t mean replacing counter reps or outside sales—it means augmenting your team with digital tools like:

• Text platforms to confirm orders, notify of stock arrivals or push promotions.
• Email marketing to promote training, rebate programs or seasonal products.
• CRM tools that make it easy to track smaller accounts.

These tools can help you generate more sales from the customer engagements, and relationships, you’ve created over time and profitably scale interactions to drive more revenue.

TEXT MANAGEMENT CAN FUEL GROWTH

I mentioned that Prokeep funded the research. They offer the industry’s leading text management platform, and are, coincidentally, an IMARK Plumbing service provider.

While historically there has been trepidation about engaging with customers via text, many are now regularly doing this with retailers and other businesses. And when they opt-in, they are telling you that 1) it is okay to engage with them this way if the information is beneficial to them and 2) that they value information from you.

Customers are used to texting in their personal lives—and are open to receiving business updates this way.

Benefits identified:

• Productivity gains (Prokeep can share case studies from distributors)
• Better customer service (faster responses, reduced missed calls)
• Revenue growth (higher sales per customer interaction due to timely promos)

For plumbing distributors, this could mean:

• Sending “hot deal” alerts.
• Text reminders for upcoming training classes (e.g., tankless water heater installation).
• Quick notifications for when back-ordered parts arrive.

PRACTICAL RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PLUMBING DISTRIBUTORS’ 2026 SALES PLAN

1. Audit your customer base: Identify house/unassigned accounts that buy less than $50,000 annually but have growth potential. Then either assign a North American Industry Classification System code or industry and estimate company size (and you can use Perplexity for this) to narrow down to your core market.
2. Develop your unassigned account strategy: This could be a team effort, something you assign to marketing, or your inside sales team or sales leadership.
3. Assign accountability: Dedicate inside sales or marketing staff to proactive outreach.
4. Start small with digital tools: Implement digital marketing and texting for order updates and promotions. If you do not have a “good” website, consider developing as separate research we’ve done indicates that almost two thirds of contractors are using distributor websites!
5. Create playbooks: Build simple scripts and promotions for common goals (upselling fittings, promoting new product lines, seasonal items).
6. Track activity and results: Use Excel, text/email reporting, your ERP system or CRM, if you have it, to measure outreach frequency, engagement and successes.

GROWTH ACHIEVABLE. IT IS HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT

For small and mid-sized plumbing distributors, the biggest growth opportunity in 2026 isn’t winning massive new accounts—it’s activating those customers that barely buy from you.

The old playbook of waiting for orders needs to be updated. The new playbook—digital, proactive and customer-focused—is the path forward for sustainable growth.