Is Your Team Practicing Good Channel Etiquette?

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 Is Your Team Practicing Good Channel Etiquette?

🕒 4 min read

By Frank Hurtte

The longer I work in distribution, the more convinced I am that we need to talk openly about Distributor–Supplier Etiquette, or more accurately, the growing lack of it.

Our industry is moving fast. Automation, AI‑supported workflows, hybrid sales models, and shifting demographics have changed how distributors and suppliers interact. We now have seasoned veterans, mid‑career leaders, and early‑career professionals all sitting at the same table, often with very different expectations for communication and partnership.

And yet, despite all this progress, the same old friction points keep showing up. Miscommunication. Power struggles. A surprising shortage of basic professional courtesy. For reasons I can’t quite explain, nobody seems eager to bring this up, even though everyone feels it.

So let’s bring it front and center.

A Good Example of a Bad Example

Not long ago, I sat in on a distributor–manufacturer planning meeting. The distributor had a long, productive relationship with the supplier. Sales were strong overall, and a few lagging product lines had recently turned around thanks to a joint improvement plan. By all measures, the partnership was working.

I expected a collaborative meeting focused on next steps.

Instead, the room felt tense from the moment we sat down. The supplier’s team clustered on one side of the table, the distributor’s team on the other, a visual cue that rarely leads to good outcomes.

After a few polite greetings, the supplier’s regional manager opened with this:

“We’re here to understand what you’re going to do for us next year.”

The distributor outlined ten programs already in motion, plus additional resources planned for the coming year. The response?

“Good. Put it on paper, and I’ll let you know if that’s enough.”

At that point, I couldn’t stay quiet. With nine people in the room, a very expensive meeting, I asked the obvious question:

“Isn’t this supposed to be joint planning? Shouldn’t we be talking about how to win together?”

That’s when the regional manager delivered the neutron bomb of dysfunctional channel relationships:

“We’re the manufacturer. You’re the distributor. We’ll tell you if you’ve got it right.”

The exact wording may vary, but the meaning was unmistakable. And it was the opposite of productive.

This is what poor etiquette looks like, not dramatic blowups, but subtle (and sometimes not‑so‑subtle) signals that one side sees the relationship as a hierarchy instead of a partnership.

Why This Still Matters in 2026

Today’s distributors and suppliers operate in an environment where:

  • Data sharing is essential
  • Joint planning drives profitable growth
  • AI and automation require alignment, not turf wars
  • Younger professionals expect transparency and mutual respect
  • Customers judge the entire channel, not individual companies

In other words, etiquette isn’t optional. It’s strategic.

When partners treat each other with respect, communication improves, plans stick, and both sides win. When they don’t, friction slows everything down, and customers feel it first.

Your Turn

I’d like to hear your experiences, the good, the bad, and the eyebrow‑raising. And I’m not pointing fingers at only one side. Distributors can be just as guilty of poor etiquette as suppliers.

If your distributor–supplier relationships feel strained, or you want to build a stronger, more collaborative channel strategy, River Heights Consulting can help you reset expectations, improve communication, and create joint plans that actually work.


TL;DR

Distributor–supplier relationships break down when basic professional courtesy disappears. In a modern, fast‑moving channel, etiquette isn’t old‑fashioned; it’s essential for collaboration, planning, and profitable growth.



About the Author

Frank Hurtte has spent decades navigating the distributor–supplier ecosystem and has
survived more planning meetings than any human reasonably should. He helps distributors and manufacturers build partnerships that work in the real world, not just on slide decks.







If you want a shortcut to understanding where AI fits in distribution, this is a great start.

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