The Surprising Risk Wholesalers & Distributors Are Still Taking

One of the more surprising insights I’m seeing as I work with brands, wholesalers and distributors in the professional beauty industry is this: how many are still operating without a CRM.

On the surface, it might not sound like a big deal. After all, wholesalers have been managing their stockist networks for decades with spreadsheets, notebooks, and inboxes. But scratch beneath that surface, and the cracks start to show:

• Contact chaos — Without a centralised system, keeping tabs on who the actual POC is at each clinic, what their preferred method of contact is, and whether their details are even up-to-date becomes near impossible.
  

• No visibility — Reporting is limited (or non-existent). Meeting notes live in notebooks or staff brains. Forecasting, retention, or even something as simple as “when did we last check in with that stockist?” becomes guesswork.
  

• Knowledge walking out the door — Perhaps the biggest risk: when a team member leaves, so does all their institutional knowledge. Those relationships, nuances and follow-ups walk right out with them, leaving the next person starting from scratch.

  
  

In an industry where relationships are everything (stockist loyalty, clinic advocacy, brand reputation) relying on memory or manual systems is more than inconvenient. It’s a foundational weakness.

A CRM isn’t just about data entry; it’s about protecting relationships, scaling visibility, and creating continuity no matter who’s sitting in the seat.

And yet, I’m continually surprised at how many distributors haven’t taken the step to implement one.

At Inside Industry, our team has recently completed the implementation of CRMs (including full integration with wholesale purchasing and reporting software) for two multimillion-dollar skincare companies. If you’d like to explore what this could look like for your business, we’d love to chat.