What the State of Sales in Distribution 2026 report reveals about HVACR distributors

HVACR distribution remains a relationship-driven business. New research from Phocas shows that while technology is changing how distributors sell, HVACR customers value service and a relationship ahead of price.

Phocas surveyed more than 100 distribution sales professionals for its State of Sales in Distribution 2026 report, with HVACR and plumbing professionals making up 19% of respondents. The results provide a useful summary of what customers expect from HVACR distributors and where sales teams see opportunities to improve.

For HVACR distributors, the finding that demonstrates the personal nature of the industry is in relation to customer needs. When asked what their customers want most, 43% of HVACR and plumbing respondents selected great service and a business relationship. Another 29% chose the convenience of buying across multiple product categories, while technical expertise and best price each attracted 14%.

That puts relationships well ahead of price and reinforces something many HARDI members know. Your customers value a supplier that understands their business, knows the products they buy and can help them buy those products in one place.

Field sales continue to matter for all distributors

Across the survey, 55% of all respondents said field or outside sales was their most effective sales channel, compared with just 5% who nominated e-commerce. Product and usage knowledge was also the most valued attribute of an effective sales rep, selected by 75% of respondents.

Digital tools haven't removed the need for knowledgeable sales reps, but they can help make those salespeople more effective.

An HVACR sales rep can have a 20-100 accounts (40%) or 400+ accounts (40%) across a territory so they need to know which customers are growing, which normally buy a particular product or which have reduced their order frequency and where there may be a cross-sell opportunity.

The challenge is consolidating all your sales data and turning it into insights that sales reps can action at the next visit. This is where sales analytics and guided selling can complement the relationship skills that HVACR sales reps already have.

Help reps decide where to spend their time

When distributors were asked about the most pressing internal issue facing their sales teams, the most common response was sales reps not knowing which accounts to prioritize, selected by 20% of respondents. Pipeline and forecast accuracy followed at 18%.

These findings indicated sales reps wanted access to useful information or insights. They want help to identify where their attention is most likely to make a difference to their customers and their targets.

A sales performance suite that combines analytics, CRM and guided selling can continuously assess customer and transaction data to highlight accounts that need attention. For example, it can provide customer summaries for a rep to help them prioritise their sales run.

These tools work to make the knowledgeable sales rep more effective and gives them better information to get better results.

Make CRM useful to the rep on the road

CRM presents another opportunity. When survey respondents were asked which capability would have the biggest impact on their sales team, better CRM adoption ranked first at 27%. Yet only 34% of distributors with a CRM record at least 75% of their customer interactions in it.

Low adoption of a CRM becomes a bad cycle and if reps don't see practical value in a CRM, they don't consistently update it. If they don't update it, managers and other reps can't rely on the information it contains.

For field-based HVACR sales teams, the answer is to make their CRM part of selling rather than low-value administration.

A distribution-focused CRM should give a rep useful customer information ahead of a customer visit. They should be able to see recent sales and order history, previous activities and notes on their phones.

When a CRM connects directly with analytics and guided selling, there is the additional benefit of the rep knowing who to call and why, while the CRM records follow-up and interactions. This set-up is a more practical sales practice where an opportunity is identified, a rep can understand the state of the account or context, have an informed conversation and then capture the follow-up.

Bring sales information together

The State of Sales in Distribution Report does not frame sales technology as a replacement for the traditional strengths of distribution sales. Instead, it shows how technology can help make those strengths easier to apply consistently.

For HVACR distributors, that means preserving the service, relationships and product knowledge customers value while giving sales reps better information about where to focus.

Bringing analytics, CRM and guided selling into one sales performance suite helps achieve that. Analytics provides visibility across customer and product performance. CRM keeps customer knowledge and activity connected. Guided selling turns the underlying data into practical priorities and opportunities for each rep. This gives sales reps a clearer view of which customers may need attention, why contact may be useful, and what information to review before reaching out.

In an industry where relationships remain a competitive advantage, better customer insight helps HVACR reps strengthen trust and deliver more relevant service.

Learn more

If you’re keen to read the State of Sales in Distribution Report in more detail, get a copy here.

Learn more about the Phocas Sales Performance Suite here and discover how 85+ HARDI members, including Behler-Young Company, Johnstone Supply, and Torrco, are turning insights into action.