Julian Dent is Chairman of VIA International, a specialist routes-to-market consultancy. He has more than 35 years of global experience in distribution, specializing in channel strategy and implementation at global, corporate and regional levels. His clients include Barclays, Esso, Hewlett-Packard, Hyatt, Microsoft, Philips, Subway and Xerox.

Michael White is EMEA General Manager of Quadmark, a global channels and sales enablement consultancy. He has been a worldwide routes-to-market specialist for 30 years across multiple industries, leading commercial consumer channel strategy from formulation through to execution. His clients include Apple, Caterpillar, Cisco, Electrolux, PayPal and Procter & Gamble.

Online resources: Bonus chapters on how to engage with retailers, franchised systems, and managing the people-based business model

Section - PART ONE: Introduction; Section - 01: How to get the best out of this book; Section - 02: The business of getting products and services to market; Section - 03: Major trends and developments in market access; Section - PART TWO: Distributors, wholesalers and intermediaries; Section - 04: The role of the distributor for sales and marketing channels; Section - 05: How the distributor business model works; Section - 06: Managing distributors - margins and profitability; Section - 07: Managing distributors - working capital; Section - 08: Managing distributors - productivity; Section - 09: Managing distributors - sustainability; Section - 10: Managing distributors - managing growth; Section - 11: Understanding the distribution landscape; Section - 12: How to get the best from distribution strategy; Section - PART THREE: Managing final-tier sales and marketing channels; Section - 13: The roles of the final-tier channel players; Section - 14: How the business model works for final-tier channel players; Section - 15: Managing final-tier channel players - sales and utilization; Section - 16: Managing final-tier channel players - gross margin and recoverability; Section - 17: Managing final-tier channel players - working capital management; Section - 18: Managing final-tier channel players - value creation and growth; Section - 19: How to get the best from final-tier channel players; Section - PART FOUR: Managing distribution in individual industry sectors; Section - 20: Introduction to managing distribution in individual industry sectors; Section - 21: Insights from managing capital goods distribution; Section - 22: Insights from managing consumer goods distribution and retailers; Section - 23: Insights from managing services distribution; Section - 24: Insights from managing hotels, restaurants, catering and travel distribution; Section - 25: Insights from managing intellectual property distribution; Section - 26: Insights from managing franchised distribution; Section - Appendix: Key ratios; Section - Appendix: Glossary of technical terms;