Principals are working with fewer distributors, and they choose the ones that can grow their sales.
Jens Birgersson, CEO of Brenntag, summed up what it takes to secure distribution agreements in the ICIS Top 100 Chemical Distributors 2026: distributors must “offer growth to our principals and do the sales job more efficiently than they can themselves.”
To meet that bar, you need to be good at detecting specifiers in motion in your territory. Yet,
trade shows, customer visits, and your website may not generate enough ready-to-convert
leads. You may also miss more of your market as material discovery moves away from vendor
sites.
One way to restore your influence and win the specifier’s decision is to be there when they
search for solutions and build their shortlist. This is what SpecialChem’s Who Can Supply
program gives you: capture sample requests in your territory the moment specifiers are ready
to move.
Is it a fit for your business? Three quick checks will tell you before you talk to anyone.
Formulators and engineers search the Master Catalogs to find and compare products. Many
then need a sample or a local contact. Half of all inquiries on the platform ask for local supplier
information. Who Can Supply for chemical distributors lists you as the local source for the
products you distribute in the countries or states your contracts cover. When a specifier in
your territory requests a sample of one of those products, the request comes to you.
A lead program only works where demand already exists. The quickest way to check is to
compare your line card with two public rankings, published for each of the five Master
Catalogs. Both are built on 5.5 million real product searches across verticals in 2025.
| Master Catalog | Top 100 suppliers | Most popular categories |
| Adhesives | 2026 top adhesive ingredient suppliers |
Most popular adhesive ingredient categories |
| Coatings | 2026 top 100 coating ingredient suppliers |
Most popular coatings ingredients |
| Cosmetics | 2026 top 100 cosmetic ingredient suppliers |
Most popular cosmetic ingredient categories |
| Plastics & elastomers |
2026 top 100 plastics & elastomers suppliers | Most popular plastics & elastomers categories |
| Polymer additives | 2026 top polymer additive suppliers | Most popular polymer additives |
If several of your principals appear in a top 100, or your key lines fall in the top categories, the
platform usually records enough activity on these segments to capture demand for you. If few
or none appear, the program may still work on a narrower scope, but look closer before you
commit.
This check tells you whether demand is likely. To size it, see how much demand crosses your
territory.
You do not need to rebuild any product data. Your principals’ products are already in the
Master Catalogs. Your part is one Excel file listing which products you distribute and in which
countries or states. From there, our team maps your coverage, so you get a working setup with
no data work on your side.
where you and your principals have strong growth ambitions. Keep the first file short, and land
the first leads where they matter most. You can extend coverage later.
Each time a specifier requests a sample of a mapped product in your territory, you receive an
alert. Someone needs to pick it up and follow through.
The question is whether you already handle digital leads, for example through the contact form
on your own website or an email inquiry. If someone on your team already follows up on those,
sample requests from specifiers fit into the same routine.
For larger teams, the Lead2CRM option removes the manual step. Compatible with Salesforce,
Microsoft Dynamics, and HubSpot, it sends new leads into your CRM every day. A duplicate
check adds a new activity to a known contact instead of creating a second record, and a
history log tracks every delivered lead.
If your principals or categories show up in the rankings, your priority lines fit in one file, and your team already follows up on digital leads, you are ready to capture specifier demand online.
A 30-minute call with the SpecialChem team lets you confirm your portfolio fit and estimate the pipeline potential in your territory before you commit. If one check is still open, start there.
Check your portfolio fit in 30 minutes |
| All you need is your line card and territory list. See where specifier demand already exists and what pipeline it could bring you. |