Canals growth playbook

Publish /events with every show Canals attends (booth number, dates, who will be there, talks), and one page per show with a "Book 10 minutes at our booth: bring your toughest order" form that reserves a slot and asks the visitor to upload or bring the order. Add a "Can't make it? Run it live online" link to the Live Evaluation. Use the page in pre-show emails, LinkedIn posts, show apps and attendee-list outreach, and tag every booking with the show so pipeline per show is visible.

Pre-booked booth meetings convert far better than badge scans, and a live run on the visitor's own order is the one demo that answers "too good to be true" on the spot. It also gives the new BDRs a concrete reason to call before each show.

[ ] Show name, dates, city, booth number
[ ] Who from Canals will be there, with roles
[ ] Talks and session times
[ ] "Book 10 minutes: bring your toughest order" form
[ ] Optional order upload (redaction note)
[ ] Link to the online Live Evaluation
[ ] HubSpot campaign tag for the show
[ ] Pre-show email and LinkedIn post using the link
[ ] Post-show follow-up sequence ready

• Visitors bring orders with customer data

  Offer to redact names and prices, and process on screen without storing the file.

• Booth slots no-show

  Send a reminder the morning of the show with the booth map.

• HiringField Marketing Manager (New York, posted October 16, 2026): "Industry trade shows have been a key driver of our growth since the beginning, and we're doubling down." The role runs trade-show logistics, "pre- and post-event outreach (email, LinkedIn, paid ads, app content, attendee lists)", conference talks, webinars, "ABM gifting campaigns", association relationships, and will "Track and report on event outcomes to improve our ROI over time".Source
• Your websitecanals.ai has no public events page: /events returns the site's 404 page (checked twice on October 22, 2026), the main navigation lists Press, Webinars and Podcasts but no events or trade-show calendar, and the only event page in the sitemap, an Eclipse user conference page under /dev/events/, opens a "Protected page" password prompt.Source
• Your websiteLive Evaluation page: "Bring a Real Order We'll Process"; "Bring your toughest order in any format. No templates, no prep required on our end"; inputs include "Handwritten notes", "Takeoffs", spreadsheets, PDFs, "Voice audio" and "ASAP forms"; "What You See in 10 Minutes"; "Go Live in Days, Not Months", with out-of-the-box integrations for "Eclipse, Prophet21, Infor SX.e, SAP, Microsoft Dynamics, NetSuite, and more".Source
• HiringBusiness Development Representative (Lehi, posted October 8, 2026): "We're hiring our first BDRs." "Our buyers run distribution businesses. They don't spend their days reading about AI. They answer the phone, go to trade shows, and respect people who have done their homework." BDRs research each account "well enough to say something specific about how they take orders or process invoices", and "Work industry events: outreach before the show, starting conversations on the floor, and following up after." It is "a market where reputation travels: these businesses share people, systems, and relationships".Source
• HiringStrategic Account Executive (posted September 29, 2026) and Strategic Sales Manager (posted September 28, 2026): win "the largest accounts in the markets Canals serves", with "complex buying processes, long sales cycles, and the potential for seven-figure deals"; "Build business cases". Account Executives (Denver, Lehi, Seattle) run "6-figure deals through a multi-month sales cycle" of "3-9 months" with "POC sales", for "a product that to many prospects will seem too good to be true", and travel "to industry conferences and trade shows ~25%".Source

Set one source of truth for the headline numbers (orders processed, payables, distributors, users) and update the homepage, /why-canals, /distributors, the Executive Briefing page and booth materials from it. Add "as of" dates, and refresh quarterly. Lead the homepage proof strip with the larger numbers.

Scale is the strongest reassurance for a cautious buyer, and inconsistent numbers make a "too good to be true" product look less credible.

• Numbers change constantly

  Use rounded milestones and an "as of" date.

• Your websiteProof numbers on the site: the homepage shows "2M+ sales orders processed", "$2.1 B+ payables submitted", "8,000+ users saving time", "2.8x hit rate", "90% time savings" and "the Operating AI of 100+ distributors"; /why-canals and /distributors also say "100+"; the Executive Briefing page says "130+ Distributors Run on Canals".Source
• Press releaseCanals' own release (May 28, 2026, on its blog and GlobeNewswire): Canals raised $35M led by Base10 Partners; it "has already processed over 8 million sales orders and $5 billion in payables", with sales growth "all without venture capital", and customers see "doubling quote conversion rates and 96% touchless invoice processing". It names DSG, The Kendall Group and Locke Supply as customers.Source
• HiringStrategic Account Executive (posted September 29, 2026) and Strategic Sales Manager (posted September 28, 2026): win "the largest accounts in the markets Canals serves", with "complex buying processes, long sales cycles, and the potential for seven-figure deals"; "Build business cases". Account Executives (Denver, Lehi, Seattle) run "6-figure deals through a multi-month sales cycle" of "3-9 months" with "POC sales", for "a product that to many prospects will seem too good to be true", and travel "to industry conferences and trade shows ~25%".Source

Delete or unpublish the template copy, exclude /dev/ and the personal live-evaluation pages from the Webflow sitemap and add noindex to them, then resubmit the sitemap. Keep personal pages for one-to-one outreach, reached only by direct link.

Prospects who search their own name and find a vendor page about them may be put off; a clean sitemap also concentrates crawl on the pages that sell.

• Breaking links already sent

  Noindex keeps the pages working for direct links.

• Your websiteSitemap (89 URLs, checked October 22, 2026): 21 product pages, 12 case-study URLs (Eastern Industrial Supplies and Inglett & Stubbs each have separate order-entry and AP stories), 25 blog posts, two vertical pages (/verticals/electrical and /verticals/phcp) and two role pages; a blank template page /products/product-name-copy whose title is just " | Canals"; and five personal /live-evaluation/<first-last> pages named after individuals.Source
• Your websitecanals.ai has no public events page: /events returns the site's 404 page (checked twice on October 22, 2026), the main navigation lists Press, Webinars and Podcasts but no events or trade-show calendar, and the only event page in the sitemap, an Eclipse user conference page under /dev/events/, opens a "Protected page" password prompt.Source

Have booth staff note one detail per conversation (the order format: handwritten, takeoff, voicemail, spreadsheet; and the ERP). Within 48 hours, send each contact a short email and a BDR call: "You mentioned your counter gets handwritten takeoffs. Send us one and we will run it live in 10 minutes." Track replies and live evaluations per show.

Specific follow-up earns replies, and a live run on their own order is the fastest path to a POC.

• Booth staff skip the notes

  Make the field required in the scanning app.

• HiringField Marketing Manager (New York, posted October 16, 2026): "Industry trade shows have been a key driver of our growth since the beginning, and we're doubling down." The role runs trade-show logistics, "pre- and post-event outreach (email, LinkedIn, paid ads, app content, attendee lists)", conference talks, webinars, "ABM gifting campaigns", association relationships, and will "Track and report on event outcomes to improve our ROI over time".Source
• HiringBusiness Development Representative (Lehi, posted October 8, 2026): "We're hiring our first BDRs." "Our buyers run distribution businesses. They don't spend their days reading about AI. They answer the phone, go to trade shows, and respect people who have done their homework." BDRs research each account "well enough to say something specific about how they take orders or process invoices", and "Work industry events: outreach before the show, starting conversations on the floor, and following up after." It is "a market where reputation travels: these businesses share people, systems, and relationships".Source
• Your websiteLive Evaluation page: "Bring a Real Order We'll Process"; "Bring your toughest order in any format. No templates, no prep required on our end"; inputs include "Handwritten notes", "Takeoffs", spreadsheets, PDFs, "Voice audio" and "ASAP forms"; "What You See in 10 Minutes"; "Go Live in Days, Not Months", with out-of-the-box integrations for "Eclipse, Prophet21, Infor SX.e, SAP, Microsoft Dynamics, NetSuite, and more".Source

Build /verticals/hvac and /verticals/industrial-mro from the electrical template, with the order formats each industry deals with (equipment model numbers and submittals for HVAC; long MRO part lists and cross-references for industrial), a customer quote from that industry, the relevant ERPs and the association logo. Use them in association newsletters and BDR sequences.

Distributors want proof that a vendor knows their line, and vertical pages rank for the industry-specific searches the general pages miss.

• Thin pages

  Only publish with a real customer quote.

• Your websiteIndustries: the homepage says the AI is trained for "Electrical Plumbing HVAC Mechanical Industrial/MRO Lumber/Framing Building Materials", and the vertical pages tab across "Electrical Plumbing HVAC Lumber Industrial Construction Safety Machinery MRO PVF", but only electrical and PHCP/PVF have their own vertical page; lumber and building materials have landing pages (/csa, /sales-order-entry-for-lbm).Source
• Your websitePartners page: Canals is an "AD Preferred Service Provider" (with its own /ad page) and lists 12 trade associations, including the American Supply Association, HARDI, the Industrial Supply Association, NAED, NAW, NLBMDA and PTDA, plus two ERP user groups: the Eclipse Users Group and TheUserGroup.org for Infor distribution users.Source
• Your websiteSitemap (89 URLs, checked October 22, 2026): 21 product pages, 12 case-study URLs (Eastern Industrial Supplies and Inglett & Stubbs each have separate order-entry and AP stories), 25 blog posts, two vertical pages (/verticals/electrical and /verticals/phcp) and two role pages; a blank template page /products/product-name-copy whose title is just " | Canals"; and five personal /live-evaluation/<first-last> pages named after individuals.Source
• HiringBusiness Development Representative (Lehi, posted October 8, 2026): "We're hiring our first BDRs." "Our buyers run distribution businesses. They don't spend their days reading about AI. They answer the phone, go to trade shows, and respect people who have done their homework." BDRs research each account "well enough to say something specific about how they take orders or process invoices", and "Work industry events: outreach before the show, starting conversations on the floor, and following up after." It is "a market where reputation travels: these businesses share people, systems, and relationships".Source

Build a one-page research template per account: ERP, branches, lines carried, how orders arrive, association memberships, and a one-line opener tied to a Canals result in the same vertical. Seed it with 200 accounts from the Eclipse and Infor user groups and the association lists, and track reply rates by opener type.

A first BDR team succeeds when the research is fast and repeatable; the kit turns that into a system the next hires inherit.

• Research takes too long

  Cap at 10 minutes per account.

• HiringBusiness Development Representative (Lehi, posted October 8, 2026): "We're hiring our first BDRs." "Our buyers run distribution businesses. They don't spend their days reading about AI. They answer the phone, go to trade shows, and respect people who have done their homework." BDRs research each account "well enough to say something specific about how they take orders or process invoices", and "Work industry events: outreach before the show, starting conversations on the floor, and following up after." It is "a market where reputation travels: these businesses share people, systems, and relationships".Source
• Your websitePartners page: Canals is an "AD Preferred Service Provider" (with its own /ad page) and lists 12 trade associations, including the American Supply Association, HARDI, the Industrial Supply Association, NAED, NAW, NLBMDA and PTDA, plus two ERP user groups: the Eclipse Users Group and TheUserGroup.org for Infor distribution users.Source
• Your websiteIntegrations page lists ERPs including Acumatica, AS400, Bizowie, custom in-house systems, Epicor Eclipse, Epicor Prophet 21, Infor CloudSuite Distribution, Infor M3, Infor SX.e and Microsoft Dynamics 365, all on one page.Source
• Your websiteProof numbers on the site: the homepage shows "2M+ sales orders processed", "$2.1 B+ payables submitted", "8,000+ users saving time", "2.8x hit rate", "90% time savings" and "the Operating AI of 100+ distributors"; /why-canals and /distributors also say "100+"; the Executive Briefing page says "130+ Distributors Run on Canals".Source

Publish a page per major ERP: what syncs (products, pricing, availability, payables), how setup works and how long it takes, what IT has to do, and a customer on that ERP. Promote each at its user group conference and in the group's newsletter.

ERP fit is the first technical objection; answering it publicly shortens discovery and gives user-group audiences a page made for them.

• ERP vendors object to claims

  Describe the integration factually and avoid their logos without permission.

• Your websiteIntegrations page lists ERPs including Acumatica, AS400, Bizowie, custom in-house systems, Epicor Eclipse, Epicor Prophet 21, Infor CloudSuite Distribution, Infor M3, Infor SX.e and Microsoft Dynamics 365, all on one page.Source
• HiringPost-sale hiring: a Customer Success Manager to drive "adoption, retention, and renewals", "identify adoption gaps, expansion opportunities, and renewal risks" and run business reviews "to demonstrate ROI"; an Implementation Engineer, ERP Integrations for "Eclipse, P21, Infor, SAP, Acumatica" who joins "pre-sale discovery calls" and documents "repeatable best practices for internal and customer use"; technical support agents in Brazil. A Senior Product Manager and a Senior Product Designer will "launch and scale new products" for "users who aren't tech-savvy". Every post: "a profitable, rapidly growing company with a team of roughly 140 people"; "thousands of people rely on Canals".Source
• Your websitePartners page: Canals is an "AD Preferred Service Provider" (with its own /ad page) and lists 12 trade associations, including the American Supply Association, HARDI, the Industrial Supply Association, NAED, NAW, NLBMDA and PTDA, plus two ERP user groups: the Eclipse Users Group and TheUserGroup.org for Infor distribution users.Source
• Your websiteLive Evaluation page: "Bring a Real Order We'll Process"; "Bring your toughest order in any format. No templates, no prep required on our end"; inputs include "Handwritten notes", "Takeoffs", spreadsheets, PDFs, "Voice audio" and "ASAP forms"; "What You See in 10 Minutes"; "Go Live in Days, Not Months", with out-of-the-box integrations for "Eclipse, Prophet21, Infor SX.e, SAP, Microsoft Dynamics, NetSuite, and more".Source

Create a HubSpot campaign per show, attribute meetings, opportunities and closed revenue to it (first touch and influenced), and add total cost (booth, travel, dinners, swag). Rank shows by pipeline per dollar each quarter and use it for next year's calendar and sponsorship levels.

Event budgets are usually the largest marketing line for companies selling to distribution, and a ranked list moves money to the shows that pay.

• Long sales cycles hide results

  Report influenced pipeline, not only closed revenue.

• HiringField Marketing Manager (New York, posted October 16, 2026): "Industry trade shows have been a key driver of our growth since the beginning, and we're doubling down." The role runs trade-show logistics, "pre- and post-event outreach (email, LinkedIn, paid ads, app content, attendee lists)", conference talks, webinars, "ABM gifting campaigns", association relationships, and will "Track and report on event outcomes to improve our ROI over time".Source
• HiringStrategic Account Executive (posted September 29, 2026) and Strategic Sales Manager (posted September 28, 2026): win "the largest accounts in the markets Canals serves", with "complex buying processes, long sales cycles, and the potential for seven-figure deals"; "Build business cases". Account Executives (Denver, Lehi, Seattle) run "6-figure deals through a multi-month sales cycle" of "3-9 months" with "POC sales", for "a product that to many prospects will seem too good to be true", and travel "to industry conferences and trade shows ~25%".Source
• Google PageSpeedReal Chrome visitors to canals.ai pass Core Web Vitals: Largest Contentful Paint 1.6 s, Interaction to Next Paint 72 ms, layout shift 0.04 at the 75th percentile, and LCP 40% faster than a year earlier. The site runs on Webflow with HubSpot forms.Source

Send target accounts a quality counter order pad and a card: "Write down the worst order your counter got this week, snap a photo, and send it to us. We will turn it into an ERP-ready order in 10 minutes, live." Follow up with a BDR call. Track photos received and evaluations booked.

A gift that invites a small action creates a reason to reply and puts the prospect's own problem into the first meeting.

• Photos include customer data

  Tell recipients to blur names and prices.

• HiringField Marketing Manager (New York, posted October 16, 2026): "Industry trade shows have been a key driver of our growth since the beginning, and we're doubling down." The role runs trade-show logistics, "pre- and post-event outreach (email, LinkedIn, paid ads, app content, attendee lists)", conference talks, webinars, "ABM gifting campaigns", association relationships, and will "Track and report on event outcomes to improve our ROI over time".Source
• Your websiteLive Evaluation page: "Bring a Real Order We'll Process"; "Bring your toughest order in any format. No templates, no prep required on our end"; inputs include "Handwritten notes", "Takeoffs", spreadsheets, PDFs, "Voice audio" and "ASAP forms"; "What You See in 10 Minutes"; "Go Live in Days, Not Months", with out-of-the-box integrations for "Eclipse, Prophet21, Infor SX.e, SAP, Microsoft Dynamics, NetSuite, and more".Source
• HiringStrategic Account Executive (posted September 29, 2026) and Strategic Sales Manager (posted September 28, 2026): win "the largest accounts in the markets Canals serves", with "complex buying processes, long sales cycles, and the potential for seven-figure deals"; "Build business cases". Account Executives (Denver, Lehi, Seattle) run "6-figure deals through a multi-month sales cycle" of "3-9 months" with "POC sales", for "a product that to many prospects will seem too good to be true", and travel "to industry conferences and trade shows ~25%".Source
• HiringBusiness Development Representative (Lehi, posted October 8, 2026): "We're hiring our first BDRs." "Our buyers run distribution businesses. They don't spend their days reading about AI. They answer the phone, go to trade shows, and respect people who have done their homework." BDRs research each account "well enough to say something specific about how they take orders or process invoices", and "Work industry events: outreach before the show, starting conversations on the floor, and following up after." It is "a market where reputation travels: these businesses share people, systems, and relationships".Source

Each month, invite distributors to submit their hardest orders before the session (handwritten, takeoffs, voicemail, ASAP forms); run five of them live, explain what the AI did, and finish with Q&A with a customer. Clip each run for LinkedIn and BDR follow-up.

Live, unscripted proof answers skepticism better than claims, and attendees who submit an order are the hottest leads.

• A live run fails

  Show it honestly; explain the review step.

• Your websiteLive Evaluation page: "Bring a Real Order We'll Process"; "Bring your toughest order in any format. No templates, no prep required on our end"; inputs include "Handwritten notes", "Takeoffs", spreadsheets, PDFs, "Voice audio" and "ASAP forms"; "What You See in 10 Minutes"; "Go Live in Days, Not Months", with out-of-the-box integrations for "Eclipse, Prophet21, Infor SX.e, SAP, Microsoft Dynamics, NetSuite, and more".Source
• Your websiteResources hub filters Blog, Guide, Case study, Podcast, Webinar, Press and Report; recent items include a podcast on electrical distributors, the Trimble Vista press release and an AI change-management guide. An Executive Briefing page offers sessions on "how AI is driving competitive differentiation", and an AI vendor evaluation guide is gated.Source
• HiringField Marketing Manager (New York, posted October 16, 2026): "Industry trade shows have been a key driver of our growth since the beginning, and we're doubling down." The role runs trade-show logistics, "pre- and post-event outreach (email, LinkedIn, paid ads, app content, attendee lists)", conference talks, webinars, "ABM gifting campaigns", association relationships, and will "Track and report on event outcomes to improve our ROI over time".Source
• HiringStrategic Account Executive (posted September 29, 2026) and Strategic Sales Manager (posted September 28, 2026): win "the largest accounts in the markets Canals serves", with "complex buying processes, long sales cycles, and the potential for seven-figure deals"; "Build business cases". Account Executives (Denver, Lehi, Seattle) run "6-figure deals through a multi-month sales cycle" of "3-9 months" with "POC sales", for "a product that to many prospects will seem too good to be true", and travel "to industry conferences and trade shows ~25%".Source

Build a calculator (a page for buyers and a spreadsheet for AEs): inputs are orders and invoices per day, reps and AP clerks, average order value and hit rate; outputs are hours saved, extra orders won and payback period, with conservative, typical and best cases drawn from customers. Use it in every strategic deal and in the Executive Briefing.

Large buyers need a CFO-ready number, and conservative ranges built on real results make the claim believable.

• Overpromising

  Lead with the conservative case.

• HiringStrategic Account Executive (posted September 29, 2026) and Strategic Sales Manager (posted September 28, 2026): win "the largest accounts in the markets Canals serves", with "complex buying processes, long sales cycles, and the potential for seven-figure deals"; "Build business cases". Account Executives (Denver, Lehi, Seattle) run "6-figure deals through a multi-month sales cycle" of "3-9 months" with "POC sales", for "a product that to many prospects will seem too good to be true", and travel "to industry conferences and trade shows ~25%".Source
• Your websiteProof numbers on the site: the homepage shows "2M+ sales orders processed", "$2.1 B+ payables submitted", "8,000+ users saving time", "2.8x hit rate", "90% time savings" and "the Operating AI of 100+ distributors"; /why-canals and /distributors also say "100+"; the Executive Briefing page says "130+ Distributors Run on Canals".Source
• Press releaseCanals' own release (May 28, 2026, on its blog and GlobeNewswire): Canals raised $35M led by Base10 Partners; it "has already processed over 8 million sales orders and $5 billion in payables", with sales growth "all without venture capital", and customers see "doubling quote conversion rates and 96% touchless invoice processing". It names DSG, The Kendall Group and Locke Supply as customers.Source
• Your websiteResources hub filters Blog, Guide, Case study, Podcast, Webinar, Press and Report; recent items include a podcast on electrical distributors, the Trimble Vista press release and an AI change-management guide. An Executive Briefing page offers sessions on "how AI is driving competitive differentiation", and an AI vendor evaluation guide is gated.Source

Offer each association one member webinar a year on AI in their segment and a short member benchmark (how members take orders and process invoices today), with results shared back. Use the association's channels for the invite and Canals' Live Evaluation as the next step.

Association channels reach owners who ignore vendor email, and the benchmark gives BDRs a specific reason to call.

• Associations want neutrality

  Keep the content educational and vendor-neutral.

• Your websitePartners page: Canals is an "AD Preferred Service Provider" (with its own /ad page) and lists 12 trade associations, including the American Supply Association, HARDI, the Industrial Supply Association, NAED, NAW, NLBMDA and PTDA, plus two ERP user groups: the Eclipse Users Group and TheUserGroup.org for Infor distribution users.Source
• HiringField Marketing Manager (New York, posted October 16, 2026): "Industry trade shows have been a key driver of our growth since the beginning, and we're doubling down." The role runs trade-show logistics, "pre- and post-event outreach (email, LinkedIn, paid ads, app content, attendee lists)", conference talks, webinars, "ABM gifting campaigns", association relationships, and will "Track and report on event outcomes to improve our ROI over time".Source
• HiringBusiness Development Representative (Lehi, posted October 8, 2026): "We're hiring our first BDRs." "Our buyers run distribution businesses. They don't spend their days reading about AI. They answer the phone, go to trade shows, and respect people who have done their homework." BDRs research each account "well enough to say something specific about how they take orders or process invoices", and "Work industry events: outreach before the show, starting conversations on the floor, and following up after." It is "a market where reputation travels: these businesses share people, systems, and relationships".Source
• Your websiteResources hub filters Blog, Guide, Case study, Podcast, Webinar, Press and Report; recent items include a podcast on electrical distributors, the Trimble Vista press release and an AI change-management guide. An Executive Briefing page offers sessions on "how AI is driving competitive differentiation", and an AI vendor evaluation guide is gated.Source

Approach the other major buying groups in electrical, PHCP, HVAC and industrial for a preferred-provider listing, and build a page per group with a member offer and a member case study. Track meetings from each group.

A vetted-provider listing carries the group's trust to hundreds of members at once.

• Exclusivity clauses

  Check terms before signing.

• Your websitePartners page: Canals is an "AD Preferred Service Provider" (with its own /ad page) and lists 12 trade associations, including the American Supply Association, HARDI, the Industrial Supply Association, NAED, NAW, NLBMDA and PTDA, plus two ERP user groups: the Eclipse Users Group and TheUserGroup.org for Infor distribution users.Source
• HiringStrategic Account Executive (posted September 29, 2026) and Strategic Sales Manager (posted September 28, 2026): win "the largest accounts in the markets Canals serves", with "complex buying processes, long sales cycles, and the potential for seven-figure deals"; "Build business cases". Account Executives (Denver, Lehi, Seattle) run "6-figure deals through a multi-month sales cycle" of "3-9 months" with "POC sales", for "a product that to many prospects will seem too good to be true", and travel "to industry conferences and trade shows ~25%".Source
• Your websiteIndustries: the homepage says the AI is trained for "Electrical Plumbing HVAC Mechanical Industrial/MRO Lumber/Framing Building Materials", and the vertical pages tab across "Electrical Plumbing HVAC Lumber Industrial Construction Safety Machinery MRO PVF", but only electrical and PHCP/PVF have their own vertical page; lumber and building materials have landing pages (/csa, /sales-order-entry-for-lbm).Source

Define expansion triggers (for example, order-entry customers above a volume threshold, or AP teams that still key invoices) and show the second product's value in each business review, using the customer's own data. Build one expansion case study per product pair.

Expanding existing customers is cheaper than winning new ones and deepens the ERP integration, which lifts retention.

• Upsell before value is proven

  Only trigger after first-product success.

• HiringPost-sale hiring: a Customer Success Manager to drive "adoption, retention, and renewals", "identify adoption gaps, expansion opportunities, and renewal risks" and run business reviews "to demonstrate ROI"; an Implementation Engineer, ERP Integrations for "Eclipse, P21, Infor, SAP, Acumatica" who joins "pre-sale discovery calls" and documents "repeatable best practices for internal and customer use"; technical support agents in Brazil. A Senior Product Manager and a Senior Product Designer will "launch and scale new products" for "users who aren't tech-savvy". Every post: "a profitable, rapidly growing company with a team of roughly 140 people"; "thousands of people rely on Canals".Source
• Your websiteSitemap (89 URLs, checked October 22, 2026): 21 product pages, 12 case-study URLs (Eastern Industrial Supplies and Inglett & Stubbs each have separate order-entry and AP stories), 25 blog posts, two vertical pages (/verticals/electrical and /verticals/phcp) and two role pages; a blank template page /products/product-name-copy whose title is just " | Canals"; and five personal /live-evaluation/<first-last> pages named after individuals.Source
• Your websiteProof numbers on the site: the homepage shows "2M+ sales orders processed", "$2.1 B+ payables submitted", "8,000+ users saving time", "2.8x hit rate", "90% time savings" and "the Operating AI of 100+ distributors"; /why-canals and /distributors also say "100+"; the Executive Briefing page says "130+ Distributors Run on Canals".Source

Publish a sample go-live timeline per ERP (access, configuration, testing, training), the IT tasks required, and the median days to live from recent customers. Link it from the Live Evaluation and ERP pages, and send it after every first meeting.

Showing the plan removes the biggest unknown for IT and operations sponsors and speeds up approvals.

• Some go-lives are slower

  Show the range and what causes delays.

• Your websiteLive Evaluation page: "Bring a Real Order We'll Process"; "Bring your toughest order in any format. No templates, no prep required on our end"; inputs include "Handwritten notes", "Takeoffs", spreadsheets, PDFs, "Voice audio" and "ASAP forms"; "What You See in 10 Minutes"; "Go Live in Days, Not Months", with out-of-the-box integrations for "Eclipse, Prophet21, Infor SX.e, SAP, Microsoft Dynamics, NetSuite, and more".Source
• HiringPost-sale hiring: a Customer Success Manager to drive "adoption, retention, and renewals", "identify adoption gaps, expansion opportunities, and renewal risks" and run business reviews "to demonstrate ROI"; an Implementation Engineer, ERP Integrations for "Eclipse, P21, Infor, SAP, Acumatica" who joins "pre-sale discovery calls" and documents "repeatable best practices for internal and customer use"; technical support agents in Brazil. A Senior Product Manager and a Senior Product Designer will "launch and scale new products" for "users who aren't tech-savvy". Every post: "a profitable, rapidly growing company with a team of roughly 140 people"; "thousands of people rely on Canals".Source
• HiringStrategic Account Executive (posted September 29, 2026) and Strategic Sales Manager (posted September 28, 2026): win "the largest accounts in the markets Canals serves", with "complex buying processes, long sales cycles, and the potential for seven-figure deals"; "Build business cases". Account Executives (Denver, Lehi, Seattle) run "6-figure deals through a multi-month sales cycle" of "3-9 months" with "POC sales", for "a product that to many prospects will seem too good to be true", and travel "to industry conferences and trade shows ~25%".Source
• Your websiteIntegrations page lists ERPs including Acumatica, AS400, Bizowie, custom in-house systems, Epicor Eclipse, Epicor Prophet 21, Infor CloudSuite Distribution, Infor M3, Infor SX.e and Microsoft Dynamics 365, all on one page.Source

Ask customers after a strong business review to introduce one peer, with a thank-you (donation to an industry scholarship fund or an association event pass), and invite them to host a peer at a Canals dinner during shows.

Referred deals close faster and at higher rates in tight-knit industries.

• Customers feel used

  Ask only after proven value.

• HiringBusiness Development Representative (Lehi, posted October 8, 2026): "We're hiring our first BDRs." "Our buyers run distribution businesses. They don't spend their days reading about AI. They answer the phone, go to trade shows, and respect people who have done their homework." BDRs research each account "well enough to say something specific about how they take orders or process invoices", and "Work industry events: outreach before the show, starting conversations on the floor, and following up after." It is "a market where reputation travels: these businesses share people, systems, and relationships".Source
• Your websitePartners page: Canals is an "AD Preferred Service Provider" (with its own /ad page) and lists 12 trade associations, including the American Supply Association, HARDI, the Industrial Supply Association, NAED, NAW, NLBMDA and PTDA, plus two ERP user groups: the Eclipse Users Group and TheUserGroup.org for Infor distribution users.Source
• HiringPost-sale hiring: a Customer Success Manager to drive "adoption, retention, and renewals", "identify adoption gaps, expansion opportunities, and renewal risks" and run business reviews "to demonstrate ROI"; an Implementation Engineer, ERP Integrations for "Eclipse, P21, Infor, SAP, Acumatica" who joins "pre-sale discovery calls" and documents "repeatable best practices for internal and customer use"; technical support agents in Brazil. A Senior Product Manager and a Senior Product Designer will "launch and scale new products" for "users who aren't tech-savvy". Every post: "a profitable, rapidly growing company with a team of roughly 140 people"; "thousands of people rely on Canals".Source

Publish an aggregated, anonymised report each year: order formats by vertical, time to quote, hit-rate effect of speed, invoice exceptions. Launch it at the biggest show, present it at association events, and give BDRs one finding per vertical as an opener.

Original data earns press, speaking slots and AI-search citations, and positions Canals as the authority in a market it calls "the real economy".

• Customer data concerns

  Aggregate and suppress small groups; tell customers in advance.

• Press releaseCanals' own release (May 28, 2026, on its blog and GlobeNewswire): Canals raised $35M led by Base10 Partners; it "has already processed over 8 million sales orders and $5 billion in payables", with sales growth "all without venture capital", and customers see "doubling quote conversion rates and 96% touchless invoice processing". It names DSG, The Kendall Group and Locke Supply as customers.Source
• Your websiteProof numbers on the site: the homepage shows "2M+ sales orders processed", "$2.1 B+ payables submitted", "8,000+ users saving time", "2.8x hit rate", "90% time savings" and "the Operating AI of 100+ distributors"; /why-canals and /distributors also say "100+"; the Executive Briefing page says "130+ Distributors Run on Canals".Source
• Your websitePartners page: Canals is an "AD Preferred Service Provider" (with its own /ad page) and lists 12 trade associations, including the American Supply Association, HARDI, the Industrial Supply Association, NAED, NAW, NLBMDA and PTDA, plus two ERP user groups: the Eclipse Users Group and TheUserGroup.org for Infor distribution users.Source
• HiringField Marketing Manager (New York, posted October 16, 2026): "Industry trade shows have been a key driver of our growth since the beginning, and we're doubling down." The role runs trade-show logistics, "pre- and post-event outreach (email, LinkedIn, paid ads, app content, attendee lists)", conference talks, webinars, "ABM gifting campaigns", association relationships, and will "Track and report on event outcomes to improve our ROI over time".Source

Let contractors invite their other suppliers to receive orders through ASAP. When a supplier gets orders from ASAP contractors, offer a free first month of order entry. Measure supplier signups from contractor invites.

A network effect lowers acquisition cost: every contractor becomes a distribution channel to new distributors.

• Suppliers fear sharing contractors with rivals

  Keep each supplier's data and pricing private.

• Your websiteASAP for suppliers: "Be the material management system your contractors work in, and the supplier they work with"; contractor crews "build material lists in their preferred format" and submit them "from a dedicated mobile app" ("type it in", "write it down", "talk to text"). Canals also announced AP automation for contractors on Trimble Vista through the Trimble Marketplace.Source
• HiringPost-sale hiring: a Customer Success Manager to drive "adoption, retention, and renewals", "identify adoption gaps, expansion opportunities, and renewal risks" and run business reviews "to demonstrate ROI"; an Implementation Engineer, ERP Integrations for "Eclipse, P21, Infor, SAP, Acumatica" who joins "pre-sale discovery calls" and documents "repeatable best practices for internal and customer use"; technical support agents in Brazil. A Senior Product Manager and a Senior Product Designer will "launch and scale new products" for "users who aren't tech-savvy". Every post: "a profitable, rapidly growing company with a team of roughly 140 people"; "thousands of people rely on Canals".Source
• HiringBusiness Development Representative (Lehi, posted October 8, 2026): "We're hiring our first BDRs." "Our buyers run distribution businesses. They don't spend their days reading about AI. They answer the phone, go to trade shows, and respect people who have done their homework." BDRs research each account "well enough to say something specific about how they take orders or process invoices", and "Work industry events: outreach before the show, starting conversations on the floor, and following up after." It is "a market where reputation travels: these businesses share people, systems, and relationships".Source

Pick manufacturers whose distributors already use Canals, and offer them order entry that reads those distributors' POs straight away. Market it as "the PO goes in once": faster acknowledgments for the distributor, no keying for the manufacturer.

Selling to both ends of a document flow lets each customer recruit the other.

• Privacy between customers

  Use only data each party agrees to share.

• Your websiteIndustries: the homepage says the AI is trained for "Electrical Plumbing HVAC Mechanical Industrial/MRO Lumber/Framing Building Materials", and the vertical pages tab across "Electrical Plumbing HVAC Lumber Industrial Construction Safety Machinery MRO PVF", but only electrical and PHCP/PVF have their own vertical page; lumber and building materials have landing pages (/csa, /sales-order-entry-for-lbm).Source
• Your websiteProof numbers on the site: the homepage shows "2M+ sales orders processed", "$2.1 B+ payables submitted", "8,000+ users saving time", "2.8x hit rate", "90% time savings" and "the Operating AI of 100+ distributors"; /why-canals and /distributors also say "100+"; the Executive Briefing page says "130+ Distributors Run on Canals".Source
• HiringStrategic Account Executive (posted September 29, 2026) and Strategic Sales Manager (posted September 28, 2026): win "the largest accounts in the markets Canals serves", with "complex buying processes, long sales cycles, and the potential for seven-figure deals"; "Build business cases". Account Executives (Denver, Lehi, Seattle) run "6-figure deals through a multi-month sales cycle" of "3-9 months" with "POC sales", for "a product that to many prospects will seem too good to be true", and travel "to industry conferences and trade shows ~25%".Source

Run a "Stump Canals" challenge at each show: visitors bring their worst order; each run goes on a screen board with time taken and accuracy (data redacted). The hardest order of the show wins a prize. Post the best runs on LinkedIn after the show.

A challenge gives passers-by a reason to stop, and every entry is a qualified conversation about their own order.

• An order stumps it

  Show the human review step; that is the product working.

• HiringField Marketing Manager (New York, posted October 16, 2026): "Industry trade shows have been a key driver of our growth since the beginning, and we're doubling down." The role runs trade-show logistics, "pre- and post-event outreach (email, LinkedIn, paid ads, app content, attendee lists)", conference talks, webinars, "ABM gifting campaigns", association relationships, and will "Track and report on event outcomes to improve our ROI over time".Source
• Your websiteLive Evaluation page: "Bring a Real Order We'll Process"; "Bring your toughest order in any format. No templates, no prep required on our end"; inputs include "Handwritten notes", "Takeoffs", spreadsheets, PDFs, "Voice audio" and "ASAP forms"; "What You See in 10 Minutes"; "Go Live in Days, Not Months", with out-of-the-box integrations for "Eclipse, Prophet21, Infor SX.e, SAP, Microsoft Dynamics, NetSuite, and more".Source
• HiringBusiness Development Representative (Lehi, posted October 8, 2026): "We're hiring our first BDRs." "Our buyers run distribution businesses. They don't spend their days reading about AI. They answer the phone, go to trade shows, and respect people who have done their homework." BDRs research each account "well enough to say something specific about how they take orders or process invoices", and "Work industry events: outreach before the show, starting conversations on the floor, and following up after." It is "a market where reputation travels: these businesses share people, systems, and relationships".Source

Test accuracy on a sample of Spanish and mixed-language orders and voicemails. If it holds up, add it to the Live Evaluation and ASAP pages and to the vertical pages, and give AEs a demo order in Spanish.

A distributor whose counter handles Spanish orders sees a clear advantage over tools that handle English only.

• Claim before it works

  Publish only after testing.

• Your websiteLive Evaluation page: "Bring a Real Order We'll Process"; "Bring your toughest order in any format. No templates, no prep required on our end"; inputs include "Handwritten notes", "Takeoffs", spreadsheets, PDFs, "Voice audio" and "ASAP forms"; "What You See in 10 Minutes"; "Go Live in Days, Not Months", with out-of-the-box integrations for "Eclipse, Prophet21, Infor SX.e, SAP, Microsoft Dynamics, NetSuite, and more".Source
• Your websiteASAP for suppliers: "Be the material management system your contractors work in, and the supplier they work with"; contractor crews "build material lists in their preferred format" and submit them "from a dedicated mobile app" ("type it in", "write it down", "talk to text"). Canals also announced AP automation for contractors on Trimble Vista through the Trimble Marketplace.Source
• HiringPost-sale hiring: a Customer Success Manager to drive "adoption, retention, and renewals", "identify adoption gaps, expansion opportunities, and renewal risks" and run business reviews "to demonstrate ROI"; an Implementation Engineer, ERP Integrations for "Eclipse, P21, Infor, SAP, Acumatica" who joins "pre-sale discovery calls" and documents "repeatable best practices for internal and customer use"; technical support agents in Brazil. A Senior Product Manager and a Senior Product Designer will "launch and scale new products" for "users who aren't tech-savvy". Every post: "a profitable, rapidly growing company with a team of roughly 140 people"; "thousands of people rely on Canals".Source

For each conference talk, invite a customer to co-present one before-and-after story with numbers. Record it, cut clips, and add them to the vertical and case-study pages.

Peer stories persuade cautious buyers, and conference organisers prefer operator speakers, which wins more slots.

• Customers decline

  Offer a recorded interview instead.

• HiringField Marketing Manager (New York, posted October 16, 2026): "Industry trade shows have been a key driver of our growth since the beginning, and we're doubling down." The role runs trade-show logistics, "pre- and post-event outreach (email, LinkedIn, paid ads, app content, attendee lists)", conference talks, webinars, "ABM gifting campaigns", association relationships, and will "Track and report on event outcomes to improve our ROI over time".Source
• Your websiteProof numbers on the site: the homepage shows "2M+ sales orders processed", "$2.1 B+ payables submitted", "8,000+ users saving time", "2.8x hit rate", "90% time savings" and "the Operating AI of 100+ distributors"; /why-canals and /distributors also say "100+"; the Executive Briefing page says "130+ Distributors Run on Canals".Source
• Your websiteSitemap (89 URLs, checked October 22, 2026): 21 product pages, 12 case-study URLs (Eastern Industrial Supplies and Inglett & Stubbs each have separate order-entry and AP stories), 25 blog posts, two vertical pages (/verticals/electrical and /verticals/phcp) and two role pages; a blank template page /products/product-name-copy whose title is just " | Canals"; and five personal /live-evaluation/<first-last> pages named after individuals.Source

Run LinkedIn and search ads targeting attendees and exhibitors of each show to the show page from idea 1, with the booking form above the fold. Stop when the show ends; retarget visitors with the Live Evaluation afterwards.

Ads that match the visitor's context convert better, and the fast site means landing pages will not lose visitors to speed.

• Small audiences

  Use job titles plus company lists.

• #1 A public "Meet Canals" page for every trade show, where distributors book a live run of their own toughest order

• HiringField Marketing Manager (New York, posted October 16, 2026): "Industry trade shows have been a key driver of our growth since the beginning, and we're doubling down." The role runs trade-show logistics, "pre- and post-event outreach (email, LinkedIn, paid ads, app content, attendee lists)", conference talks, webinars, "ABM gifting campaigns", association relationships, and will "Track and report on event outcomes to improve our ROI over time".Source
• Google PageSpeedReal Chrome visitors to canals.ai pass Core Web Vitals: Largest Contentful Paint 1.6 s, Interaction to Next Paint 72 ms, layout shift 0.04 at the 75th percentile, and LCP 40% faster than a year earlier. The site runs on Webflow with HubSpot forms.Source
• Your websitecanals.ai has no public events page: /events returns the site's 404 page (checked twice on October 22, 2026), the main navigation lists Press, Webinars and Podcasts but no events or trade-show calendar, and the only event page in the sitemap, an Eclipse user conference page under /dev/events/, opens a "Protected page" password prompt.Source