What does the future hold?

See my recent comments posted in response to a PROMO 35 Group Guest Interview....

Again, this is just my opinion...


promo35: "What will 2010 be like?" with Dave Regan - Vice President of Vernon Company





1. Describe what 2010 will be like for our industry in one word.

Rebound


2. Will 2010 be up, down, about the same compared to 2009?

Up, up, and up!


3. Do you see major changes happening to our industry in 2010 and the next few years?

Not really…I know this probably sounds like I have my head in the sand but while I recognize that there will be lots of other things to be concerned with such as product safety issues and social media opportunities at the end of the day our industry relies on relationships! Salespeople, distributors and suppliers who are good at forming and strengthening relationships will be successful. Those that cannot develop and maintain solid relationships at all levels with suppliers, manufacturers, salespeople and customers will falter.


4. What is something good we have going for our industry moving forward?

Our best attribute is our people! To be more specific it is the resiliency of the people in this industry. For more than 100 years this industry has been successful. We have weathered the great depression, two world wars and several recessions. In the end it is the grass roots nature of our business that enables us to endure.


5. What is something not so good that might hurt us moving forward?

The one thing that is sure to create some heartaches in the weeks and months ahead involves restrictive and confusing government legislation. Issues like the pharmaceutical laws, the product safety and compliance guidelines and restrictions on purchases by doctors have created a flurry of different interpretations by everyone involved in the supply chain.

It is absolutely critical that everyone in the supply chain is committed to educating themselves and their staff to stay up to speed in all these areas. This includes manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, distributor salespeople and the end buyers. If our education efforts are not successful with any of these groups it is fair to say that the value proposition of promotional products will not be communicated properly.

My fear in looking down the road is that due to the extremely fragmented nature of industry, namely the fact that small distributors and suppliers number in the thousands, that we will not have a unified approach to these issues in general and the industry as a whole will be negatively impacted by the transgressions of a few who choose not to pay attention to the serious nature of some of these areas of concern. A good example of this is where someone chooses to promote and sell a product that is cheaper, but NOT safe. I think we all know what the damaging impact of that type of a decision can mean for the industry!

Remember...I've got feelings!

Actually the title is not about me, but it could be! We all know that the last year has been a very trying one for all people, not just those of us in the promotional products, but those all around the country. As an executive of one of the larger distributors in the US I have been caught up in what most people have been doing, aligning costs with the sales revenue.

Yes this includes the fun stuff (I say this 100 % sarcastically) of making budget cuts, laying off people, reducing benefits, etc. I have been involved in countless projections of sales and profits and more analysis than I care to think of. It has not been fun but it has been a necessary evil that has had to be done.

One of my responses to the economic challenges of this year involved me drastically cutting back on some travel during the second half of the calendar year. This seems to make sense…right? Again if there was a good reason to fly to the east coast or the west coast I would be on a plane tomorrow. We all still need to go about our business, unless we are closing up shop and this is certainly not a factor with our company. But again in an effort to be fiscally responsible we cut back on some discretionary travel trips.

As I write this I am returning from a sales meeting in Ohio attended by about 25 of our sales reps. I will let you know that we have almost 400 sales reps around the United States, most employees but some 1099 status folks who are compensated 100 % on straight commission. At this meeting we had a mix of long time seasoned veterans (some with over 30 years with our company) and some exciting new hires who had aligned with us recently for a variety of reasons. I would like to say that they “saw the light” and realized we were the place to be but for one reason or another we seem to fit their needs!

After a day and a half of teaching, listening and learning I was overcome with the realization that these people are real and that these people have feelings. For the past several months of analysis and projections I have been seeing their names and their sales numbers, volumes, commissions, profits, etc. on reports. Mind you I have known some of these people a long time so that this week was not my first introduction to them.

The overwhelming reality that I faced was that while I have been reviewing budgets and projecting future sales and expenses these folks have been trying to live and get by day to day in many cases. As a salaried manager with bonus opportunities and a vested interest in the company it is not as if I am just skating by with absolutely no impact on my income. I have been affected but not to the extent that the sales people on the street have experienced. I saw and heard cases of 20, 30 and 40 % losses in income. Again I knew this because I see the reports however this week it touched me more than a name on a piece of paper!

Have I been stuck in the ivory tower? Yes I think I have!

I think at the end of the day, as a person responsible for managing the business, many decisions that have been made would be the same. What I do think could be different is the way you arrive at the decisions and the manner in which you communicate them could be more compassionate.

Whether you own and run a small distributorship or a supplier or a large national firm does not really matter. Perhaps in a larger company it might be easier to “forget” about the personal side of the business if you are not interacting with the reps on a daily basis. The bottom line is that salespeople have feelings! They want to be heard! They want to be appreciated!

I have a special line that I use in our company at certain times. In those situations where someone is complaining about the actions of a particular rep I attempt to get to the core of the issue and see what happened. Sometimes it becomes apparent that a person would rather complain about the salesperson than remedy the situation. It is at that time that I will say in a very sobering tone straight faced as I can be…

”well maybe we should consider eliminating all of the sales reps. I think if we did that things would go much smoother around here. Don’t you think?”

We all know how ludicrous that this sounds. We all need salespeople! They are at the heart of our who we are and what we do. Nothing happens until something is sold!

The wake up call that I got this week was to never forget the salesperson on the street and what they go through. Stay in tune with who they are and what they do! Spend some real face time with them. Listen to them! Find out firsthand what their challenges they are encountering and discuss ways to overcome them together.

If we can remember to do these things, especially at times like this, our companies will all be better off. We need each other, management and sales, more than either side will admit but it is true!