2019 Top Distributors: HALO Branded Solutions' Marc Simon on Promo Trends

By Sean Norris

Each year, Promo Marketing compiles the top promotional products distributors into one comprehensive list. We asked some of the 2019 top distributors for their thoughts on the industry, their plans for the future, what they love about promo and much more. Here, we profiled Marc Simon of HALO Branded Solutions, the No. 2 company on our 2019 Top 65 Distributors list.

HALO Branded Solutions has been busy. In addition to a number of significant acquisitions over the last few years, including several involving former Top 50 distributors, the company has been hard at work growing its sales organically. Marc Simon, CEO, credits HALO’s suite of business tools for helping account executives grow their business, with investments (and reinvestments) in technology and staff paying off on the balance sheet.

“The desire and ability to provide value is the single biggest key to success as a distributor,” says Simon. “Distributors who provide value to their sales professionals and their clients will succeed. At HALO, our singular focus is creating and providing value to our account executives, so they can do the same for their clients.”

Watching trends: “Clients’ needs are growing more complex,” says Simon. “In order to continue to gain market share, we will invest in those things that make the buying experience for every client as efficient and desirable as possible.”

Promo advice: “Keep it simple. Clients want value—they want an account executive who is completely committed to their success and the growth of the client’s brand. They want quality products, delivered on-time, at a fair price.”

View the full 2019 Top Distributors list (including a separate list of the fastest-growing distributors) here, or click here for stats, trends and analysis from the list.