2019 Top Distributors: Overture's Jo Gilley on Customer Service, More

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 Jo Ann Gilley of Overture Promotions, the No. 26 company on our 2019 Top 65 Distributors list.

Overture Promotions wants to keep things moving. Literally, as in its coming move to a new, larger building later this year, and figuratively, as in “moving forward.” For Overture, that means enhancements to the proprietary web development platform it uses to create online stores for its clients, new global partnerships, and investments in staff and management training. Yet, still, Jo Ann Gilley, Overture’s CEO, knows success comes down to good fundamentals.

“We at Overture believe that proactive customer service is the key to success,” Gilley says. “We’re always bringing new ideas, fresh creative, custom reporting and analysis to our customers. And we’re always being responsive problem-solvers and truth-tellers.”

Advice to your past self: “My background is in the advertising and PR side of marketing,” says Gilley. “My advice to myself would be not to make assumptions about promo based on that experience. It’s wildly different.”

Company trivia: “Our staff is divided into four teams for a year-long Overture House Cup competition. Employees earn points for their teams for participation in events like bring-your-dog-to-work days, dress-up days, bring-food days, surveys, wacky competitions, etc. It turns out that our staff is insanely competitive!”

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..