Promo Marketing Top 50 Distributors 2013: The Interviews
One of business journalism's core thematic pillars is "the study of success." What causes one company to succeed while another fails? How does a person go from poverty to leading a multibillion-dollar company? Is it possible to learn from the past successes of others, or is the study of anecdotal victories a pseudo-logical trap, retroactively applying design and intent based on the student's own biases and ideas and not on what actually drove the success?
It's certainly possible, and in may cases, even probable. But the potentially distorted logic of business biographies doesn't necessarily make them useless as a self-improvement tool. Sure, reading the biography of Steve Jobs to turn your company into the next Apple may be more self-delusion than self-instruction, but there's also always something you can learn from observing the lives of others—provided you look at them the right way.
The point of studying the successes of others should never be for successful mimicry, even in a piecemeal sense. You can read articles like "7 Productivity Secrets Bill Gates Used Every Day" all you want, they will never make you into the next Bill Gates. His successes are based on the total experiences and circumstances of his life, and for better or worse, you cannot have the same ones. Psychologists and strategists may look back at his life and attempt to extract some kind of rule or methodology of how he got to where he is today, but it will always be an incomplete adage, a six-sentence assumption about why it rained 2.5 inches on a Tuesday in Des Moines when in actuality, the whole of Earth's history was involved in that rainstorm and seeing all the events that lead up to that point are impossible by any conceivable method or living mind. You can count the inches, but you will never know fully why it rained the way it did. You can describe the successes of a man, but you will never fully know how he got where he is today. Nor will you ever be able to recreate it identically.
To gain from the study of another's life, the study should be a more philosophical and reflective thing, less about emulation and more about comparison. If you're reading the biography of Steve Jobs for business advice, think of it this way: How does Jobs' handling of challenges compare with your own? What do the differences say about you? The similarities? Do they matter, and if so, why?
Studying the successes of someone else is not about understanding events or strategy, it's about understanding people and how you relate to them, which brings me to what I wanted to talk about in this year's Top Distributors interviews: The idea of motivation.
Like studying the biography of a successful salesperson you'd like to emulate, much of motivating staff is about understanding people, yourself, and the differences and similarities you share, but there are other facets to it as well. Is sales motivation something you can create in staff, or is it something intrinsic to people that just has to be nurtured into blooming? Is creating a solid company culture a hard, top-down management decision based on rules, policies and free beers in the break room, or is it something more organic, formed over the days and years of work a staff does, something that needs to be steered rather than shaped?
Complicated questions, to be sure. Perhaps some answers can be found by asking some experts in our field: 2013's biggest and highest-earning distributor companies. There are a lot of questions out there in the business world about how best to motivate people—who better to ask then those who are having the most success?
1. Proforma
www.proforma.com
Principals: Greg Muzzillo, Founder, and Vera Muzzillo, CEO
Promo Marketing: What are your thoughts on 2012? Your expectations for 2013?
Greg Muzzillo: 2012 was a great year for Proforma. We experienced double-digit growth. We also welcomed a record number of 22 members into our Million Dollar and Multi-Million Dollar Clubs. We had eight of our members be recognized by Inc. Magazine as members of the Inc. 5,000 Fastest Growing Companies. Proforma continues to represent the greatest presence in the printing and promotional products industry on the list.
PM: How do you motivate your sales force, and why?
GM: At Proforma our sales are generated by our members who are business owners and their sales reps. We believe that we cannot motivate people. People must motivate themselves. We help people find their motivation through ongoing education and encouragement for our owners and their sales reps to get in touch with their dreams. When people are in touch with their dreams, then and only then, will they find their motivation. That said, we want to help our members grow their sales. At Proforma we recognize that growing sales can be hard, so we do the hard work for our members. We have an Appointment Setting Team, a team that recruits sales reps and customer service reps, a team that handles all requests for proposals, and a team that recruits acquisitions for our members.
PM: How much emphasis do you put on company culture? What kind of culture have you worked to create and maintain, and why?
GM: Corporate culture is a fancy phrase for those things companies do that impact the way their people think, feel and act. Because we would like for our people to think, feel and act positively in pursuit of their own goals and in alignment with our goals, we do a great deal of work communicating with and educating our members and our support staff on our future goals, providing many opportunities for formal and informal input and feedback, and having fun.
2. Bensussen Deutsch & Associates (BDA)
www.bdainc.com
Principal: Jay Deutsch, CEO and Co-founder
PM: What are your thoughts on 2012? Your expectations for 2013?
Jay Deutsch: BDA had a great 2012. We brought a number of high-caliber people on board, added some exceptional clients and renewed our contracts with a few longtime partners. We also created some of the most creative and unique branded merchandise in BDA's history and continued to revolutionize merchandise marketing to increase efficiency, quality and overall client satisfaction. On the heels of such a great year, we're expecting 2013 to be one of the best years for not only BDA, but for the promotional products industry as a whole. Brands made huge strides toward capitalizing on the power of merchandise in 2012 and we're seeing that trend grow in early 2013.
PM: How much emphasis do you put on company culture? What kind of culture have you worked to create and maintain, and why?
JD: To say we put an emphasis on company culture would be an understatement. Our people are our most valuable assets. They have such a passion for doing great work that if I'm ever seeking inspiration, all I have to do is walk the halls and I'm instantly reinvigorated. We constantly strive toward a culture of mutual respect, dedication and treating each other like family. We showcase the successes of our teams and take time to build internal relationships through company events. Last year, we also put a huge emphasis on philanthropy and giving back to our community. Our associates really took that initiative to the next level and ultimately pushed us to strengthen our corporate focus on making a difference. Since launching the BDA Cares Foundation near the end of 2011, we have received tremendous support both internally and from our vendor partners and clients. When you can rally around a cause, you strengthen your relationships even more.
14. iPROMOTEu
www.ipromoteu.com
Principal: Ross Silverstein, President & CEO
PM: What are your thoughts on 2012? Your expectations for 2013?
Ross Silverstein: 2012 was another strong and record-breaking year for iPROMOTEu. More than 100 experienced distributors and salespeople affiliated with iPROMOTEu in 2012, and many of our existing affiliates grew their business considerably in 2012. I have high expectations for 2013 as well. Thus far, we already are enjoying double-digit growth and we are off to another consecutive record-breaking year.
PM: How do you motivate your sales force, and why?
RS: We motivate iPROMOTEu affiliates with money and recognition; they are both important—for different reasons. Money encourages our affiliates to reach goals and surpass milestones while recognition causes our affiliates to feel good about their performance and their association with iPROMOTEu.
PM: How much emphasis do you put on company culture? What kind of culture have you worked to create and maintain, and why?
RS: The iPROMOTEu company culture has always been important to me. From day one, we wanted to be perceived as a professional, forward-thinking and fun organization. iPROMOTEu enjoys a reputation for innovative ideas and for professionalism and success; iPROMOTEu is widely recognized within the industry as being the distributor organization with the most energy, enthusiasm and camaraderie; and iPROMOTEu certainly is known for throwing the best industry parties. Our reputation for professionalism, innovation and fun [didn't] happen by accident. Nor did our success occur by accident. We work hard, we do a good job, and we make sure our Affiliates are happy. Our Affiliates, and distributors and salespeople in general, want to be a part of a professional, growing, vibrant organization. iPROMOTEu is all that and more.
18. Boundless Network
www.boundlessnetwork.com
Principals: Henrick Johansson, President and Jason A. Black, CEO (Pictured)
PM: What are your thoughts on 2012? Your expectations for 2013?
Jason Black: 2012 met expectations—company grew 30 percent through both organic and inorganic growth. Continue to see the consumer side change—seeking technology combined with excellent customer service. A key driver of our growth will be leveraging our technology platform to meet both the changing landscape of the promotional buyer and the continued interest in leveraging their organizational purchasing power.
[For] 2013, from a Boundless perspective, the company will continue growth of 20 to 30 percent. In Q1/Q2, the company is rolling out several new customer-facing technology solutions that we believe will elevate our value proposition for our sales partners to another level. We expect to continue to take market share as fast-paced sales professionals join the network and customers migrate to the Boundless platform.
PM: How do you motivate your sales force, and why?
JB: Several ways … first and foremost, our organization is motivated by money and providing value to their customers. Boundless provides our partners with the best technology platform to win in the promotional industry. Our investment has proven to pay dividends as it enables our partners to maximize both the customer value, which increases their personal earnings.
Secondly, the company thrives on innovation and pushing the limits with investing in people, processes and technology. Because we are entrepreneurial, we are attractive to other partners that have a "work hard/play hard" mentality.
PM: How much emphasis do you put on company culture? What kind of culture have you worked to create and maintain, and why?
JB: Very important, as culture represents the lifeblood of our organization. The success of our people, both within the industry and personally, is very important to the Boundless management team. The fact the company has only lost one sales professional in 18 months is a true testimonial of the strong "be boundless" culture.
27. Sunrise Identity
www.sunriseid.com
Principal: Mitch Mounger, CEO
PM: How much emphasis do you put on company culture? What kind of culture have you worked to create and maintain, and why?
Mitch Mounger: To us, company culture makes all the difference. We do have many of the standard perks you hear about today such as flexible work schedules, dogs in the office and beer in the fridge, but, these things do not determine our culture. Our culture is defined by the team's desire to make a difference. We foster that environment by opening our books and letting our team know how we are doing. We clearly define the difference between winning and losing and give them the power to go makes us winners.
Newton Manufacturing
www.newtonmfg.net
(Newton does not disclose earnings, but third-party estimates state around $53 million in sales in 2012)
Principal: Mancil Laidig, President
Answers provided by Robin Hand, Vice President of Sales (Pictured)
PM: How much emphasis do you put on company culture? What kind of culture have you worked to create and maintain, and why?
Robin Hand: As an employee-owned company, we maintain an ownership culture where employees understand that they have a direct stake in the success of their company. Employees at all levels are encouraged to share their ideas and actively participate in the growth of the company. As a result, our employees are driven to provide a high level of support to our representatives and their customers.