Boundless was acquired by a private equity partnership in June of this year. With the industry seeing more changes than ever in ownership, mergers and acquisitions, I thought this would be a good time to sit down with one of the investors and interim president of Boundless, Charley Dean. He shares his perspective on how he views the industry’s greatest opportunities and challenges...
Pat Barry
For years, the primary promo industry client technology solution was a simple website where buyers could search for product and request a sample or quote. But now, due to technology advances in other industries, companies are demanding more from their promotional vendors...
Throughout the years, I have seen talented salespeople enter this industry with an eye on becoming a million-dollar producer. They work hard early on, have some customer wins, and see their sales increase. By years two and three, they become much smarter regarding the nuances of this industry. They see sales continue to progressively grow,…
I've spent countless hours attending sales seminars, reading books and viewing instructional videos to improve my sales presentation skills. Over time, I felt that many of these training programs were saying the same thing, just in a different way. Here are five fundamental steps that I found lead to a successful first sales meeting...
Historically, there is a high failure rate amongst industry commission sales professionals. However, the upside is that there’s no ceiling to an individual’s income—the more you sell, the more you make. I have found that the most successful ones exemplify traits that take their game to a different level...
This month, I decided to bring in a new voice to show what it takes to make it in this ever-changing industry. Crissy Manwaring, an industry veteran and expert specializing in business development and recruiting talented salespeople, was kind enough to sit down with me to discuss what it takes to truly be successful in promotional products sales...
From a management perspective, we are oddly more optimistic than our sales professionals this year. We are optimistic because there are some real winning industries that have continued to grow despite the pandemic and show no sign of slowing down. We are optimistic because investments in prospecting are now showing results...
If you can get your salespeople sharing insight and behaviors that drive revenue, that is the best professional growth investment you can make for your entire sales team. But how do you get the three very different sales personalities working together to achieve this goal?...
As a salesperson or distributor owner, you have a choice. Do you make a run at filling out the RFP when it could take weeks to complete, but at least have a chance at new business? Or do you walk away from the RFP in the hope that you will continue to obtain maverick spend from your core buyers?...
COVID-19 has only accelerated the growth of U.S. e-commerce, with online sales growing 54 percent in 2020 alone and projected even higher in 2021. With e-commerce sales sure to continue to grow in our industry, does that mean the traditional industry sales professional is on the way out?...
The present circumstances offer a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for sales professionals who have the drive and the passion for this industry. Those who are willing to invest the time to retain existing buyer relationships and finances will succeed. Sales professionals who generate campaigns that target new companies and buyers will have the opportunity to pick up significant market share...
