The Genie Is Out Of The Bottle

Additionally, you are seeing new distributors asking about your compliance efforts every week or two and realize that end-buyers are driving these requests. It's apparent: The genie is out of the bottle. You know the demand for compliance is building rather than ebbing. You are either being rewarded for being an early adopter, or you are escalating your efforts to catch up and be in a position to meet the growing demand.

Most certainly, if you do not have a comprehensive compliance solution, you are already losing market share—and the pace is accelerating. You're not being invited into the conversation, and you can't close the deal if you don't have a seat at the table.

Brent Stone is executive director - operations for Quality Certification Alliance (QCA), the promotional products industry's only independent, not-for-profit organization dedicated to helping companies provide safe products. A Six Sigma Black Belt, Stone has more than 25 years of in-depth supply chain management experience with extensive expertise in process design, development, improvement and management. He can be reached at brent@qcalliance.org or visit www.qcalliance.org for more information.