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Tuesday
June 23, 2009 What’s Your Question 35?Filed under: Community, Industry Initiatives, Members Let me admit something right off the bat – I’m not under 35. However, I was more than happy to answer some questions for the new Facebook group “Promo 35,” which provides an online forum for young industry professionals. The group is the brainchild of Charley Johnson of SnugZ/USA (asi/88060), who is posting several interviews with industry leaders and movers and shakers. The interviews have thought-provoking questions, such as “what do you wish you knew back in your 20s that you know now?” or “what piece of advice would you give the younger generation hoping to be in your shoes later in life?” Read my answers here if you’re on Facebook. If not, they’re below. The last question, #35, is crafted by the interviewees. What would your question be? Post it on the blog now or email me here. 1. What do you wish you knew back in your 20’s that you know now? Early in my career, I thought every decision – no matter how small – was life or death, do or die, must win at all costs. What I’ve discovered is that you pick your battles, and you pick when you must win and when you just want to win, and you save your ammunition for the times that you really need to unload it. Many people think they have to win every debate, every business discussion, every last nickel on the table. That isn’t the case, and in fact in the long run you ultimately lose because everyone thinks you always have to have it your way. 2. What one thing do you wish you would have done in your earlier days? What one thing do you wish you would have NOT done in your earlier days? A. I wish that I had spent more time just out of college traveling and visiting the world and learning more about other cultures. I’ve been able to do that in the last few years, but I think that my personal and professional development would have been helped by having some of those experiences early on and not later. Of course, easy to say but tough to afford when you’re earlier in your career. (Although travel and experiencing the world doesn’t have to be expensive to be good.) B. I really don’t have any regrets. If you approach things that are difficult with an eye to learning from the experience, and taking that away with you, I think really you have few regrets. 3. What piece of advice would you give the younger generation hoping to be in your shoes later in life? Be honest. It’s okay to make mistakes, as long as you learn from them, and acknowledge that you made them. The worst thing to find out is that someone isn’t honest, isn’t truthful and tries to cover up every little error in judgment they make. We make a hundred decisions in a day – sometimes hundreds of decisions in a day – and not every one of them are going to be the correct ones in the long term. But in the moment, you have to make the decision, and you have to do the best you can. 4. What helps you get up and go to work in the morning? I love what I do, and I love the people I do it with, both professionally and in my personal life. I long ago decided that working somewhere that I didn’t like, with people I didn’t respect, or spending time with friends who I didn’t really like that much, was a big waste of time. 5. Name a vice you have? I’m not sure it’s a vice, but one thing that I sometimes struggle with is tackling the biggest problems and biggest issues first. It’s natural for me to try to do the little stuff first, and get to the big, bad stuff later. But if you tackle the bigger, tougher things first you’re fresher, you have more energy and your brain is going to be more engaged. Plus it makes everything after that seem simpler. 6. What would you stand up for no matter how much backlash came with it? After really gathering the facts, and deciding what I think was right, I’d stand up for that position no matter what. 7. Is the customer really always right? Please no politically correct responses; we want your honest opinion. Absolutely not. But neither are we. One of the most important things in business is to really listen to the other parties and understand where they’re coming from, calmly explain your position and where you’re coming from and then trying to reach some sort of a middle ground that works pretty well for everybody. There’s nothing worse than people who call me yelling about something, or staking their ground and saying “you must do this or else.” We’ve all talked to those people, we’ve all gotten their letters and emails, and we’ve all met them. Sometimes you just have to say, “Is this really worth the effort I’m putting into this?” And if it isn’t, you have to walk away. One of the hardest things is “firing” a customer, but I certainly have done it and I certainly explain to people that I plan to do it. Usually, if they’re reasonable, they’ll calm down and realize that they’ve been too aggressive or just plain too mean. If they don’t, then I don’t want them as a customer, or as a prospect or as a friend. 8. What famous person has this world put up on a pedestal that you believe does not deserve to be there? Rather than an individual, I’d say a whole host of “famous” singers, performers and politicians. We sometimes idolize people for no good reason other than they’re doing their job. 9. If all of a sudden you had control over the entire promotional product industry what ONE thing would you change? I would try to take away some of the paranoia that exists among and between distributors, suppliers and decorators. There’s a lot of unproductive worry about relationships, and I think in the long run it hurts the industry more than it helps any one business individually or the industry as a whole. 35. Your turn to ask a question, you can ask any question you want, something you want the readers to think about and answer for themselves. If you could do anything, knowing that you wouldn’t fail, what would you do?
Tuesday
June 9, 2009 Do you know Word – Really?Filed under: Education, Guest Blog, Industry Initiatives, Member Benefits Now is the time to make sure your company is positioned to take advantage of the Examining and streamlining processes, raising efficiency, and putting in checks and balances, at a time when business is a little slower, is a prudent decision. And, you can be certain that the tools and systems you have in place provide more functionality and can offer more information than you are already using now. I wrote this in Microsoft Word before posting it, but I don’t know all of Word’s other features. I’m constantly using only a small percentage of its capabilities, because I’ve yet to see the value of taking time to learn more. This is true not only for Word, but any software program, including our industry-specific ProfitMaker program for instance (which ASI Computer Systems provides for distributors and suppliers to use for entering orders, tracking inventory and producing business reports). So if you’re a ProfitMaker user, here are recent improvements you might not have used yet that can really help you out: More resources than ever
ESP Online Search
New Activity Manager
Reports
ASI Services directly integrated
Direct Supplier Website Integration
If you’re not a ProfitMaker user, visit www.asicomp.com to learn more about how it can streamline your operations and provide you with more time for selling. Look around your office and think about what programs and resources you already have that can contribute more to your operations, and ultimately, your profitability. – Dave Wirth is president and chief operating officer of ASI Computer Systems. Email him here.
Friday
June 5, 2009 Benefits of ASI Virtual Trade ShowFiled under: ASI Shows, Industry Initiatives, News About ASI The recent success of ASI’s first virtual trade show is being showcased in As I told the magazine, virtual trade shows are an ideal way for advertising specialty industry distributors and suppliers to connect, learn and sell in an efficient way and at a time when we all could use innovative methods to become more educated, reach prospects and grab market share. In addition to the virtual show, ASI’s in-person shows provide opportunities to meet clients and prospects face-to-face. The next one is around the corner in July in Chicago. Click here for the full schedule. Our first virtual show in May was so well received – with over 2,000 attendees – we’ve already scheduled another one for Wednesday, August 19. If you missed the first one, it’s archived and available anytime at www.asicentral.com/vts. Click here for the article to learn more about virtual tradeshows and why you should attend our second upcoming show. I’d love to hear about your experiences at our show or any other virtual event you have attended. Please post a comment to the blog now or email me anytime at tim.andrews@asicentral.com.
Thursday
May 28, 2009 A Supplier’s Way to Help Distributors – Offer EQPFiled under: Community, Guest Blog, Industry Initiatives Usually I wouldn’t post even slightly commercial guest blogs from ASI members, but I received the following email from a prominent industry supplier and wanted to pass it along. From Tom Between pharma and banking and cut backs from most other companies, we figure distributors could really use some relief. As a supplier, we wanted to help, so we decided to do something we have never done before: offer EQP on everything, with no restrictions or fine print, through August 31. EQP refers to ‘End Quantity Pricing’ – and it is the lowest price a supplier can possibly offer a distributor for an item. It is typically the lowest price offered for high-quantity orders. If our customers have already earned EQP on anther order, then we will provide EQP less 5%. We are trying to give distributors and their sales people ammo to close sales, even if we sacrifice a bit of our own margin. We have urged other suppliers, and even our competitors, to follow our lead. Temporary pain for us may help a few distributors do better.
Thursday
May 21, 2009 Virtual Trade Show Draws 2,000+ Distributors; Next in AugustFiled under: ASI Shows, Industry Initiatives, Member Benefits, Members, News About ASI At a time when other shows are down, ASI is delivering. Our first industry virtual trade show took full advantage of the latest technologies and attracted over 2,000 distributors. Demand from suppliers was so great we’ve added a second virtual trade show, scheduled for Wednesday, August 19. For those who could not attend this week’s show, it will be available on demand at www.asicentral.com/vts, beginning Tuesday, May 26. Read the press release here. No one else in the industry is doing more for distributors, suppliers and decorators. By offering a cutting-edge virtual trade show, ASI proved it’s able to respond effectively to the times with the resources you need now.
Above and below: ASI staff interacting with attendees in the show’s online chat rooms.
In addition to networking and selling, our online event also featured leading education sessions for distributors. Sessions included sales tips, research from ASI’s advertising specialties impressions study, information from the Counselor State of the Industry report, and a live broadcast of the ASI Internet Radio Show that attracted over 200 live listeners. Reactions from attendees were positive:
The next event in August will build on these great features we offered this week:
Registration for the next ASI Virtual Trade Show is free for distributors – more information coming soon – and suppliers can exhibit. To exhibit, contact Dan Dienna, advertising director for catalogs and electronics, at ddienna@asicentral.com.
Tuesday
May 19, 2009 What Keeps the “Open” Sign on?Filed under: Industry Initiatives How many times have you gotten lousy service – but instead of confronting the owners, simply stopped giving them your business?
I respect the constant give-and-take from our members, because it keeps every one of us on our toes. So I was especially pleased with a recent blog from Bobby Lehew, which presents a frank, and I believe fair, assessment of our business in the last few years. Read his post here. Full disclosure: Bobby has been an education speaker at ASI shows. I’d love to hear your feedback as well anytime. Post a comment now or email me here.
Thursday
May 14, 2009 Facts and Photos From Toronto’s RoadshowFiled under: ASI Shows, Community, Industry Initiatives, Member Benefits, Members, News About ASI I attended an Advantages Roadshow in the world-class city of Toronto, along with our “True North” hosts, Fred and Leslie Oesen, and wanted to share some photos and information from the trip. Canada is one of the largest trading partners overall with the U.S. and promotional products sales are about $3.5 billion there. We’re committed to the Canadian marketplace and provide Canadian versions of LogoMall websites for distributors and ESP Online – featuring Canadian suppliers – and our best-in-class Advantages Roadshows now reach nine cities in Canada. I’m also looking forward to seeing our Canadian suppliers and distributors at the ASI Show in Chicago, where we host a special Canadian reception that’s typically packed. When you share a border that’s 5,522 miles long, shows on both sides are paving a lot of two-way streets leading to better business. Let me know if you have any stories or experiences from the beautiful Northern Lights country by posting a comment now or email me here.
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turnaround from this challenging economic period. Every organization can find areas where improvements are possible and needed. 
O’Boyle
