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Wednesday
July 22, 2009 Counselor Awards Honors Distributor SalespeopleFiled under: ASI Shows, Members, News About ASI Every year I stand on stage at a fabulous venue during an ASI Show and look out on a black-tie crowd ready for our annual Counselor Awards and I feel exactly the same way: thrilled. The awards recognize the best and the brightest in our industry – the outstanding individuals and companies really making their mark.Which is why in choosing the highly-anticipated Person of the Year award we made an extraordinary decision in a nod to a more challenging year: rather than select just one individual, why not honor a group of individuals that’s having the biggest impact in these times? Those people are our distributor salespeople and our 2009 Person of the Year is “The Distributor Salesperson” – every blockbuster distributor rep at every distributorship in our industry. Distributor salespeople are making the most significant impact on the market by approaching business in a unique way in these challenging economic times and we highlighted these ten qualities at the ceremony that successful reps exemplify in their work everyday: tenacious, sincere, charismatic, passionate, resilient, empathetic, consultative, creative, organized and loyal. The other big winners of the 2009 Counselor Awards are:
We also revealed the Top 40 Distributors and Top 40 Suppliers rankings – the largest companies in the industry based upon 2008 revenue. And the Counselor Product Design Awards winners were recognized for their innovations in cutting-edge product design and functionality. To see more photos from the awards event, visit asicentral.com/counselorawards. To view the complete Top 40 Distributors and Top 40 Suppliers rankings, visit www.stateoftheindustry.com.
Tuesday
July 21, 2009 New Email Marketing Tool for DistributorsFiled under: Education, Industry Initiatives, Member Benefits, News About ASI, Using Ad Specialties Today we’re launching a new, easy-to-use email marketing tool that allows distributors to quickly create and send email marketing messages and promotions to customers with the click of a button. The latest ASI distributor benefit was unveiled on our first day of ASI Show Chicago. Read all about it in the press release, by clicking here. ASI chose RatePoint, Inc., a leading provider of user-friendly, Web-based communication tools, to provide the program to ASI distributor members. RatePoint is providing the program at a substantial savings, exclusively for ASI distributor members. I’m especially pleased with this powerful marketing tool because it costs about the same as the price of lunch, and you can choose from over 100 ready-made templates or can create a custom template. The new program includes:
Additional features include customer feedback tools that allow your clients to easily provide testimonials and feedback that distributors can use to promote their Website and LogoMall site, and at no extra charge. The new email marketing tool is available immediately, with a 30-day free trial for distributors with no further obligation. This latest distributor member benefit joins more than 12 other member savings programs from ASI, including discounts on UPS® shipping, group health insurance options, office supplies at OfficeMax®, credit card processing and digital artwork services. To check it out, visit asicentral.com/ratepoint. For more information, contact Dale Denham, senior vice president, at dale.denham@asicentral.com. I’d love to know what you think. Post a comment on the blog or email me here.
Monday
July 20, 2009 ASI Enhances ASI ContentBridge PlatformFiled under: Industry Initiatives, Member Benefits, News About ASI, Using Ad Specialties When someone like Dave Regan, vice president of sales at Counselor Top 40 Distributor The Vernon Company (asi/351700), gives a product a thumbs up, you can bet it’s worth a look. Dave recently told us that ASI’s newly-enhanced ASI ContentBridge platform, which allows distributors to build customized websites and use all of ASI’s product data and education content to stream into their own systems, has helped Vernon boost their online presence and improve operations. Jack Nadel International (asi/279600), also a Top 40 distributor, recommended the service’s versatility. Craig Nadel, president, calls ASI ContentBridge “great for our company.” See their full comments and learn what the buzz is about in the press release – click here. ASI ContentBridge is now more powerful, faster and easier. It makes order management a snap – because ASI does all the hard work using our enhanced data stream – and you can also showcase more products and make changes in near real-time. The service offers the same quality data that powers ESP Online and LogoMall websites and includes information such as pricing, set-up fees, product images and supplier ratings. Also – a real benefit for suppliers – when suppliers update their product and pricing information with ASI, it’s automatically forwarded to distributors with ASI ContentBridge to feed their websites and business systems. In turn, the latest product data reaches distributors and end-buyers faster. The bottom line is that larger distributors using ASI ContentBridge are growing their business and improving their customer service with fewer errors. For more information, visit asicontentbridge.com, or contact Dan O’Halloran, senior vice president of distributor services, at dohalloran@asicentral.com. Tell me how ASI ContentBridge is helping your business and post now, or email me here.
Wednesday
July 15, 2009 Serious About Education with New ASI Distributor Success SystemFiled under: Education, Industry Initiatives, Member Benefits, News About ASI ASI is serious about education, as is evident from the $1.3 million we invest each year Our new learn-as-you-go series includes an introductory DVD and ten 30-minute lessons on CDs, along with a workbook and motivational flash cards. The best part is you can use it when you want, where you want – at home, in the car, on a PDA or through a smart phone. The program is part of ASI’s generous ASI member benefits program, and is shipped free to new ASI distributor members. Distributors attending three education classes during the New Distributor Success Track at the ASI Show in Chicago on Tuesday, July 21, will receive a complimentary copy. It’s also available electronically to all ASI members, by clicking here. You’ll recognize some of the faces in the series, as it’s led by ASI executives, and supplemented with interviews from successful distributors, top suppliers and industry experts. Let me know what you think of the series and post a comment now. See you in Chicago!
Wednesday
July 8, 2009 New Features for ESP Online – Better Catalog Search and P.O. ToolFiled under: Member Benefits, Members, News About ASI
New features include: • Catalog Searching – Distributors can search for items found in the latest editions of Spectrum, Select and Gift Book catalogs on the ESP home page. • Improved Decorator Search – Distributors can search for decorators based on embellishment type and by distance-radius from any local zip code. • Enhanced Client Projects Center – Distributors’ clients are now accessible by name through an A-to-Z clickable list, and client projects can now quickly be searched by type of item. • Updated Purchase Order Tool – ASI’s industry standard purchase order now automatically fills in the net cost, based on the quantity being ordered, reducing errors. • Safety Notices – Active consumer product safety warnings are now displayed in the “additional information” area. For more in the press release, click here. In addition, many of ESP Online’s 32,000 users continue to participate in the exclusive ASI Supplier Ratings System, allowing distributors to rate their experience with a supplier among six categories using a five-star scale. Users can also view how many distributors have rated a supplier, similar to Amazon.com. If that weren’t enough, you won’t find higher quality images anywhere else in the industry. Almost all of them have white backgrounds and they’re all high resolution, and you can also change images and showcase them to clients as virtual samples. And, don’t forget, in the PromoCafe, ESP users can chat with other members of the ESP Online community instantly. There are multiple chat rooms for discussing a variety of topics and users can also send instant messages and can create buddy lists to maintain frequent contacts. For a free demo, visit www.asicentral.com/esp, and post a comment on the blog now about your experience using ESP to grow your business. Also, for videos of ad specialties for your clients, visit my YouTube channel 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 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. |
