I’ve been in the promotional products industry for more than 25 years, both selling products and programs, and coaching and educating distributor sales professionals. I’ve seen a multitude of changes in that time, but one thing remains the same: our reliance on quality suppliers.
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I’ve been traveling lately and have a few more trips coming in the next month. Travel can be grueling, but it is how business gets done. The personal relationships that are nurtured in face-to-face meetings are just one of the things that make our industry great.
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If you want to become a part of your clients’ team and you want to become more than a vendor, change your approach. Quit being a salesperson and become a key employee.
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My phone normally is with me everywhere, yes even in the bathroom (75 percent of Americans do this) at times. My iPad greets me in the morning with news and some fairly competitive games of Words With Friends. My email greets me with problems to solve. At stoplights, my phone keeps my mind busy so that, God forbid, I just relax.
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Question: I use the order system in QuickBooks Premier. Why don’t the customer sales order and supplier purchase order appear in my financial statements?
I see the industry from many sides, both in my role as publisher of the PPAI-award winning FreePromoTips.com and as a distributor. My perspective is different from most, and that enables me to publish content that is of interest to our industry.
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Many people have big dreams and lofty goals. Big dreams and lofty goals are easy. But there is one key ingredient for big dreams and lofty goals to become reality: get started. No one ever accomplished anything without simply getting started. And sometimes the start of some very big things may be very simple.
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Four years ago, we brought our car into a neighborhood mechanic’s business. It looked pretty typical from the outside—two bays, cinder block building and a NAPA sign and display or two inside. Cliff, the owner, had just moved back to Michigan and had the entrepreneurial spirit.
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By now you have heard the fact that overall industry firms grew at 1 percent, while industry online firms grew at 33 percent. According to PPAI research, “The proportion of online sales compared to total sales in the industry increased by 4 percentage points from 13.6 percent in 2013 to 17.9 percent in 2014.” Wait, you have valuable relationships and great service, yet overall online firms are growing faster than traditional firms? Why is that?
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Question: I am starting out as an ad specialty distributor. Is it better to set up my books on a cash or accrual basis for tax purposes?