Charles River Apparel Gives New Purpose to Ordering Samples with Reciprocity Road

At the Reciprocity Road Rally in Nashville, Charles River Apparel partnered with Reciprocity Road and its partners to donate over $7,500 to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee. Reciprocity Road is a brand merchandising group serving more than 150 Fortune 500 companies. It is comprised of 11 distributors, with Charles River Apparel as…

Proforma Ranks No. 126 on Franchise Times Top 400 List

Proforma, Cleveland, achieved a significant milestone by securing the No. 126 position on the prestigious Franchise Times top 400 list. This noteworthy ascent marks a substantial leap from Proforma’s 2020 ranking at No. 158. “The Franchise Times Top 400 is an exclusive annual ranking of the largest U.S.-based franchise systems by global system-wide sales,” said…

How to Avoid the Price Objection with Clients: Keep Bringing New Ideas and Don’t Let Failure Discourage You

My daughter turned me on to Lenny’s Podcast. Lenny Rachitsky has the #1 business newsletter on Substack and is a quiet, unassuming model of what a podcast host should be. He interviews “world-class product leaders and growth experts,” blah, blah, blah. Anywho… One podcast featured an Etsy exec name Tim Holley. Listening while mowing the lawn, I heard Tim say, “We are constantly trying new features. Our failure rate is 80%.” I smiled. That number gave me great comfort. The hardest part about being a sales trainer is coming up…

Tekweld Announces Deal to Control Pioneer Line Promo Sales in U.S.

Tekweld, Hauppauge, NY, announced yesterday afternoon that it will now control the sales and marketing efforts of Pioneer Line products in the U.S. The deal, which Tekweld referred to as a “licensing agreement” in a press release, will allow Tekweld to carry products like promotional banners, flags, table covers, pop-up walls, tents, and more. Pioneer…

Paper vs. Plastic Packaging: Two Sides Responds to Newspaper Piece About Unsubstantiated Environmental Claims

The Washington Times recently featured an opinion piece by an advocate for the plastics industry that included multiple unsubstantiated environmental claims about paper-based packaging. Two Sides North America submitted the following letter to the editors in response. To the editors: Why is it that whenever someone wants to extoll the sustainability benefits of plastic packaging products, they feel compelled to claim that plastics have “a lower environmental impact” than paper-based packaging (America succumbs to plastic paranoia, September 26) instead of simply making a fact-based environmental case? Could it be because…