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Bart Ripp, Geiger; Richard Anderson, iPromoteU/A4 Promotions and
Incentives and Milt Yamada, Proforma Favorable Impressions
What nominators say about Robert:
“Robert genuinely cares
and it’s not just lip service,” says Judie Gianturco, owner of Jenmark
Industries, who has known him for more than 25 years. “I don’t know
of any other rep who maintains this level of honesty, integrity, creativi-
ty and a true love of the promotional products industry.” Richard
Anderson, account executive at iPromoteU/A4 Promotions and
Incentives, who has known Collins for 20 years, says, “Robert is great
on idea generation, he keeps his word and when he says he is going to
follow-up on anything you ask of him, he does. He helps you become
smarter and more professional in your sales.” Tom Toutz, chief execu-
tive at Think Tank Marketing Promotions, Inc. says, “There is no one
in the industry with the creative skills and insights into our industry
like Robert. His input has been a strategic reason for our success in
this industry.”
Todd Turquand, Owner
Company Name:
Top Shelf Marketing Group, Inc.
Year Company Founded:
2003
Home Base:
Torrance, California
Territory:
Southern California from San Diego to Bakersfield
Miles Traveled Annually:
20,000+ (He has two cars with
300,000 miles combined.)
Before he was a multi-line rep (MLR):
He was national sales
manager for supplier Sweda Corporation for five years and then vice
president of sales and president for Europawatch.com.
How he got into the promotional products industry:
He
went on a ski trip with a college fraternity brother and a friend of his,
Chris Stauffer, who worked at Sweda. Six months later Turquand
joined the company. “What is amazing is that Chris shares this
incredible honor with me. If not for him, I probably would not have
found my way into this incredible industry.”
What he likes most about being a multi-line rep:
“Aside
from being able to cruise around in a sweet minivan, I truly enjoy
being able to provide a wide range of product categories and solutions
to my customers. As a multi-line rep you are only as good as the sup-
pliers you choose to partner with. I am very fortunate to have a won-
derful line-up of top suppliers and unique suppliers. Because of this,
my customers always come away with something of value from our
meetings.”
Biggest difficulty for MLRs:
“It’s time management in meet-
ings as well as the seemingly endless shipments of catalogs and prod-
uct samples that find their way to my porch weekly. I am very blessed.
Others are dealing with rain, snow etc., but I really have nothing to
complain about.”
Top issue affecting MLRs today:
“Besides the obvious over-
seas competition, I think what affects multi-lines also affects supplier
sales reps: As soon as we leave a meeting, no matter how great we
think it went, someone is always right behind us. That is why I am so
selective of the lines I choose to represent. It is important to me that
my lines are relevant and will appeal to a wide range of promotions
and programs.”
What do you wish all distributors knew about multi-
line reps?
“We feel their pain unlike any other group in this
industry. We know what is like to make your living on 100-percent
commission, pay your own expenses and feel the pressure that fol-
lows having a great month or year. By helping our distributers, we
help ourselves as well. It is a wonderful synergy and should be
treated as a partnership.”
How distributors can help him do a better job:
“If distrib-
utors or their support staff are having a challenge with a supplier for
any reason, they should make us the first call, not the last. This is a
service-driven industry and I want my customers to feel that using my
lines is a good decision for them on many levels. Distributors should
be selling! If there is a challenge, get us involved on the front end and
go work on something else that will make them money. In the end,
this shift will benefit the distributor salesperson, support staff, multi-
line rep and supplier alike.”
Todd was nominated by:
Craig Weiss, Initial Impressions;
Stacy Burleson and Terry Yamate, Beyond Zebra, Inc.; and Steve
DeMars, PTS Marketing Group
What nominators say about Todd:
“Many years ago I had an
issue on a weekend that I needed resolved,” says Craig Weiss, vice
president of sales and marketing at Initial Impressions. “I was travel-
ing to a trade show and the awards were missing. Todd answered his
PPB
BEST MULTI-LINE REP 2015 |
KINGS OF THE ROAD
Robert Collins