PPB April 2018

I t was Chris Sinatra’s experience working in several Minor League Baseball franchise front offices that won him an interview— and a job offer—with distributor Gardner & Geldmacher in Schaumburg, Illinois, in 1995. He had just relocated to the Chicago area from his hometown of New Orleans, Louisiana, with no job prospects, but a placement agency thought his background in professional baseball was a good match for the company. He spent three years at G&G learning the industry before moving on to distributor Promac in nearby Elgin, Illinois, as director of sports marketing. There he managed a sales and logistics team that created merchandise programs for eight individual U.S. Olympic Committee sports. In addition, he oversaw on-site event merchandise sales for select sports. The knowledge and experience he gained prepared him for his next opportunity with former supplier Atchison Products, where he managed several large distributor accounts. In 2005, he made the leap to entrepreneurship by opening Sinatra Enterprises in Elgin, a multi-line rep firm covering Illinois and Wisconsin for a select number of supplier companies. Thirteen years later, he’s confident he made the right decision. “There is a lot of freedom to manage your workload and schedule,” he says of being a multi-line rep. “One must be disciplined to work this way and to get desired results, but I enjoy the balance of pushing myself as I see fit.” His previous experience as a distributor also has won him a number of fans among his clients. “Chris is incredibly responsive and will always put you in touch with someone at the factory if he’s not available,” says nominator Dawn Ruler, MAS, division sales vice president at distributor Geiger. “He knows his lines very well and will always be honest about his opinion of a product.” Ruler adds that she has taken Sinatra on some end-user visits that resulted in successful presentations. “He is great about showing the product and then guiding the discussion back to me.” Another customer and nominator, Renee Granata, programmanager at distributor Summit Group, LLC, says, “He keeps his promises and has a can-do attitude.” She also says he’s knowledgeable about her clients and understands their brand guidelines. Client and nominator Kari Gutstein at distributor American Solutions For Business says Sinatra helped her create a knockout spec sample that won her a nice account and worked with her on some good/ better/best apparel options when she was unfamiliar with the product line. “Chris is terrific! He is super responsive, comes up with great ideas and always keeps us in the loop for new product launches and sales.” What’s your biggest challenge? I prefer to think about opportunities—sometimes those come from challenges. I have never really thought about my biggest challenge. What does the future hold for reps and how can they remain relevant? There are some people who say that reps won’t be needed any longer— that the electronic market (Amazon, etc.) will take over. This is much like in 2000 when people were predicting the demise of paper and pens because the Palm Pilot had been introduced to the public. Journals are still a good- selling category (as are pens), and I am seeing increased sales in both categories. In a similar light, I’d like to think that reps (multi-line or factory) will not go away as there still is a need for personal interaction. Chris Sinatra, CAS Owner, Sinatra Enterprises “One must be disciplined to work this way and to get desired results, but I enjoy the balance of pushing myself as I see fit.” —Chris Sinatra FEATURE | Best Multi-Line Reps 2018 32 | APRIL 2018 |