PPB May 2018

team moves forward to onboard a client, it sends waves through our company where other teams and departments must then stretch to keep up. I lead an amazing team who somehow embraces 20 percent plus growth year over year, without requiring an equivalent growth in head count. My company grows 100 percent by referral— largely based on my personal commitment to always keep the customer promise. It is imperative that we execute flawlessly for both new and existing clients, to keep those referrals coming. Scaling up for sustainable business growth isn’t as simple as growing sales volume. Growth of top-line revenue warrants infrastructure growth everywhere—finding talent and training them, developing them into leaders, finding space to house them. And that’s just on our team—equally important is supplier development, where we continue to recruit industry suppliers whose values mirror ours and then coach them to thrive in our unique business model. While onboarding new business might sound like a largely customer-focused endeavor, integrating 15 to 20 percent annual business growth into a lean, performing enterprise demands time and thought, too. As much as I’d like to devote my free time to new clients directly, I have to realize that budgeting time to grow my service team, train newbies to our industry and meet with space planners to be able to grow our office space to accommodate them is without question an essential, albeit indirect, act of service to our clients. I find myself and my team networking at more industry events and looking for game-ready talent who can quickly join our roster and serve our clients. We were named one of PPB ’s Greatest Companies To Work For two years back—and I continue to push us to always be an employer of choice so that we not only retain our talent, but so they refer their friends. How do I spend my days? What are the issues that affect my business? I’m training a caterpillar to move more like an arrow. Brian Haner Founder/CEO Image Source, Inc. (PPAI 195953) Kirkland, Washington Company Founded: 1998 Key Markets Served: Hospitality, collegiate, gaming, health care, retail and software Types Of Services Offered: Event merchandise, uniform programs, online stores, gift with purchase, product launches and safety programs How is your business faring so far toward meeting its 2018 goals? After a record year in 2017, Q1 of 2018 began a bit slow and ended flat comparatively. Where do you see your company by year end and how does that compare to 2017? We are forecasting five to 10 percent annual growth in 2018. What trends or issues are having the biggest impact on your business and why? The biggest opportunities are mentoring, growing, educating and supporting our sales teams. We are doing big things this year with experience marketing and customer events to give our clients the very best customer experience. As a founding member of Reciprocity Road [a distributor buying group], we gain enormous value with member collaboration, buying power, supplier partnerships and shared resources. Our biggest challenges are maintaining our best workplaces’ culture as we grow rapidly, staying fresh with new technology and online program opportunities, and differentiation. Stephanie Friedman Vice President of Sales and Marketing City Paper Company (PPAI 654062) Birmingham, Alabama Company Founded: 1897 Key Markets Served: Retail, financial, manufacturing, hospitality and food/ beverage Types Of Services Offered: Promotional marketing products, retail packaging, print services, marketing and brand consultation, graphic design, ecommerce, warehouse and distribution How is your business faring so far toward meeting its 2018 goals? Q1 is usually a slower quarter as we are coming out of the holidays and clients are using up their year- end budget dollars. This year has proved different as we have seen a definite uptick in activity, quotes, projects and orders. We plan conservatively for Q1 every year, and this year particularly we are very pleased with where we are sitting in comparison to Q1 of years prior. Where do you see your company by year end and how does that compare to 2017? We are anticipating an increase in business for 2018 in all areas of our service offerings. We have already secured a number of significant new contracts for 2018 and even into FEATURE | PPAI Exclusive Research: 2017 Distributor Sales Volume Estimate “We are doing big things this yearwith experiencemarketing and customer events togiveour clients the verybest customer experience.” —Brian Haner, Image Source, Inc. 52 | MAY 2018 |