it by talking about our business and how can we be more strategic with them, and how can they help us take costs out and improve the service to our customer.” To a vendor the size of UPS, even promo’s largest company is far from the biggest client. Janson says, “Our size is not the greatest thing. We’ve really made the business meaningful.” SanMar is able to pass off the benefit of that reciprocity through its supply chain to distributor clients, another set of relationships it doesn’t take for granted. Two weeks before our meeting in Issaquah, Lott sat in the showroom of a distributor in Arizona, meeting with the principal and key sales and operations employees. “I said I really want to learn about your business, but I want to learn how SanMar can be a better partner,” he says. “It’s great to hear the good things, but share with me our challenges. ... And for about an hour and a half, I really heard it – everything that we could be doing better. But it was fantastic. I came back, and the next day I had the whole leadership team in this room with a list of all the things I heard from that customer.” Thinking Long-Term Asked about his proudest moments in the business, Lott mentions employees who told him they just paid off their mortgages, along with the school SanMar built in Honduras near its factory there. But he also mentions the seamless evolution from SanMar’s founding generation. “It’s not just my dad,” he says. “The leadership team that my dad had 10 years ago pretty much all retired as well, and so we have a new, next generation of leadership at SanMar. We’ve been able to transition really successfully.” From a hard-cover book for its 50th anniversary to SanMar Radio podcasts and graphic displays throughout its offices, SanMar has integrated its history into its corporate culture. “SanMar is a good supply partner, but also someone we try to listen to and learn from, particularly on the people side of things with how they manage their supply chain and the environmental side. It’s good having lots of folks around who you can learn from. We’re happy to learn from SanMar.” –SUZANNE WORWOOD, 4IMPRINT Suppliers | Must Read
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