Coach's Corner

by Fred Albrecht

 

 

Click on the image for a full size PDF

 

Check out these great deals on quality healthcare products from Humphrey Line. Just in time for Flu season!

Click image for a full size PDF to download.

 

 

If you haven't heard it through the grapevine, HumphreyLine was sold on today to Polyconcept North America, the parent of Leed's, Bullet Line, Journalbooks, and Trimark.  Together they are the largest supplier in the promotional products industry, with over 1500 employees and $400 million in sales. 

Bitsy and I have owned and operated this business for the past 23 years, and we concluded that for Humphrey to prosper in the years ahead, and realize its potential, it needs new leadership, fresh energy, and an organization behind it that has the human, financial, and technology resources required for growth in today's marketplace. 

We take it as a real compliment that PCNA, which is 50 times our size, had sufficient interest that they made a successful offer to buy the business.  They know us well, and are anxious to have a domestic manufacturing presence; they also see value in our leading position in the personal care amenities segment of the market, along with our plastics line-up and oral care business. 

PCNA has 19 sales reps in the United States, and another 12 in Canada, and they have just announced their new web capability that is tailored to the workstyle of the millenials.  No one else in our business, to my knowledge, has anything approaching this functionality, and I expect PCNA may disrupt the traditional economic chain in our unique industry.

Looking ahead, Bitsy and I will continue to work for PCNA until the Portland office closes.  After that, I will continue as a "Senior Advisor," with the main focus being to make sure that the transition to PCNA goes smoothly.  I expect to be involved in sales training, customer service training, website content development, and trade show participation.  I will be at the Orlando, Las Vegas, and Dallas ASI shows at least, and probably several others.

Coming to the decision to sell HumphreyLine was the most difficult experience I have had in my 45 years in business, and I will miss the people in this industry more than I can express.  We are blessed to have so many creative, energetic, and community-spirited people throughout this industry; I don't think there is any other business that compares to ours, and it has been great fun to be part of it these past many years.

Some of the things that Bitsy and I feel are important accomplishments at Humphrey include: keeping our manufacturing here in the US, and providing good family wage jobs for our American workforce; shipping over 99% of our orders complete and on time for the past 20 years in a row, which we think is an industry record; helping to pioneer and develop the personal care amenities segment of the industry; and taking a leadership role in the Product Safety initiatives across the industry (after all, if you make it, you should know what is IN the product).

In the end, as we have practiced it, this is a service and relationship business, and the key focus for us has always been to "serve the customer."  We have done that to the best of our abilities, and we feel great about the many strong customer relationships we have developed over the years.
I certainly hope to stay in touch going forward, and wish you and Albrecht Company the very best.

Mel Ellis
President
HumphreyLine, Inc.
Cell: 503-780-8463

If your customers count on you for label expertise - stocks, inks, adhesives and finishes - then this Labels University webinar is for you. After this one-hour presentation, you will be more confident identifying label selling opportunities, guiding your customer through an order, and offering money-saving suggestions that win business and maximize your sales and profits.
You'll receive a special Sample Pack just for Proforma.
To enhance your learning, we will send you the Labels 101-Plus Sample Pack when you register. We will use these samples throughout the webinar for a highly interactive experience.

Participants will learn:
 *   The 6 key questions to build a perfect label order
 *   Hot-selling label products that can boost your sales
 *   Maximizing success in vertical markets with specific products
 *   Product and industry trends that could give you a competitive edge
 *   What other sales tools & resources can help

Plan to attend this fun, interactive session and bring even your most vexing label questions. After the presentation, our speakers will open the floor for a live Q&A tailored just for Proforma's business.

Cheers,
Lynn Anderson
Inside Sales Representative
Discount Labels
812-981-4953

About Labels University
Labels University is Discount Labels' educational initiative designed to give our national network of distributors the knowledge and confidence they need to succeed. In addition to webinars, we offer on-site workshops to qualified customer groups, a video library featuring product specifics and market selling ideas, case studies, samples, selling tools and more.

The possibilities are endless with our adhesive products! These project specific adhesives are durable for long or short term, indoor or outdoor, permanent or removable and will apply to any surface. Adhesive products are beneficial for projects including window/wall/floor graphics, standees, presentation boards, labels, counter cards, decals, etc.
As always, MegaGrafix products and services are backed by a 100% satisfaction guarantee.
Click or call today 800 738-6342
cindy@megagrafix.com
ashley@megagrafix.com
bob@megagrafix.com

A new custom branding option is available to all Proforma Owners for all our current and future marketing campaigns, programs, tools and resources. The custom branding option allows you to use all our marketing resources, while maintaining your custom brand identity/logo. The messaging removes all references to Proforma and speaks generally in terms that would apply to the general audience regardless of brand.

This option enables new Owners to maintain their current brand identity/logo as they begin to expand their product and service offering to their existing customers and current prospects. Brand components are limited to graphics and/or contact information. See sample marketing pieces here.

Timing and delivery of the campaigns will vary in order to allow for additional production and fulfillment times. Minimum commitment levels will be extended in order to meet minimum order requirements and fulfillment services requirements. See sample pricing here.

Some of the tools are more affordable and expedient to custom brand than others, as such, we recommend a starter kit to allow custom branding Owners to more efficiently and effectively transition. Recommended starter tools include:

• Sales Automation (Phil)
• Meet Pete
• Social Media Support
• Annual Catalogs
• Quarterly Mailers
• Collateral
• Email Campaigns
• Portals

To sign up as a custom branded program participant please contact Danny Trizio (DTrizio@Proforma.com or ext. 3009) or for assistance with your custom branded logo, please contact Patrick Magyar (PMagyar@Proforma.com or ext. 3012) at your Support Center.

 

Fred Albrecht

513-753-2580

Proforma Albrecht & Co.

Give us a call today!

LIKE US ON FACEBOOK, CLICK
 THE LOGO TO BECOME A FAN