Coach's Corner
by Fred Albrecht
Each week, I ask you all to "Get Charged" and I can tell you, I have seen more orders for $5,000.00 or more in the last few weeks than in any other time period. You will read about some great orders and how the clients used the products. We do appreciate everyone who has contributed over the last few months, I receive more great comments about those articles than any other I write.
What's next? Yes, we are thrilled that we finally broke that magic $25 Million dollar plateau. Certainly, Suzie and I are so proud of all of you as everyone on our team contributes to our success. Anyone who knows me, knows that as we reach our goals, we always have to be looking to the future, not 5 days but 5 years. Our goal is to continue to grow at a 20% pace, we feel 20% is the "magic" number because it allows us to manage our growth and properly plan for the future. So as we look forward to 2015, our goal is to reach $30 Million in sales. Over the next 5 years, we plan to reach $50 Million by the end of 2020. Together, we know we can reach those very achievable goals. So you can post this edition on your wall and we will see how it looks on December 31, 2020!
Get Charged, Play to win!
Fred
2015 Annual Trade Show Schedules for the Proforma Albrecht Team - ASI Orlando and PPAI Las Vegas
About a month ago, in the Albrecht Advantage, I asked for your input as to which shows you thought you would attend in 2015. Based on YOUR feed back, we have made our plans. Here is the scoop:
1) The ASI and PPAI registration is open. It is up to you to register for the show(s) of your choice and make your own hotel reservations. What we have found is that we can actually book better airfare and rooms using Expedia, just a suggestion.
2) The following are the plans we are making for both ASI Orlando and PPAI Vegas along with the Albrecht Team Members that will attend each event.
ASI Orlando (click image to register):
Proforma Albrecht Team Members: Carl Albrecht, Cory Short Arrive Sunday January 4th
- Exhibits Open Monday and Tuesday - Depart Tuesday Evening.
Planned Events:
Jet Line - Dana and Meghan Zezzo Hosted Proforma Albrecht Dinner - Monday January 5th, location and time to be announced.
Alphabroder - Danielle Augustine - Hosted Dinner for Proforma Albrecht - Sunday January 4th, time and location to be announced
PPAI Las Vegas- January 11th through January 15th - Registration is open, we have included the link for your convenience. (click image)
Proforma Albrecht Team Members - Suzette and Fred Albrecht, Carl Albrecht, Cory Short, Alicia Patrick, Rachael Santoro, Tina Wood - Arrive Monday January 12th in AM and Depart Thursday January 15th AM.
Planned Events:
Alphabroder Sponsored Dinner
Hosted by Danielle Augustine Tuesday Night 6:30PM. Mandalay Bay We will provide more details as they become available.
Spector Lunch - Kirk Russell
from Spector has invited you to an exclusive Proforma Albrecht Suite Lunch and 2015 Product Preview - Wednesday 1:00 PM at the "Delano" (Which is formerly called "The Hotel" in Mandalay Bay).We are in the process of finalizing our plans and will keep you updated as we finalize our schedule.
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GET CHARGED!
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 Jo Puckett is back in the news with an order for the "Windbuster" Umbrella from UM and Co. ASI 92397. The order is for 702 units for her Power Company's "customer care" unit. The order totals close to $15,000.00 and that will keep anyone dry! Great order Jo!
 Becky Lankford is located in the furniture capital of the country, North Carolina. She had one of the finest furniture manufacturers in the country, come to her looking for Christmas gifts. After carefully consideration including hoodies, they chose the F218 Value Fleece Pull Over ¼ Zip from San Mar. 601 jackets embroidered by her decorator, The Shirt Lizard in NC with the digitized by Godeagle. The total order was valued over $17,000.00. What a nice Christmas Gift for their employees and for Becky and our team !
Lisa and Jeff Taplin are ready for Christmas but they are already helping their clients gear up for 2015. In fact, their super order is for a large staffing company with the theme of "Faith in People" with the overall theme of "Let our people help you start 2015 right". The order is for 950 "HUB-115 HUB Man" printed in two colors for a total of over $6,200.00. The produce is from ASI 57800 Gordon Ind Ltd.
Holiday you say? They also captured a great annual order for Holiday cards, a coop order they call their "annuity" since it has a very high repeat probability. Each location combines their order for a total print run of 2550 XMMMO761 Holiday Snowfall Holiday cards from Carlson Craft, ASI 43920. If you are not selling Holiday cards, someone else is selling them to your clients, guaranteed. Nothing makes me shiver more than when my insurance agent or accountant buys cards from someone else and mails me their Christmas Card"! This order comes to close to $6,000.00. So two orders $12,200.00. Congratulations to Lisa and Jeff, fine job on providing the best solution possible.
Watch out because Larry Cohen is on a roll! Check out these three orders!
There must be a convention going on as his local fast food chain just purchased 5000 Bonded Leather Luggage Tags, item 950 from ASI 52390 Emporium Leather. Worth a cool $28,000.00.
Larry brought in the big guns for this order for this order for a large Boys and Girls Camp.
4300  "Fandananas" from ASI 62660 Innovative line. He credited the help of his SW Sales Rep who helped him with the idea. Over $7,000.00, a great repeat order. It just goes to show find a challenge for a product that is consumed in their business activity and it will repeat.
To end the week, Larry sent in an order for 1000 item#33842 Contigo Water Bottles from one of our awesome preferred suppliers ASI 51197 ETS Drinkware for a Childrens clothing retailer. Another mouth watering order for over $12,000.00.
What the heck is a Yeti?
Not that kind of Yeti, this kind
 | | New YETI Coolers Grizzly Bear Video |
Yep, we had no clue what Chan Williams was talking about when he called up asking Chris Gross to help him source a "Yeti Cooler". Seems us "Yankees" had never heard of it. We have now, it is a MONSTER cooler, Chan sold the Tundra 75 (that's 75 quarts), it hold ice cold and heat out even in 100 degree temps. Check out the video, they are Grizzly tough.
Chan landed this order for close to $8,000.00 thanks to help of Chris who was able to search it out on ESP.
 Judi Franer sent in a great order for 500 PL4176 Eco - I - Lites from Prime Line, ASI 79530 for a Hospice Center. Another great order for over $5,500.00. Nice order Judi!
Just a word about our "Get Charged" orders. We strive to include everyone's order for over $5,000.00. We may not hit them in the exact week they are "booked" due to the timing of when we are writing our edition. There will be many more to come in the next Friday edition! Thanks for sharing. When you submit the order if you can simply send in a few lines about how the product is being used, we can share more information. Some Sales Executives have been worried about sharing the "names" of the clients, unless you tell me it is OK to share the name of the client, I will always try to be as "generic" as possible and provide only the industry so that the information can be used to create a great idea file for all to use for their clients in similar industries or situations.
Remember, all the past "Albrecht Advantage" editions are out and available for you to keep as a reference to use for future "idea generating"!
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2015 REGIONAL MEETING AGENDA ANNOUNCED!
You CAN have FUN while WINNING new accounts, big opportunities and growing your business. This year's Regional Meeting Agenda is designed to help you manage your pipeline to propel your sales and success - and have FUN doing it! You have to PLAY to WIN and at your Regional Meeting you will have the opportunity to collaborate with fellow Owners, meet key Supplier Partners and create a custom business plan with your Strategic Advisor to put you in the best position to reach your 2015 business goals. Register today! Click here to view this year's exciting line-up! Sessions start at 4:00 PM on Day 1. Be sure to arrive on time so you don't miss a minute of the FUN!
If you have any questions about Regional Meetings, please contact Phyllis Gafric (PGafric@Proforma.com or ext. 2225) at your Support Center.
Regional Meetings
Las Vegas, NV
Jan. 11 - 13, 2015
Cleveland, OH
Jan. 18 - 20, 2015
Chicago, IL
Jan. 21 - 23, 2015
Toronto
Jan. 28 - 29, 2015
Dallas, TX
Feb. 2 - 4, 2015
Providence, RI
Feb. 9 - 11, 2015
Orlando, FL
Feb. 17 - 19, 2015
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Big Muscle Drawstring Backpack from Hit
 Attached is the flyer for this December Mailing - Hit Item 3082. This is probably the best drawstring backpack we carry.
- Made Of 1680 High Density Pongee Dobby Nylon
- Drawstring Closure
- Heavy Duty Cord Straps
- Inside Velcro® Pocket
- Side Zippered Pocket
- Built-In Slot For Ear Buds
- Spot Clean/Air Dry
Click image for a full size PDF to download and share with your customers.
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 FastTrack Service from Gemline
Need to place a last minute order? Take advantage of our FastTrack™ service for next day shipping to ensure your holiday order arrives on time. For details and exclusions on our expedited service, click here. Expanded service now includes larger quantities and increased number of colors per order. Accepting orders until 9:00 P.M. EST with next day shipping available. Today's business world moves fast. At Gemline, we're moving even faster. With next day shipping available on orders placed until 9 p.m. EST, Gemline's FastTrack service will deliver your order exactly when you need it at no extra charge. You can even choose from a range of creative techniques (screenprint, deboss/emboss, embroidery or Logomagic) to maximize your branding efforts. Your order is guaranteed to deliver on time, every time.
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Trimark Powered by Leeds Decorating Process Details
Trimark Powered By Leed's offers four unique decorating processes for our award-winning apparel. Whether you seek the time-honored appeal of embroidery, 3D effect of deboss, versatility of laser or superior precision of True Edge Transfer, we have the ability to create the perfect look!!! Just some of the Benefits of decorating with Trimark Powered By Leed's...; (click images for full size pdfs) 1) All Decoration Priced the same (embroidery up to 25k stitches). 2) Decoration prices in catalog - no need to call for pricing! 3) One phone call/email - one supplier - one invoice = saving you time and money!!! 4) Trusted source 5) Sureship = decorated product in 24 hours at no extra cost!!! 6) Flyers attached highlighting each technique separately, and then one that summarizes all. 7) New decoration technique coming .... INFUSION!!!! Out at PPAI! Corey Cardinal CCardinal@TrimarkbyLeeds.com What we are all about!! http://media.pcna.com/msfiles/PCNAFileSharing/TPLInteractiveGuide.pdf
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Ellen Pokes Some Fun at BIC
Ready for some fun? Ellen apparently decided to "Poke some Fun" at Bic, here is a funny video. Remember, I did not produce the video nor does it reflect the views of management. It is just for fun! Here is it the new "Bic Pen exclusively for Women" .  | |
Bic Pens for Women
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New Chicago Decorator Recommended by our Trusted Friend Jim Dunn of Heritage Sports
Sharprint will be offering the following special through the end of the first quarter of 2015:
10 reason to work with Sharprint! · Free Screens · Free Digitizing · No Setup for digital prints · We count all your goods when they come in and notify you of issues. · We bag and fold all our embroidery orders at no extra cost. · We send shipping tracking numbers to you once it leaves our building · Our quality is fantastic · We invoice immediately so you can get your Customer's Billed ASAP One day ship to most of the midwest. free freight from most all suppliers, Alpha, Sanmar, Bodek, Heritage/Virginia T's . We can help your AE work efficiently with contract decorating. You have a lot of choices when it comes to selecting a contract decorator. While I started my company with a passion for screen printing, I've grown it to specifically support the ASI industry. Let's start with the basics of what we offer, textile decoration:· Screen Printing: High volume capabilities with finishing and fulfillment. Specialty screen printing, including all-over printing. · Embroidery: We operate 100 heads creating a capacity for high volume and quick turn around. · Direct-To-Garment: As one of a few shops offering digital printing along with screen printing, we can truly customize your decoration process specific to your (and your client's) needs. I know were a good fit for each other. Attached are our price lists. WE ARE CPSIA COMPLIANT. This is a great opportunity, so please get in touch with Zach Corn, VP of Sales & Service to take advantage of this offer and to get your orders in.888-800-5646 Zcorn@sharprint.com Remember our Website is awesome for information on what is happening in decorated apparel. Thanks George Kilian President/Founder Sharprint 4200 W. Wrightwood Ave. Chicago, Illinois 60639 773.862.9300 www.sharprint.com
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How Well Do You Know Your Pantone Colors?
Did you know that the Pantone® color you called out may not print as you thought it would? The inks and process for screen printing on textiles is a little different than paper screen printing, offset and other common print methods.
DOWNLOAD GUIDE NOW
Every good screen print company uses an ink mixing system that corresponds with the Pantone® Matching System. This guide covers the best practices for selecting Pantone® colors for use in apparel screen printing, and what you can expect from printed inks.
My name is George Kilian, and I'm the founder of Sharprint. I want to take a quick moment to introduce Sharprint and my VP of Sales & Service, Zach Corn. We're a textile decoration plant located in the heart of Chicago who specializes in the following capabilities:
When in doubt, give us a shout. We're here to help you out.
Your partner,
George Kilian
President & Founder
877-649-2554
 Wouldn't it be amazing if your contract decorator updated you on status and followed up with inquiries so you could be selling? We devised a system to do just that. Our 4 SIMPLE STEPS for order processing proactively communicates with you at each critical stage of ordering:
- Order Confirmation
- Receiving Summary
- Art Proof
- Tracking Information
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CHUCK COLLINI WORKS WITH THE APPOINTMENT SETTING TEAM TO WIN $100,000 ACCOUNT
Chuck Collini, Owner of Proforma Printing Advantage in Traverse City, MI and Team 500 Member, had been effectively growing an account with a local university when he began working with the Appointment Setting Team to target similar accounts.
Chuck collaborated with the Appointment Setting Team to outline the qualifications of the schools he wanted to target, including size, location and more. Knowing Chuck's key objectives helped the Appointment Setting Team focus their efforts on viable prospects. They were able to schedule four appointments with multiple contacts at one school on Chuck's behalf. Before the day of the appointments, one contact reached out to Chuck to tell him specifically what she was looking for. Chuck was able to source the item and receive a sample within 24 hours so he could bring it to the meeting. This helped Chuck make a great first impression and led to a $23,000 sale of apparel, bookmarks, tumblers, stylus pens, desk cubes and more. The client was so impressed with Chuck's capabilities that she referred him to the campus health center and administration departments. Chuck is continuing to penetrate the account worth more than $100,000 in potential!
To learn how you can start winning new sales through the Appointment Setting program, please contact Greg Bruey (GBruey@Proforma.com or ext. 3284) at your Support Center today.
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Kurt McGovern Shares Some Decorating Techniques.
Kurt McGovern visited our office and was kind enough to record these videos with some key points of his meeting. Check them out! Note especially the Outdoor Cap video, their quality is unsurpassed. Phone: 440.343.3405 kurtmcgovern@gmail.com | | Kurt McGovern - Tri-Mountain |
 | | Kurt McGovern - Outdoor Cap |
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Apple Demands Suppliers to Halt Sales of Unauthorized Chargers
Word has spread quickly this week about Apple's claim that some promotional product suppliers have violated the company's intellectual property by selling unauthorized chargers containing its 8-pin (aka Lightning) and/or 30-pin connectors.
As distributors, like AIA Corporation , Neenah, Wis., learn about the controversy, they have been ceasing sales of the affected products.
"AIA has become aware of efforts by Apple Inc., to protect its intellectual property rights in certain products, namely an 8-pin and 30-pin connection system," Tom Lehr, AIA's chief financial officer said in an e-mail to its members yesterday. "Apple's actions have come in the form of a letter sent to suppliers, requesting, amongst other things, that the supplier stop offering for sale the infringing products, [reveal] the identity and locations of manufacturers of the infringing products, and [provide] details of the supplier's sales of all infringing products."
Lehr went on to note that AIA did not receive the cease-and-desist letter directly, nor has a supplier or manufacturer contacted the company regarding the letter. While The Image Group did not receive the letter either, suppliers in its preferred network have emailed the company about discontinued products as a result of the letter's requests, Bruce Felber, director of marketing and sales support for The Image Group, Holland, Ohio, said.
"From time to time, The Image Group learns of potential infringement concerns related to items available through the promotional products industry," Felber said. "Whenever news of possible industry-wide infringement issues reaches us, The Image Group immediately discontinues selling all affected items to our customers."
Mike Emhoff, CEO of Shumsky, Dayton, Ohio, reached out to his PeerNet supplier partners to learn which items, if any, were affected from each supplier.
"When we first learned about the unauthorized Apple accessories this week, we immediately went through our system to make sure we did not have any open orders or were featuring any of these types of items on any of our sites," said Amy Sheldon, Shumsky's head of strategic partnership and global compliance. "We also notified our sales team and staff not to quote these items unless they had documentation that the item was MFi-certified." MFi, which stands for "Made for iPod," "Made for iPhone" or "Made for iPad," is Apple's licensing program that indicates whether a product is authorized. To be able to utilize the MFi logos and have an authorized lightning or 30-pin charger, among other products that use Apple's licensed components, a company must join Apple's MFi program. However, if that company does not own a manufacturing facility-which many promotional suppliers do not-it is not eligible to join the MFi program. But that doesn't mean there aren't any Apple product chargers that are safe in the promotional product industry. "Yes, [there are authorized Apple chargers], but the only ones we have been informed of so far are for retail brand named products like Zoom and IDAPT," Sheldon said. "I have reached out to several suppliers and I have not found anyone yet that carries an authorized accessory that is not a retail brand." The number of unauthorized chargers in the industry is unknown, but suppliers are discontinuing affected products while distributors are stopping sales on those same products, so the cease-and desist letter from Apple is just that, at least for now. "It's really up to the suppliers to see how they want to respond," Lisa A. Lori, an intellectual property attorney with Philadelphia-based Klehr Harrison Harvey Branzburg LLP, said of the cease-and-desist order. "Legally, they don't have to do anything." If suppliers keep selling unauthorized chargers, Apple could sue. An Apple win could result in a court order to stop selling unauthorized chargers, significant legal fees and a large monetary judgment. "If that ever went to court and [suppliers] ignore [the cease-and-desist letter], Apple could show willful conduct," Lori said, noting that those who have not yet received a letter could still be liable. Providing sale details and manufacturers' identities could be damaging to suppliers as well as to manufacturers and distributors, she added. "If the suppliers comply with this letter and give them what they're looking for, that doesn't mean they're not going to sue," she said. "...If Apple gets that information [from suppliers], they're going to find out who the distributors are, and [distributors are] going to get that letter." Now in addition to seeking safety and compliance in products, distributors should ensure MFi certification is available for applicable products, Sheldon said. "We have always trusted that the items being offered are not only safe but are sold to us without any legal ramifications," she said. "To ensure an item is safe we ask for testing documentation. Now we will be asking for MFi certifications and information to reassure us that they are allowed to sell the item if it looks like one produced by someone else or found in retail. It definitely makes it more challenging to source and sell."
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Last Minute Ideas from HumphreyLine
Well the holidays are here, and that means last-minute orders. We have over 40 items available on our Next Day Service offering, without a rush charge*!
Whether your client needs a last-minute item for an event, a product for a goody bag or simply something to say 'Thank you', HumphreyLine has you covered with quality, US Made products. Have your purchase order & vector artwork to us by 10:00 AM Pacific Time, and we'll ship your order the following business day
*some restrictions apply, see attached eFlier.
Good Selling!
Rondi Vetter
Inside Sales
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If you would like to review any of our past issues, we now have them archived.
Click Here for the archive page. |
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