2014 is winding down but the "bell ringer" orders keep rolling in. This week is no exception, check out the winning orders this week.

Cindy Hite - Local Healthcare system provider purchased 28 Quartet Bulletin Boards. Cindy found a non ASI supplier called ACCO brands for this nice $7,100.00 order.

Cindy keeps up with her Pharma account and landed a nice order for 60 NIKE Gift Cards worth over $6,000.00, perfect for the holidays for their sales team.

Dan Ahern, came through with a great order for 1210 Medium Journals from Castelli ASI 44305  worth close to $11,000.00. We asked Dan for a synopsis and he was kind enough to give us some great details. Dan, thanks so much for sharing! Nikki Stewart his inside sales executive was right on this one, asking Dan to share this story with the rest of the team.

"I pitched a journal to this customer many months ago after I asked what their producers used for note taking during sales calls and meetings. I learned that the iPad, etc was NOT a required item for their producers. In fact, they told me that many of their employees did not like using iPads for presentations, meetings and they were looking for something that was not a padfolder but was classy and conveyed professionalism and was 'timeless'.

With that in mind I did a virtual for them on a Castelli journal. I showed tip-in pages and then sent them several random samples. The customer liked the concept and said that they were thinking of something for their entire work force that was professional, had a high perceived value, and would present their logo in a clean but understated way.

Castelli was super in providing an actual spec. When the customer saw it, they decided that it was a great fit for them. In January, each of their employees will receive one from his or her manager as part of a "Let's have a great 2015" campaign.  They decided not to do tip-in pages, but I'm hoping to do another order for a division with tip-in pages showing their specific family of insurance products. If that takes off, I'll try to sell the concept to the other divisions." 
-Dan Ahern, The Pride of Emeryville, Ca.

Jo Puckett is back in the news, with another awesome order for her Power company client. She teamed up with Stuart McClelland at Phenix Direct for an order of custom "CFL" key ring lights worth over $9600.00. Jo, your creativity just kills the competition! The client was looking for just the right product to promote energy efficiency, even reversing the copy so the person holding the light can read the message.

Teamwork Pays Off - We all have those DIY customers, people who "Think" they want to find vendors on their own, just like the guy who thinks he wants to build his own deck and buy all the parts from "Home Depot". Check out Cathy's story that has one of those "miracle" endings.

I have been working with YuMe Marketing for the past two years but their HR person has preferred to work with her own vendor.  This past year, she has ordered a few things from us but not much. 

Just before Thanksgiving, she asked if we could produce 300 champagne flutes for her for their 10 year anniversary on 12/12.  She said she only had $10 to spend.  We gave her many options and sent samples but in the end she was not happy and decided to buy the glasses herself, on a web site, and she found a local person to do the etching. She said that worked out better for her with her budget. I told her I was sorry we could not help out with this project. Then she wrote back to me and said:

No worries, although I did realize why using you guys is worth the extra money. Because finding a vendor on our own is a painful and time consuming.

Then on 12/9 she reached out to me and asked if we could help her with getting the glasses etched. The vendor she was working with did a horrible job and she was in a bind.  She wanted them etched and delivered to 5 different offices by 12/16. So, Amy and I scrambled to find a local vendor that could do the etching in time. At the time, I was driving back home from the Bay Area and was on our WCSC Conference Call. Amy emailed me that we were out of options so I asked the group on the call if they had any suggestions. Stacey gave us Berkeley Stamp & Engraving.  Amy called them and they said they would do it! So, we had the glasses messengered over to them that day and they are shipping them out tomorrow for us.

We finally won her over and she will only work with us now.  She learned her lesson big time!  The etching cost her $10.00 each. Not sure what she paid for the glasses. And the shipping is going to be close to $900!