Coach's Corner

by Fred Albrecht

The shortest month of the year, February, is behind us. While it was a struggle, we squeaked out a 10% increase in sales both in bookings and billings. In reality, we broke 1.8 Million in booked sales for the first time in our history, so our growth record continues. We are looking forward to the month of March as we continue to hear about awesome opportunities that our sales executives are pursuing.

It is interesting that February is the month we celebrate love, yet it is the shortest month of the year. Is it somehow a reflection on the hectic pace in our lives? It makes me wonder when is "enough, enough". Sounds strange coming from "The Coach" who preaches sales growth. But then again is it? My point is, we should spend more time "loving" what we do and "who" we want to be part of our lives. So when do, we learn to let the "little stuff" go and spend our time doing what we "love," for most of us that is "Sales."

In the last week, I spent most of my time working with Suzie and our Team as we "reorganized" our Account Executives to reduce their work by as much as 25%. You see, we hired 3 additional Account Executives late last summer who are now ready, willing and more than able to HELP YOU "let go" of the "small stuff" and go hunt for some new "Big Stuff," you know what you LOVE to do.

Trust them, trust the system. In addition, we hired two more "support people" for the account executives so they can "let go" of the even "smaller stuff" so they can do the "bigger stuff" for you. All because we believe in You and our entire Team to be able to spend more time doing what you "love" and less time with the minutia.

Work hard, play hard. More importantly work "smarter". If you let the minute details of this industry consume you and consume your valuable time, it will cost you money and most likely rob you of the "quality of life." Go sell, your account executive will take care of the details. Take a vacation, your account executive is trained to help you and your clients while you "recharge."

February is over and it is March Madness time! Let's go win the next sale!

Coach Fred

Rock & Roll!

Judi Franer, our veteran rep in Florida called on a county Hospice center and came away with an order for 450 #8000B Youth and 495 #8000 Adult Gildan T shirts. I know one Alphabroder rep that is a happy camper, Danielle Augustine. The order totaled over $7400.00, decorated by Everything's Image in Cincinnati. The shirts were used for a "teen encounter" group. Great job Judi.

Larry Cohen has a great story for this next group of orders. An application developer was referred to Larry by an existing account as Larry and Proforma Albrecht was the only vendor his existing client has that can produce the special "open X" logo. You see, his client knows Larry is a member of the "Brand Police Force" and he will not let an "off beat supplier" with some lowball price ruin his or his client's reputation. In any event, this new client, the Application Developer" needed a few items: 100 Sunglasses SG130 from Jetline, 2000 #909 Bags from Fields Mfg, 192 LIT96 Ice Cubes from Chemical Light, 200 WHF-CC12 Mints from Ariel Premium, and finally 250 80-44700 Folding Speakers from Aakron Rule. Apparently his competition could not even find the speakers unless they came direct from CHINA which was not possible with the short turn. Again, the VALUE of knowing our "Preferred Supplier" and their capabilities. All total, the order came to close to $6,000.00 and he made another NEW client happy. Great Job, Larry!

Charlie Brown came through with another awesome order for his scrap metal giant. 248 Nike Men's and Ladies Polos, Item 363807 from San Mar, decorated by Everything's Image in Cincinnati. The copy includes the wording "Our Goal Zero Accidents" used to promote their safety program. The total order was worth over $10,200.00.

Mistakes happen in every industry.

New Products and E-Catalogs from alphabroder

The new North End styles just came out last month. Attached is another PDF that you can modify the pricing and add your logo and / or contact info.

North End Customizable PDF

You'll find all of the new North End styles starting on page 98 in the alphabroder big books. Or, you can use the flip book to find them. Below are links to all of our current new catalogs.

I haven't tried them all yet... but this is probably my favorite style thus far:

78215 - North End Ladies' Excursion Trail
Fabric-Block Fleece Jacket

Half off private label samples! Go to www.alphabroder.com - type in the style number and click on "order a sample" to save 50%. Or you can call or email your order using SAMP15 to save 50% on our private label brands (North End Red, North End Blue, North End, Devon & Jones, Extreme, Harriton, Core 365 and Authentic Pigment).

Thank you for continuing to support alphabroder!


Ash City Only - New Styles	Team 365


alphabroder Big Book - Customizable with your logo!	Devon & Jones Mini Book - Crown Collection

Print Order Fulfillment Provides, 4over becomes MVPLP

4over, an industry leader in print order fulfillment for resellers and industry professionals, is now part of the prestigious MVPLP Network. With state-of-the-art print production facilities and superior color quality, 4over has established itself with a tradition of product consistency and innovation powered by operational excellence. Continually investing in top-of-the-line equipment enables 4over to maintain a robust pipeline on new product introductions brought to the market from eight locations across the U.S. and Canada.

Within a short period of time, 4over has grown impressively within the Proforma Network to reach MVPLP status. Adding to the already comprehensive product and service offering, Proforma Owners will now enjoy the highest level of discount pricing with 4over. For additional information regarding 4over, please visit https://4over.com/#home.

If you have any questions, please contact Dirk Hiney (DHIney@Proforma.com or ext. 3066) at your Support Center.

2015 Special Pricing from SnugZ USA

We are excited for 2015 and the business ALBRECHT & CO./PROFORMA** and SnugZ USA can create together!

Attached please find our 2015 Special Pricing Letter. In addition to your special pricing policy, please take note of some major changes noted in the letter that are taking place at SnugZ USA including our new ZEN line. Click image to download the information.

Please review and let us know if you have any questions.

Thank you for your continued support. Your business is greatly appreciated.

We look forward to serving your account needs in 2015!

Warm regards,

Brittany David| SnugZ USA | Vice President of Sales

888-447-6840 EXT. 9552 | brittany@snugzusa.com| www.snugzusa.com

Vendor Meeting Update - Charles River

Scott Petrowski visited our office from Charles River, check our their line. When we saw this in person, we were amazed at the new products.

Click on the image above for the current catalog.
Click on the image below for a link to the Charles River Video Series.

Heather Brunner-Kelly
Marketing Manager
Charles River Apparel
Email: Heatherb@charlesriverapparel.com
Tel: 781-793-5335 / 800-225-0550 Ext.335
1205 Providence Hwy. Sharon, MA 02067
www.charlesriverapparel.com

Vendor Meeting Recap - StormTech

Here is a recap of a recent vendor meeting with multi-line rep PJ Hemlock. As you can see he has a variety of lines. Today we would like to feature Stormtech. Outerwear that can compete with all of the other name brands. As you can see they also decorate their line. Check out the awesome pricing.

A

complete, mobile ready version of our Spring/Summer 2015 Catalog is available for you to download, print, or share.
Stormtech's award winning e-catalog is now available in an interactive format for viewing on your desktop computer, tablet, or mobile device. Full zooming support is offered with additional new features for the Spring/Summer 2015 season including per page PDF export and enhanced mobile device compatibility. Bookmarks can be added to Virtual Catalog pages for easy reference at a later visit.

Virtual Catalog's are offered in Canadian, U.S. and International versions, and include MSRP/RRP. Use the links at the bottom of the Virtual Catalog to check out all of the available options. Contact the STORMTECH Customer Service Department if you have any questions about our new Virtual Catalogs.
Send specific pages by email, search contents, full screen presentation mode, and more!

STORMTECH MAGAZINE
A complete, mobile ready version of our Fall 2014 Stormtech Magazine is available for you to download, print, or share.
The Stormtech Magazine is a publication that portrays the essence of the Stormtech brand through exciting stories and adventures of Stormtech ambassadors from around the world. Take a global journey through these stories from the North Pole, to Iceland, Lake Placid, Turkey, and Australia to name a few. We continually strive towards working with like-minded people who use and test our product in a wide range of environments around the world.

The Stormtech Magazine is not only excellent reception reading material but also our top-rated supplementary sales tool to further promote the Stormtech brand to customers. The new magazine is available in an interactive format for viewing on your desktop computer, tablet, or mobile device. Embed this magazine in your own site, send specific pages by email, search contents, full screen presentation mode, and more!

We currently offer Embroidery, Screen Print, Laser, Heat Transfers, Deboss/Emboss, and a couple other unique transfer items. Please let me know if you have any questions.

I will be sending out 4 no charge Stormtech samples for your showroom to keep building our brand with you.

Thanks again for your support and here will be the list of the other companies I will be representing now moving forward as well. Please feel free to forward this line list to your sales force. Let me know if you need top seller samples, catalogs, etc:

- Stormtech - http://www.stormtechusa.com
- ADG - http://www.adgpromo.com
- Tomax/PSL - http://www.tomaxusa.com
- Elliot-Barry - http://www.elliotbarry.com
- Pilot Pens - http://www.pilotpen.us
- ZeroGravitee/NeonTees - http://www.zerogravitee.com
- Brute Sublimation - http://www.brute.com

Thanks,
PJ Hemlock
P. 317-517-3533
F. 317-255-2270

Vitronic Platinum Special for March

As we hopefully turn the corner into the warmer months, the new clear totes are ideal for clients to use at any sporting events / concerts etc they may be attending in the near future!

If you have any questions, or if we can do anything to help, please let us know.

Click the image for full size pdf.