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Letter from the President
January 2010
"2009...what a long strange trip it's been" ~ Grateful Dead
Many of us saw our business shift significantly at the beginning of the decade after 9/11 and now the decade concludes with what we hope to be the tail end of the worst economic crisis of our generation. Yet, we made it through and that is quite an accomplishment! While survival in this business climate deserves a pat on the back more importantly, we shouldn’t underestimate but in fact celebrate what good came out of it.
At our holiday party we went around the table and shared something good from 2009. The general consensus was that because we traveled through the very rocky road of this economic climate together with our vendors and retailers we all felt a much stronger bond and partnership had developed and agreed it was a very positive byproduct. Another encouraging aspect of the relationships we have built in our business is that a number of people on our team trekked through great personal challenges and loss yet the friendships developed through work made it a place of support, distraction and comfort. While few I know would want to relive 2009 it’s worth the minute or two to ponder the positive components that resulted.
For Patrick and I, being on the road for the first time in many years allowed us to get to know many of our buyers better, rekindling old relationships and forging new ones. We both found the experience a rewarding one and look forward to continue this part of our job in 2010. Another positive reflection from last year and carrying over into 2010 is the harmonious relationships with our vendors. This is illustrated by very few changes and includes one vendor that had left us and came back. All of that combined with a large number of tenured and devoted team members sets the stage for an optimistic view and strong foundation for the New Year and decade ahead.
As a team building exercise at our company sales meetings this year we provided everyone with a small notebook and four questions to ask each person in the group. One question was to define success and many simply said "happiness". I wondered what that meant to each person and for a moment thought about suggesting that if we attempt to further define it we would move one step closer to realizing it. But, not wanting to rain on the parade I kept my mouth shut. A week later I received an email from a customer who had a quote on her signature "Life's not about waiting for the storms to pass...It's about learning to dance in the rain." ~ Vivian Greene and I had a light bulb moment - it seemed to be a great answer to that question.
None of us know what is in store ahead but we do know that by surviving 2009 it’s evident we learned new skills and reminded ourselves of the ones we once used to start our careers but may have utilized less when business was easier. So, how do we dance in the rain? Buyers that used to spend their time meeting with reps now find they need to be on the store floor and at the front counter. So we need to do more than ever to convey the valuable information we have to our buyers in a format they want to receive it. We’re excited to offer our buyers a host of options to stay up to date on vendor and product information as well as recommend tools to improve their business.
Bonnie Glushon
President
Sales Producers, Inc.
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