In case you missed it, we recently wrapped Promo Live, a brand-new, premiere interactive online promo event, held August 30 – 31 this year. The idea for Promo Live was born to bring distributors and suppliers together in a new and more meaningful way. We believe that bridging that gap is integral to making the industry stronger.
The event’s focus was on supplier partners live presenting new products, creative ways to sell their products, and highlighting their best sellers for the upcoming holiday season. Distributors were also able to chime in and interact with the presenters to brainstorm ideas, ask questions, and more.
And boy, was it an absolute blast!
During the two-day event, there were almost 1,000 attendees, 32 supplier rooms, 25 live and on-demand education sessions, a product pavilion showcasing the coolest and newest products, and more!
But, if you missed out on any of it and feel left out, don’t worry; we’ve got you covered! We recorded all of the panel sessions, supplier sessions, and SAGE Quick Tips, so you don’t have to miss any of the great information. Plus, we’ve also put together this handy recap!
So, without further ado, here is your Promo Live recap!
Day 1
Promo Live launched bright and early at 10 AM on August 30th, with Ryan Hanchey, SAGE Director of Distributor Sales, welcoming attendees. Then Mike McMillan, Vice President of Sales for RiteLine, kicked off the first supplier session!
The day was also punctuated with SAGE Quick Tips, fun-sized sessions to help distributors get the most out of SAGE Total Access. Patrick Harvot, SAGE Account Advisor, presented first, covering inventory and order status. He showed attendees how to find out which suppliers have inventory in their database, where to find those inventory numbers, and how to set up order status in SAGE.
Andy Evans, SAGE Corporate Accounts Manager, showed off several new features that have been incorporated throughout the year, like in SAGE Web, which had the biggest update so far – the addition of the Project Management module! He also covered new filters to SAGE’s Product Search area and new presentation features in SAGE Web, such as a pricing adjustment option to automatically change all the prices in your presentation with just the click of a button.
You can see more of the SAGE Quick Tips here!
The first day’s industry panel, presented by Ryan Hanchey and Go To Promotions Inc.’s CEO Jacquie McBain, discussed how to attract clients. Jacquie spoke about the importance of branding your own brand. “We’re selling branding and promotional items. If we can’t brand ourselves or promote ourselves, we’ve missed the boat,” she said. “As opposed to selling apparel or just selling giveaways, I think we have to be able to sell the concept of branding with their company logos and branding them as a company.”
She spoke about how essential it was for her to engulf herself in their business and learn as much of their industry as possible to ensure that she understands them as a client to help make their brand stand out more.
To view the full recording, click here.
After the presentations concluded at 2:30 PM, distributors could continue to live chat with suppliers until 4 PM and then browse the supplier information and product showrooms until the following morning!
Day 2
Speaking of day two, we welcomed everyone back at 10 AM on August 31st, where Ryan greeted us again. The first supplier session was brought to us by President Kevin Lehrer and Director of Sales Kevin Deutsch of 5 Horizons Group.
You can view the recordings for all supplier sessions here.
For the first SAGE Quick Tip of the day, Emily West, SAGE Senior Account Advisor, covered the client portal in the Project Management module in SAGE. The client portal feature keeps all of your client communication in one place and streamlines your team’s workflow. From how it works to how it benefits both you and your customers, it will also help keep your sanity intact!
Later, SAGE Senior Account Advisor Amanda Carpenter brought out the catalogs – SAGE catalogs, that is! Watch Amanda’s session to learn ways you can use these catalogs as idea generators for your customers and add additional revenue streams with just a few simple clicks.
The education continued with day two’s industry panel over company stores, moderated by Ryan Hanchey. The panelists, Wendy Coffey, CI-Group Sales Director, and Ashley Attebery, SAGE Web Support Manager, discussed the benefits company stores can bring to you and your buyers, like strengthening your relationship with a business.
To view the full recording, click here.
A Huge Thanks
We can’t thank everyone enough for helping us make Promo Live a success. SAGE President David Natinsky, MAS, said best: “We couldn’t do it without all of the distributors, suppliers, and our sponsors – so thank you for making this possible.”
You can catch up on recordings from the show here. To learn more about Promo Live, click here.
See you next year!
