Premier Group, an alliance of suppliers and distributors, wrapped up its first virtual Eye to Eye program on August 4. A key component to Premier Group’s annual meeting, Eye to Eye refers to individual meetings between supplier and distributor members. Conducted over five days, Premier Group members participated in nearly 1,000 virtual meetings, with an estimated attendance of over 6,000 across all of the meetings.
As is tradition at a Premier Group Annual Meeting, the event kicked off with a keynote presentation on July 20. SanMar President Jeremy Lott shared his visions and perspectives on the industry, the “new normal” and what he believes the future holds. Premier Group reports that the town hall-style discussion was the best-attended virtual event it has ever conducted.
“I am so impressed by the quality of the meetings and the suppliers in this group,” says Karen Herzog of distributor Adco Marketing in San Rafael, California. “They are so generous with their time even during these crises—whether sending out high-quality samples, offering such generous distributor self‐promos, getting PPE kits stocked with great images put together so nicely, patiently listening to our pleas for what is hitting beyond PPE, and getting such creativity and energy back into our selling game, going the extra mile researching some client projects ahead of time, preparing virtuals and sending out samples right after meetings—the list goes on and on. What a privilege to be involved with such dedicated top-notch professionals.”
Alyssa Walker of Grand Forks, North Dakota, distributor Probitas Promotions adds, “The virtual Eye to Eye sessions allowed not only our principals but our entire team to get the opportunity to meet, learn from and chat with the PG suppliers. It was a great opportunity for our new sales team members to gain exposure to our suppliers that they may not have had otherwise.”
Beginning the day after the keynote presentation and continuing the next two Tuesdays and Thursdays, members met with each other to discuss opportunities and projects.
“The Eye to Eye meetings were a great way to reconnect with old friends and create new bonds,” says Lisa Pelzel, strategic account manager for supplier Showdown Displays. “The virtual format provided the unique opportunity to allow us to include the individual territory sales manager and inside sales rep for each distributor member. I know everyone enjoyed seeing the familiar faces and loved putting a ‘face’ on the voice of their inside sales support. Lots of new opportunities were uncovered and many laughs were shared.”
Gill Line Midwest Regional Sales Manager Troy Trembly says, “I am very proud of Premier Group. Instead of totally giving up on our annual meeting, we found a way to get something close to our Eye to Eye meetings. We have even been able to see some people who have not traveled to the previous meetings. Salespeople have new ideas from the case history samples, maybe even someone they haven’t thought of before—in these times they don’t all have to be Golden Pyramids! Overall, the Premier camaraderie and collaboration has been so evident in these meetings. We are all in this together and you can tell we really feel that way. I love this group.”
