Last month, I wrote about planning for success and how distributor owners would benefit from looking forward using tools such as a business plan template and budget.
While reviewing 2025 results with clients, one clear trend has emerged that indicates why some distributors are consistently doing much better than the industry average when it comes to sales growth. Business and life have a habit of getting in the way of the best plans, but those owners with above average results stick with the plan despite frequent challenges and even setbacks, and they consistently make working on their plan a priority.
If you’re trying to grow rapidly, you’re almost certainly going to experience challenges and even failure along the way. Not all sales rep hires will work out. You won’t win every RFP. That big new client might only buy 25% of what they promised. Frustration is normal, but winners recognize that this is part of the growth process, learn from it and double down on following their plan while adjusting where needed.
Believe In Your Plan
Shimon Kaminetzky, partner at Atlanta-based Booker Promotions, moved to a modern sales team model by hiring account managers to service clients, allowing them to focus on new business development. But the first couple of hires didn’t work out, which required revisiting the hiring process to make improvements. Kaminetzky also made some changes to the finance department that didn’t deliver the results expected.
Despite the hurdles, the team stuck with the plan, made adjustments and is now on a better path. “It would have been easy to question our strategies after initial failure, but we believed it was the best path forward for Booker, so we tried again and have now achieved the results we wanted,” Kaminetzky says. “Success isn’t a straight line, so believe in your plan and stick with it. Our sales were up 9.8% in 2025 and now that our infrastructure is in a better place, we plan to double that in 2026.”
Randy Conley
President, Promo Consulting
Joe Ausband and his brother Thad own North Carolina-based distributor Identify Yourself and have transformed their business into a scalable operation that delivers consistent double-digit growth. Joe and Thad had to learn to make working on their strategic goals a priority, which can be difficult when clients, vendors and staff are seemingly in need of constant attention.
One of the tricks is to block time in your calendar and treat it like the most important client meeting of the year – you wouldn’t miss that appointment, right? The daily crisis will get dealt with, but not during that one hour when you’re dedicated and focused on the strategic topics that will drive your business to that next level.
- Some owners avoid office distractions by planning to work on strategy from home a couple of times per week.
- Mornings are often when they are the sharpest and can give the business plan topics the focus they deserve.
Joe and Thad also learned that having regularly scheduled business plan review meetings were critical to keep things moving forward. Showing up to an owner meeting ready to report on your business plan efforts and progress is what accountability looks like. Joe reports that
“Thad and I meet every two weeks to review our plan and try to stay focused on what really matters when it comes to strategic growth,” Joe says. “I report on sales KPIs, and Thad comes prepared with the financial statements. Having clearly defined roles really helps us focus on driving the business and holding each other accountable. We’ve added quarterly review meetings with our consultant Randy Conley for another layer of accountability to make sure we stay on track. Sales were up 12.2% in 2025 and we expect them to be up 20% in 2026!”
Consistent double-digit growth is hard, but those that build a business plan, block time to prioritize working on it and stay the course when things get challenging can almost guarantee success in 2026.
As an entrepreneur with over 40 years of promo experience, Randy Conley has built his own successful distributorship, been an executive at a leading industry SaaS provider and worked with some of the top distributors in the industry as a consultant. He’s currently president of Promo Consulting, which is focused on helping distributors do better.
