Celebrating Everything That Makes Our Industry Great
Thursday August 6, 2020 | Filed under:
Below is my “Letter from the CEO” that appears in the special State of the Industry issue of ASI’s Counselor magazine. Owing to publishing deadlines, I wrote it about a month ahead of time, but everything still holds true – especially my pride in our industry. If you haven’t already, I urge you to read the entire SOI issue, which offers insights and opportunities for a new era of business. I also hope you check out the profiles of the remarkable honorees celebrated with 2020 Counselor Awards. Stay safe, everyone!
My letter to the industry:
I’m writing this letter in the midst of the greatest disruption in our industry’s history. Each of us, in our own way, are dealing with the consequences of a pandemic that shocked our lives and our livelihoods. My sincere hope is that by the time you read this, we are headed toward a more certain future for all.
In the normal course of doing business, many of us are, rightly, competitors. But we are also friends. During the innumerable phone calls and online meetings that started in early March and continued unabated throughout this crisis, the first thing my industry friends always asked was “How are you doing?” and “How can I help?”
Relationships never mattered more. For months, even as we remained far apart from family, friends and colleagues, we grew closer than ever before, united against a common, unseen foe.
From the start, I was astonished by the speed at which so many industry companies upended their business models to respond to the vital need for PPE products. Within a matter of weeks, suppliers met an unprecedented demand head on, quickly converting factories that once made T-shirts and other promo products into manufacturing hubs producing face masks and other essential products.
They helped save lives.
Distributors confronted with one “closed” sign after another – including their own – quickly converted once-busy operations into makeshift home offices, mastering new technologies and adapting to Zoom meetings and new ways of doing business, often with spouses, kids and pets in tow (and, sometimes, wandering into the computer frame).
I’ve been equally impressed, but not surprised, by the continued generosity of so many in our industry. When the call went out for help, for charitable donations and for desperately needed supplies, you responded in force.
On behalf of everyone at ASI, I want to thank the tireless entrepreneurs who rose to these challenges during our country’s time of need.
Here at ASI, our mission was to lead with compassion and empathy, while helping our staff remain focused and productive in order to help our network of 24,000 ASI distributors, suppliers and decorators.
Almost immediately, we created a dedicated coronavirus page, asicentral.com/coronavirus, providing the latest news, information and updates to the industry, quickly followed by ASIhelp.com, a one-stop resource center for members, with free downloadable marketing materials, education, podcasts and more. And when our shows and events were forced to cancel or reschedule, we created virtual events and education.
Yes, uncertainties remain, but so do opportunities and possibilities. As we’ve proven time and again, our industry is nimble and flexible, and our products remain useful and affordable while providing high ROI – exactly what recovering businesses need as they kickstart their marketing plans and look toward a brighter future.
In this issue, the annual Counselor State of the Industry, we’re recognizing and celebrating everything that makes our industry and its people great: ingenuity, ideas and a willingness to give generously during the toughest of times.
You’ll also find the very latest industry data ASI could provide. Months in the making, the heart of the State of the Industry issue is info you provided to us in surveys we sent out earlier in the year, looking for info on the previous year’s sales, trends and market shifts. We’d already closed on those surveys when the crisis hit, so we sent them out again to make sure we had fresh intel to analyze and present to all of you.
There’s no question the next few months are critical. As we move from health crisis to economic recovery, from uncertainty to steely determination, ASI will continue to be right here, online and in print, for our members and the industry we all love. We’ll be here, providing the best news, resources, products, services and, above all, people, to help you succeed in every possible way.
Take care, stay safe and keep in touch at tim.andrews@asicentral.com.
No matter what the future brings, I know one thing for sure: We’re all in this together.
