Distributors and suppliers are ready to put 2023 behind them.

That was the sentiment at the Education Day Wrap-Up at the ASI Show Fort Worth. The first of a series of flash polls asked attendees how their 2024 sales will compare to 2023 based on the start of the year. Two-thirds of respondents said their sales will be “Much Higher,” while nearly a quarter expected a slight increase. Only 10% responded that their sales will be the same or decrease this year.

Several Education Day speakers spoke at the end-of-day Wrap Up, including (from left to right) Jay Busselle, Carolyn Strauss, Cliff Quicksell, Martine Cadet and Jenna Sackett.

It’s an encouraging start to the year, after distributor sales only increased 1.2% in 2023, which included a .1% increase in Q4. Multiple factors exerted downward pressure on sales last year, including inflation, recession fears, tech sector struggles and overseas wars.

While Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell recently said that interest rate cuts expected as early as March weren’t likely to happen, his comments were based on the prevailing sentiment of the overall strength of the economy, which is playing a significant role in stronger buying within the promo industry.

Another poll asked attendees their current thoughts of the Stanley brand, which has been the object of obsession among consumers and was named ASI Media’s 2023 Product of the Year. Seven in 10 attendees chose “Still popular, but starting to slow down,” while 16% chose “As popular as ever” and 13% selected “So over!” Stanley has been subject to multiple recent lawsuits over its lead content, and select pundits in the mainstream media have suggested that other drinkware brands will surpass Stanley as the new latest trend.

A third poll found that the majority of attendees (55%) are using AI tools such as ChatGPT, with another 36% saying they will at some point. Meanwhile, the final poll asked for Fort Worth attendees’ preferred name for the “things” they sell. Nearly half (47%) chose “promotional products” as their term of choice, while another 36% opted for “branded merchandise.” “Swag” and “logoed items” lagged far behind.

The Education Day Wrap-Up also featured short talks by ASI Show speakers who recapped the top takeaways from their sessions through the day.

Bill Petrie, founder of marketing agency Brandivate, encouraged attendees to own a client’s brand and identify the right type of clients. “Stop thinking like a salesperson,” he urged. “You’re not a salesperson when you present branded merchandise solutions to clients and prospects. Think like a marketer about what is the vehicle to get a client’s message out that will move their audience to action.”

Sales Coach Carolyn Strauss, who earlier in the day led a session titled “How To Make Closing Quick & Easy,” pushed attendees to stray from entrenched ways of thinking in the vein of “That’s the way we’ve always done it.”

“Anybody can find anything from anybody, so what makes you special?” she said. “How easy are you to do business with? What is your offer? You are an offer of help for your customers and clients to create connection and community.”

Jenna Sackett, commercial sales executive at decorating company STAHLS’ (asi/88984), led an entire Education Day’s worth of sessions in the Product Decoration track. In her wrap-up talk, she asked how many people recently shopped at Radio Shack. (Spoiler: Not many hands went up.) She explained how people’s cellphones replaced the myriad of items that people used to buy at those stores. “Heat print technology is the ‘iPhone’ of our industry,” she said, “because you can print virtually any type of finish out there with just that single piece of equipment.”