Ask Melinda Durkee, co-owner of Proforma Durkee, and she will tell you, “At first I was very hesitant to consider Proforma, but now I think it’s one of the best things we’ve ever done.” After joining Proforma in September of 2012, she and her husband, Mike Durkee, grew their business to $4 million in less than four years and now ask themselves why they did not join sooner.

The Durkees, based out of Huntersville, NC, were selling approximately $400,000 annually and had a desire to grow so they decided to join the Proforma network in 2012. Within their first two years, they doubled their sales and became part of Proforma’s Million Dollar Club. “We attribute our initial growth to being associated with a larger company that enabled us to change how we present ourselves in the marketplace and what we can offer our clients,” says Mike. “Proforma is the one source for infinite resources and allowed us to dive deeper into every account and make them bigger.” The Durkees expanded their business and services into digital marketing, video production, website development and e-commerce solutions. “All of Proforma’s resources make it possible for us to be a full-service marketing agency for our clients,” said Melinda.

In addition to all the product and service resources that Proforma offers, the Durkees also grew their business through Proforma’s Mergers & Acquisitions Program (M&A). Last year, the Durkees acquired a print company estimated to be worth $1 million. “Through this acquisition, we anticipate nearly doubling our sales over the next year and greatly expanding our customer base for continued growth for years to come,” says Mike. “Proforma’s Mergers & Acquisitions Team gave us expert guidance on how to make this a smooth transition. They made it extremely easy for us to close this deal and put more than $1 million in sales in our pipeline for 2016.” With assistance from Proforma’s Merger and Acquisition Team, along with advice from their Strategic Business Advisor, Danny Kane, the Durkees recently closed two additional M&A deals and are currently working on two more.

The Durkees have also utilized Proforma’s Appointment Setting Program to increase their sales. Last year Mike and Melinda invested $3,800 into this program and closed nearly $100,000 in business. All of these accounts have resulted in repeat business and should continue to grow into larger accounts. Mike and Melinda are now members of Proforma’s Multi-Million Dollar Club and Proforma Durkee was just announced last week as the #9 Fastest-Growing Distributor in the industry by Counselor magazine. This is their second year in a row to be on the list. “Basically it comes down to there are a lot of print, promo and digital marketing companies out there and Proforma gives us all the resources we needed to be a full solutions provider to our clients and help us kick out the competition.”

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