Reps from Creative Solutions, Tekweld, HPG, Cooley Group and Brilliant earn top honors
“I’m thrilled ASI Media’s exclusive list applauds industry professionals who exemplify excellence while going the extra mile for their clients,” said ASI’s Michele Bell
| TREVOSE, PA – June 1, 2023 |
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The Advertising Specialty Institute® (ASI) today announced the top salespeople and customer service rep achieving outstanding success in the $25.8 billion promotional products industry, singled out for client commitment, significant sales, campaign results, and more.
ASI Media’s 2023 Salespeople of the Year:
Distributor Salespeople of the Year: Lorin Carlino Ogawa and Marissa Carlino, chief swag officer and chief merch officer, respectively, of certified women-owned and climate-neutral Creative Solutions (asi/170769). The sisters, who work as a sales team, have grown their multimillion-dollar annual sales an average of 14% each year since 2020 while servicing top clients such as Meta and Google.
Supplier Salesperson of the Year: Claire Ashford, Southwest regional sales manager and true road warrior for Top 40 supplier Tekweld (asi/90807). Distributor clients throughout her 10-state territory cite her relationship-building skills, enthusiasm and mentoring.
Supplier CSR of the Year: Wendy Curtis, customer service lead for Top 40 supplier HPG (asi/61966), and a specialist in forging personal connections with clients, solving problems and quickly, correctly getting out orders.
Distributor Veteran Rep of the Year: Chris Martins, brand consultant for Cooley Group (asi/168125), tallied big sales numbers while inspiring fellow reps and achieving several first-time milestones within the distributorship’s more than 75-year history. And he’s not slowing down, increasing his personal sales total 27% year over year by coming through for clients in end-markets like education, healthcare, finance, telecommunications and beverages.
Distributor Up-and-Comer of the Year: Tommy Gomez, senior creative partner of Brilliant (asi/146116). Since 2021, Gomez has gained sales growth of 1,600% while working with an impressive roster of tech companies, elevating campaigns to the next level.
“I’m thrilled ASI Media’s exclusive list applauds industry professionals who exemplify excellence while going the extra mile for their clients,” said Michele Bell, ASI vice president of editorial, education and special events. “Beyond extraordinary sales numbers, what really sets these reps apart is their passion for success and for our industry.”
The process for selecting ASI Media Salespeople of the Year starts with ASI staff collecting nominations from people in the promo industry and includes the following criteria: annual sales, year-over-year increase in sales, colleague testimonials, prestige of clients and creativity in recent promotional campaigns. Nominees for Salesperson of the Year must generate $1 million or more in sales revenue, the Veteran Rep of the Year must have worked in promo a minimum of 15 years and the up-and-comer less than three years.
Read more about each winner and finalist, including their strategies for scoring big sales, big clients and big deals, and watch their YouTube video interviews.
For more information on the 2023 Salespeople of the Year, contact ASI Editor-in-Chief C.J. Mittica at [email protected].
About ASI
The Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI®; asicentral.com) serves a network of 25,000 suppliers, distributors and decorators in the $25.8 billion promotional products industry. ASI’s flagship products, the technology platforms ESP® and ESP+, manage the industry’s entire supply and marketing chain. ASI also produces award-winning digital content, live events and educational programs that enable companies in 53 countries to be more efficient, productive and profitable. ASI’s media and research operation provides the most authoritative business content in the industry, and the ASI Certification Program features 200+ live and online education courses for industry professionals. The company, family-owned since 1962, is proud to have been consistently ranked among the “Best Places to Work” in Philadelphia and Bucks County, PA
