Winter 2022 – Marketing Group Digest

MATERIALS, ASSEMBLY, PRODUCTION & SUPPLY

Troy Gunnin
Sun Rep Inc.
Tampa, Fla.

The new normal

Hello, and welcome 2022! And just what do you have in store for us? In looking ahead, I must admit that my crystal ball is much like many of our Florida mornings have been lately, very foggy.

As I prepared to write this, I looked back to December 2019 when I wrote the Winter column. It was just prior to COVID-19. It was filled with many positives and we were all looking forward to continued growth in sales and profits. Fast forward to December 2020. I pointed out that 2020 was like no other that I had experienced in my many years in this business and expressed some optimism that 2021 would be a rebound year and Covid would be behind us.

Well, guess what, Covid just keeps finding variants to keep us from returning to what was once normal. Is 2022 the year that we finally get it behind us? Who knows? One thing we do know is that we are learning to “live with it” and move forward.

We have learned that we must, and have, found ways to deal with it. Our people, as are many others, are now working from home offices. Will we ever return to congregate offices? Only time and necessity will tell. Many companies have scaled back their offices and are projecting either at-home or hybrid operations in the foreseeable future.

These trying two years have taught us that we can, and must, continually explore and find new and innovative ways to conduct our business. We certainly look forward to being able to return to face-to-face sales calls and meetings. However, we have, through these tough times, learned that we can continue to function using the many electronic options we have like Zoom and Microsoft Meetings, etc. When and if we eventually return to our once normal, I’m sure that we will continue to use these tools and others to help us be more efficient.

There are some “storm clouds” on the horizon. Inflation, supply chain shortages, labor shortages, long delivery times, and I could go on – but the economy, for now, is strong and employment numbers are good, unemployment is low. So, there are positive signs as well.

In times like this, the independent rep model certainly stands out. We are local and have the local contacts that allow us, by whatever means, to stay in contact with our customer base. That makes us valuable to our principals and customers. Let’s make 2022 a banner year!