Get to know Connie Mandula, the 2019 Veteran Rep of the Year!

Veteran Rep of the Year*
Connie Mandula
CM Promotions, powered by Geiger (asi/202900)

*Veteran Rep of the Year: 15 or more years of industry experience

Over the past 25 years, Connie Mandula has seen salespeople come and go – college graduates inspired by Jerry Maguire and The Wolf of Wall Street, eager to schmooze and build a life of luxury for themselves.

Of course, the reality of sales is long hours, ingenuity, sacrifice and countless phone calls. One of the many ways Mandula learned this was meeting with a Fortune 50 insurance company every six weeks for two years. She finally struck a deal after pitching a blanket that incorporated the company’s different logos for its upcoming 75th anniversary.

“Everyone thinks they can sell promo products, but I don’t think they realize the persistence and dedication it takes to grow a business,” says Mandula, president and owner of Bloomington, IL-based CM Promotions, powered by Geiger. “Being told ‘no’ for two years can be depressing. It takes time and effort to develop relationships with clients.”

Since breaking into the industry as a sales rep for Top 40 distributor HALO Branded Solutions (asi/356000) and starting her own company in 2000, Mandula has nurtured those relationships, keeping some of the same clients for over a quarter century. In 2012, though, her company lost that Fortune 50 account to an RFP. As a result, CM Promotions lost 84% of its business, which caused three members of its six-person staff to be laid off. Mandula was forced to reinvent the company. “We diversified our portfolio and began selling apparel programs to new and existing clients,” she says. “We even retained a portion of the former client by offering creative, high-dollar swag bags for candidates that qualify for incentive trips.”

Since the shift in strategy, CM Promotions has recouped most of its previous annual revenue, and has now expanded to 10 employees. Mandula has also gotten more involved in the community, hiring individuals with intellectual and physical disabilities for temporary and part-time work through nonprofit Marcfirst. “I still have a passion for the industry and finding the right products for my clients,” Mandula says. “If I don’t believe in the products I’m selling, then my clients won’t either.”

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