After 30 years in the field, Brian Wiedenmann refuses to rest on his laurels.

His thirst for self-discovery and penchant for reinvention has fueled his long-lasting success in the promotional products industry. Over the last year and a half, he has forced himself to learn new product categories, expanding his knowledge and increasing his value to clients. For example, one customer needed some large-format wall graphics, and another requested an order dealing with charms. Wiedenmann had zero experience in either category, but refused to turn away business. He partnered with a couple of suppliers and researched as much as possible in order to satisfy the customers and deliver some of his biggest orders ever.

Brian Wiedenmann, Proforma Complete Branding Solutions

“I’ll never say no to an opportunity a customer presents without evaluating and determining what the customer is looking for,” says Wiedenmann, owner of Proforma Complete Branding Solutions (asi/300094). “I’m not scared of anything.”

That tenacity and determination has fueled his company’s tremendous sales over the past three years. Since joining Proforma in 2016, the Eagle, ID-based distributorship has grown over 744%. The numbers are surprising considering the company’s small staff – two full-time customer service reps and four sales reps, including Wiedenmann, who credits Proforma’s support system for making operations run smoothly.

“Proforma’s service structure and marketing capabilities are incredible,” Wiedenmann says. “They support you in whatever you need, saving us time for sure.”

Wiedenmann attributes the firm’s incredible growth to his strategy of prospecting large clients. Instead of taking every order that comes in, he and his team concentrate their energy and resources on landing clients with enough revenue to make business worthwhile. “There’s only so much time in a day,” he says. “With the small bandwidth we have, it forces us to focus on larger orders.”

Proforma has vastly improved his prospecting process, Wiedenmann says, by rolling out a LinkedIn program that gives sales reps the ability to reach more contacts in targeted companies. Although he’ll still pick up the phone for the occasional cold call, Wiedenmann says he can reach 10 prospects in much less time through LinkedIn. “You’re always going to lose accounts for one reason or another, so it’s important to keep the funnel full,” he says.

While targeting high-profile accounts has been Wiedenmann’s bread and butter, he’s found it challenging to service smaller clients with ever-increasing needs. “Small clients still want a lot of information, which takes time,” he says. “Requests like asking us to send a tracking number. Those kinds of things add up and take time away from gaining more business, but our number-one goal is making the customer happy.”

An Entrepreneurial Spirit
Wiedenmann landed a job two days after graduating from Oregon State University in 1987 and hasn’t stopped hustling since.

Getting plenty of mileage out of his marketing degree, the San Diego native has worked in sales for a variety of industries, breaking into the distributor side in the early 2000s. After stints at Merrill Corporation (asi/268585), DocuSource Print Management and Top 40 distributor American Solutions for Business (asi/120075), Wiedenmann joined the Proforma network.

“I didn’t want to be tied to a desk,” he says of his passion for sales. “I wanted to talk to people and have the ability to make a lot of money.”

Jeff Scott, owner of promotional products agency Branding Plus, met Wiedenmann at a printing company more than 30 years ago. “It was evident to me early on that Brian was never satisfied with just doing something,” Scott says. “He was always working on making the product, process or relationship better. As a result, he’s developed strong loyalty over the years from suppliers, customers and colleagues. He’s a tough businessman and negotiator because he wants to provide the best to his clients.”

“When you’re entrepreneurial, you have to be open-minded to satisfy clients in categories you don’t know about yet. I’ll do anything within reason.”

Initially, Wiedenmann focused strictly on traditional print products, selling direct mail, labeling, packaging and other printed materials. But as time progressed, he says, he was pulled into the promotional products and apparel side. “When you’re trying to manage entire accounts for your clients, it’s just a natural progression to expand to branded items,” he acknowledges. “When you’re entrepreneurial, you have to be open-minded to satisfy clients in categories you don’t know about yet. I’ll do anything within reason.”

Nowadays, Wiedenmann focuses primarily on printing solutions, and Jennifer Johnson, a customer service rep, works directly with promo suppliers. They’ve become an efficient tag team that’s turned Proforma Complete Branding Solutions into a one-stop shop, catering to every client’s needs and pain points. Whether it’s adapting to new product categories, remaining accessible at all times or finding cheaper, faster importing solutions, they know their ability to prosper is dependent on crafting top-notch solutions that produce ROI for customers.

“We’re always making sure our reputation and integrity in the marketplace is first class,” Wiedenmann says.