Distributors Stay Strong Despite a Weak Economy

The empowerment Muzzillo referred to is the ability distributors gain to be their own bosses while sharing an abundance of benefits. Those benefits include a multi-million-dollar sales and marketing fund that provides owners with state-of-the-art marketing programs and tools, combined purchasing with preferred vendors giving every independent owner that is a member of the Proforma network the clout of a quarter-billion dollar company, access to superior technology including company store programs, automated sales and marketing tools and business operations efficiency technology, and the burdensome overhead costs with more than 600 independent distributors. These time-consuming overhead costs include invoicing, statement processing, collections and accounts receivables, vendor crediting, cash availability, payments an accounts payable and financial reporting.

Over the past year, this structure appealed to more than 100 independent distributorships that chose to become members of the unique network. Since 22 of them reported annual sales ranging from $1 million to $8 million per year, Proforma was able to grow to $227,702,000 in sales for 2002—adding more than $11 million in sales than what was reported in last year's study.

Additionally, Vera Muzzillo, co-CEO noted, "In these times everyone needs to be working a little harder and a little smarter." What makes this hard work pay off, she added, is Proforma's offering of tools that help to identify more qualified prospects, offer expanded product lines and market more intelligently.

In addition, the company introduced its distributors to three superior technological advancements—a professional sales, marketing and relationship tool, company proprietary software and the Proforma owner information management system.

But special services and technology can only be beneficial when the right people are using them, which is why Muzzillo attributed Proforma's success to the combined efforts of all the great people who make up the Proforma family, including 600 owners, an Owner Advisory Council, development coaches, a supplier network, an executive team and the more than 100 support center staff members. It is this philosophy of teamwork, he added, that helped Proforma reached its top-ranking distributor sales figures.