P+P: What do you expect to be some of the biggest challenges the industry will face?
RG: We hear a lot about the hot-button topics of suppliers selling direct, distributors cutting out suppliers and going to China, online merchandisers pulling away client spend, safety challenges scaring away large orders—these aren't things the average sales person has any control over. I leave these issues to great strategic thinkers, like Marc Simon and Rod Brown and Gene Geiger and Terry McGuire, to sort out. I'm in the trenches with my account executives. Their biggest challenges are, "How can I be better than yesterday?" and, "What tools and creative approaches will differentiate me from my competition?" These are the challenges I love to tackle with my sales force.