Top 40 distributor Proforma (asi/300094) says two of its affiliate-owners have teamed up to win a three-year, $12 million contract with a Fortune 500 technology company.

Bethany Brevard, co-owner of Profroma Professional Business Solutions, and Brandon Kennedy, owner of Proforma Progressive Marketing, will be managing inventory, fulfillment and workflow processes for the tech corporation’s print and promotional product needs on a domestic and global stage. Proforma’s ecommerce capabilities and technology resources will focus on helping the client streamline processes, reduce costs and strengthen brand consistency, the partners said. Products in the mix figure to include logoed tech items, drinkware, writing instruments, bags, polo shirts, hats, and jackets, as well as business cards, flyers and banners.

Bethany Brevard, Profroma Professional Business Solutions

Brevard and Kennedy said the deal was the result of a considerable collective effort, with Proforma’s North American Major Accounts Team, ProStores Technology Team and strategic advisors all proving instrumental in scoring a business win that took about a year to bring to fruition. Support they provided included regular account strategy assistance, proposal development and presentation planning between the client, Proforma affiliates and Proforma Support Center.

“We are grateful for the opportunity to work with a high-profile client on providing custom marketing and ecommerce solutions through Proforma’s ProStores platform,” said Brevard. “By partnering with Brandon Kennedy and the Proforma Support Center team, we were able to pursue this account and tailor our strategy to the client’s needs—we couldn’t have done it without them.”

According to Proforma, an essential factor in winning the eight-figure contract was the ProStores Technology Team’s design of a custom demo website utilizing the ProStores platform, a proprietary online storefront developed for Proforma owners to provide high-end product options and advanced solutions to clients. A face-to-face meeting between Proforma executives and key personnel from the Fortune 500 company at Proforma’s support center in Cleveland, OH also helped seal the deal.

“This was for sure a team effort by the entire staff,” said Kennedy. “We are fortunate to have such an amazing group of people helping us land these types of deals.”

Overall, Kennedy said, the “turnkey approach” he and Brevard can provide through Proforma and its supports were essential to winning the contract.

“A major selling point was that Proforma owns its ProStores technology and has resources at its disposal that our competition wasn’t able to provide without utilizing a third-party platform--ultimately costing more money,” Kennedy told Counselor. “We have the option of providing developers to write code if needed, as well as the ability to provide solutions to any tech issues that arise. The solutions provided to the client will be on a global scale, so having key suppliers and partners that help coordinate delivery of products in the U.K., Australia and India all helped to make us a single source solution to the clients growing needs.”

Proforma Founder Greg Muzzillo called the partnership between Brevard and Kennedy a “true inspiration to the entire Proforma Family.”

With reported 2017 North American promotional product revenue of $368.9 million, Proforma ranked fourth on Counselor’s most recent list of the largest distributors in the industry.