The distributor’s blood pressure was about to hit DEFCON 1.

It was Friday afternoon. The distributor had just learned that the supplier it was relying on for an order of USB drives was not going to meet the in-hands date – which happened to be the next day. Fearful of forever losing the end-client’s business, the East Coast distributor contacted Seattle-based iClick, desperate for help. Could anything be done?

Indeed, it could.

Jeff Hall (back row, far right) and the iClick team.

iClick flew into action. Within 45 minutes of the distributor’s 3 p.m. call, the order was processed, including approval of a virtual mockup. The hard-hustling iClick crew then kicked production into overdrive, imprinting, packaging and shipping everything by 6:30 p.m. Friday. The USBs arrived on time at the end-client’s event the next day. “Our number-one goal is to make life easier for distributors,” says Jeff Hall, iClick’s president & CEO. “We do this fanatically.”

The intense devotion to being the come-through partner that makes fulfillment of high-quality promo products easy is a primary reason that iClick is Counselor’s fastest-growing supplier for 2019. It’s an honor earned through revenue growth of nearly 241% between 2016 and 2018. The sales ascent to North American 2018 promo revenue of $69.2 million also elevated iClick to 21st on Counselor’s latest annual ranking of the Top 40 largest suppliers in the industry. “We’re incredibly grateful to distributors for putting their trust in us,” says Hall.

PopSockets Pros & Much More
iClick, Counselor’s 2014 Supplier of the Year, has rewarded that trust through stellar service and the offering of a truly unique product assortment that’s enabled the firm to corner a lucrative niche: phone grips.

iClick is the exclusive provider of PopSockets products to the promo market. At retail and in logoed items, the PopSockets lineup has exploded in popularity, catalyzing iClick’s meteoric growth. “Being aligned with a great brand like PopSockets has brought us many new customers,” says Hall. “Once they experience iClick’s service and quality, they become loyal customers, purchasing other products as well.”

For sure, iClick is much more than a one-trick pony. The firm has developed a full lineup of phone grips to meet various price points. It’s also become a leader in power products, including Qi wireless chargers. Beyond such mainstays, the supplier’s product development team has created one-of-a-kind, multi-function products tailored for real-world use, which is “our fastest-growing category,” says Hall, noting iClick has built out its lines to offer good/better/best options in every category it carries.

Still, products aren’t developed or added to iClick’s portfolio haphazardly. A key question the company asks before taking on a new product is whether it can be produced quickly. The need for speed is a direct tie-in with iClick’s ReadyShip program. The initiative combines sharply honed order processing management flows and high-tech systems that include robotics to produce 50 products that can ship the next day. Another 20 items can ship in three to five days. “Our industry is experiencing a transition where end-customers expect their orders much more quickly than before,” says Hall. “We’ve invested significant time and capital into growing offerings to better serve this need. We can, for example, produce up to 70,000 PopSockets per day.”

A Culture of Service
Distributors appreciate the emphasis on Amazon-like efficiency – a vote of approval voiced by their increased patronage of iClick in recent years. Of course, says Hall, a dedicated service staff that’s empowered to ensure customer satisfaction and distributor-friendly perks like free ground shipping on domestic orders have complemented the production wizardry to swell iClick’s sales. Overall, orders were up 64% in 2018.

“Our culture is, ‘Take care of our customers and take care of each other.’ As simple as that sounds, it has profoundly affected our success.” Jeff Hall, iClick

“iClick’s level of service is some of the best I’ve encountered in my 15 years in the promotional products industry,” says Rebecca Terry, national account manager for Top 40 distributor BDA (asi/137616). “From pre- to post-sale, each team within the iClick organization provides the best in speed-to-market, communication, quality and reliability. That ultimately makes my job as a salesperson much easier.”

The smooth-flowing service and production are, in part, the organic outgrowth of a healthy, happy workplace. iClick is a staple on Counselor’s annual “Best Places to Work” list, ranking 15th in the industry in 2018. Everything from practical give-backs like employee profit-sharing and public transit passes, to a climate of respect, empowerment and collaboration – not to mention beer and wine Fridays – keeps smiles on faces at iClick. “Our culture is, ‘Take care of our customers and take care of each other,’” says Hall. “As simple as that sounds, it has profoundly affected our success.”

iClick’s expertise in preserving and augmenting the positive culture is an impressive feat, given the supplier’s growth from 50 to 200 employees in a recent 18-month span, its tripling of production area space, and other expansions engineered to keep pace with sales growth. The victory on culture – and, more broadly, successfully navigating the perilous waters of rapid sales acceleration – is a credit to iClick’s deft management team, Hall notes. “They’ve worked long hours to make sure the essence of iClick never changed,” adds Hall. “I couldn’t be more grateful.”

The fruits of their hard work are tangible in the growing bottom line, and the five-star ESP rating is evidence of iClick’s deepening pool of satisfied distributor clients. “iClick always comes through for me,” says Terry. “It’s why I’m a loyal customer.”