Josh King

• CEO of You Name It Specialties (asi/365123) in San Antonio, TX
• 15 years of industry experience
• Donated hundreds of T-shirts and masks to staff at local Meals on Wheels in August

What I Wish I Knew When I Started:
If I had known then what I know now, I would have pursued larger accounts from the beginning. When I first started, I was trying to find any business, not necessarily good business.  

What Frustrates Me the Most:
Redundancy and inefficiency, especially when I'm trying to learn more about suppliers’ products. When a supplier rep wants to go through their catalog page by page and read it to me, I find that frustrating. I understand their job is to show me the product line, but that’s not helpful.

If I Were King of the Industry:
I’d recommend that distributors and suppliers invest in technology to streamline their processes. I speak with suppliers that say their biggest issue is distributors submitting incomplete purchase orders and unacceptable art. As an industry, we need to continue to move from the part-time mom-and-pop mentality to a corporate mentality.

What I Wish I Could Say to a Client:
As much as I want to make you feel special, I’m not sitting at my desk waiting for your phone call every six months. To keep food on my table, I have hundreds of clients and while your needs are important to me, your once-a-year order isn’t the most important thing on my plate today, and I don’t get paid to send you quotes. You are not doing me a favor by asking for 100 quotes to “get an idea of what things cost.”

Enjoying a leisurely afternoon with his niece and nephew.

Best Advice I Received:
Take risks. I have erred on the side of caution my entire career and that has definitely slowed my progression.

Worst Advice:
Try to be everything for everyone. It’s better to find a handful of things you do well and stick to those tasks. Spreading myself too thin, based on the advice of others, has proven to be a detriment.

What Suppliers Can Do Better:
I wish all suppliers would have websites that show accurate inventory checks and shipping estimates. Provide all the information a distributor might need for an order and we won’t have to call you. Your general information section should have info on less-than-minimum charges, PMS color-match charges, etc. Imprint areas should list which dimension is width and which is height. Answer email efficiently and provide distributors with effective means of communication that don’t entail sitting on hold for 20 minutes waiting to ask a simple question.  

Stereotype About Salespeople I Hate the Most:
I’m not selling product – I’m building relationships. Prospects who look at me as a source for a bid won’t end up as my clients. I want to build a relationship with you that’s mutually beneficial and where respect is a two-way street.

Rockin’ at an ’80s party with his team.

I Attribute Most of My Success to:
My drive and hunger. I’m not satisfied. While it’s tiring to wake up every morning saying to myself, “I need to make some sales today,” this internal motivation keeps me striving for more. I feel guilty taking an afternoon off.

I’m Always Looking to Improve at:
How I sell. I constantly read industry publications and talk to peers to see how they do things. Without a baseline to compare to, our company won’t be successful, and we’ll remain status quo forever.

My Never-Fail Product Recommendation:
Drawstring backpacks. They’re relatively inexpensive and have a bunch of different applications. They can be used as non-disposable product packaging or as the incentive item themselves, and they can hold literature or product samples.