Secret Recipe: Mike Grant, Halftime Holdings

I interviewed Mike Grant, the Alberta Territory Manager for multi-line rep group, Halftime Holdings.  Mike has been in the promo business for over 30 years and has a unique perspective because he has been on the distributor side as well as the supplier and multi-line rep side.  Mike is one of the only reps that I know that has 2 first names instead of a first and last name. - Russell Bird, The Promo Addict

As a top rep in the industry but also a family man, how do you balance your intense dedication to work and family?

I am a Libra and have always kept a work-life balance. The same goes with my family. I’ve spread my attention equally over my 3 kids for the last 28 years, and then of course, maintained a good relationship with my wife of 30 years.  I get up early and just work until my work is done. I typically make dinner (because I am a better cook!) so meal planning and execution has to be time I prepare for as well.  Basically, I start my day in my Hot Tub (if I am at home), plan my day, and off I go!

Tell us about a deal you worked on that went sideways, but you saved it.

 I was repping a national watch brand and there had to be 2 competitive bids for a 6,000 pc $380,000.00 order. The client was celebrating the milestone of ‘1 Billion Barrels of Oil’, and wanted a gift for all the employees of this national oil company. We only had one customer on the books for this watch brand at the time, and the boss who ran the supplier company simply refused to give the other guy involved the opportunity to bid. He refused to accept the fact that this oil company could not just ‘give’ the order to us without securing a second bid. It actually came down to the hour that the bid was ‘closing’. After literally driving thru the city with my middle son (I took him to buy a bike at a local shop because I was so mad and needed a task to keep my mind off of it), I felt that the boss had killed this deal, and told him that he didn’t understand the concept of what my function as a rep actually was. I felt that this lost deal was 100% on his head and I would refuse to accept any culpability in losing this order. They were only going to buy our watch. He finally caved, I had to call the second guy and tell him that his competitor had a better price, but he could get EQP.  I apologized, but he got to bid as well. The second guy got the order (because he had a personal relationship with the buyer), and my commission stayed at a higher rate than if the first guy had gotten the bid. 

 You’ve been in the promo industry for over 30 years. What is the biggest change you have seen, and how do you see the industry changing in the next 30 years?

 The biggest change in our business is the effect of the Internet on my selling to distributors with a good or bad website from my suppliers. The second effect of the Internet is the end-user sourcing logo’d products that they simply ‘found’ on the Internet. 30 years is a long time, and I don’t think this promotional product business will remotely look like this business does now in even 10 years. Technology is moving fast, and I think manual decoration of promotional products and the speed at which it is done is going to change who can supply what to the end-user companies in a big way. Those promotional/team dealers that do not bring the highest creativity and time-saving sourcing to the clients will no longer survive. There will be stronger Internet-based suppliers that will fill that commodity business and the creative/innovative and strong relationship-based distributors will be the only ones left standing.

If you weren’t in the promo industry, what would you be doing as a career?

I would probably have been a Chef, as I am the most calm when I am cooking. However, I excelled at communicating as early as High School, so I think I was destined for sales and marketing.

What is your favorite hobby?

My favorite Hobby is any form of working out… lifting weights or sweating in almost anyway, but cycling is preferred. Skiing or hiking would be a close second. Basically anything that takes me away from thinking about work and responsibility.