Aim Goes Virtual for Annual Sales Meeting, Awards
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — At its annual meeting, Aim Transportation Solutions recognized 14 employees who exceeded their annual sales goals.
The individuals were awarded the President’s Circle award at this year’s fourth annual Aim National Sales Meeting: Strategies for Success, held every January. Typically two days of meetings followed by a four-day incentive trip for those who reached their annual goal, COVID-19 forced this year’s event to look a lot different, according to a company release.
Trading its traditional backdrop of warm Florida sunshine and swaying palm trees for laptops and Zoom windows, this year’s event was 100% virtual and the incentive trip was canceled, said Jessica Bochy Deane, Aim’s director of marketing and the organizer of the meeting.
“This meeting is an important part of our selling year – it is a ceremonious closing of one chapter and opening of the next for us, so we wanted to sacrifice as little as possible in going virtual,” Bochy Deane said. “The idea from the start was to take the meeting’s three main events—the awards ceremony, the vendor fair and the upcoming years’ preparatory sessions—place them into a virtual setting, while doing what we could to preserve the collaborative, comradery-building spirit of the in-person event.”
This year’s President’s Circle award winners included:
- Brian Bair, Senior Account Executive
- Don Baldacci, Senior Account Executive
- Mike Chopp, Regional Vice President of Sales
- Kevin Dunbar, Senior Account Executive
- Kerry Langlois, Senior Account Executive
- Jeff Leas, District Sales Manager
- Alex Marchal, Business Development Manager
- Rick McNerney, Senior Account Executive
- Dave Nichols, Business Development Manager
- Candy Paulus, Business Development Manager
- Brian Peisker, Business Development Manager
- Joe Telega, Regional Vice President of Sales
- Mike Wall, District Sales Manager
- Mike Williams, District Sales Manager
McNerney and Langlois led the company in revenue and most new accounts signed, respectively. McNerney and Wall were always recognized for achieving the platinum level for the NationaLease Masters Club, which recognizes the accomplishments of sales professionals who exceed the highest threshold of yearly performance among the entire organization, made up of more than 140 independent businesses.
“Our sales team always gives me so much to be proud of,” said Matt Svancara, Aim executive vice president of sales & marketing. “But what I saw from them throughout 2020—the resolve, the dedication, the innovation—is something extra special, and each and every one of them should be as proud of themselves a I am of them. I’m fortunate to lead such a talented and resilient group.”
For the event itself, participants kept to a tight agenda for three days, including a steady lineup of presentations and discussions led by Aim’s executive and management staff, to plan, inspire and ready the sales staff for a lucrative 2021, according to the release.
Each day was capped off with a Virtual Vendor Fair, where Aim’s vendor partners, who made the event possible through their sponsorships, had virtual booths for Aim employees to visit and gain product knowledge. Employees could also win prizes during raffles and trivia.
“It’s unfortunate we weren’t able to be in Florida, but the ultimate goal of the meeting, whether we’re there or in front of our laptops, is that each salesperson walks away equipped with some added knowledge, techniques and extra motivation to hit the ground running,” Svancara said. “And I would definitely say we achieved that with what we put together over the course of this virtual event.”
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
