Earlier this month, we had an extremely busy week at OnFulfillment that got me thinking about the old days and how far we’ve come as a marketing fulfillment company.

One of our largest customers—a global technology company that designs, develops, and supplies a wide range of semiconductor and infrastructure software solutions—had recently acquired a well-known cloud computing and virtualization company.

As part of the acquisition, we were asked to assemble some “welcome aboard” kits—more than 18,000 packages consisting of gifts featuring the acquiring company’s brand and accompanied by a personal message from the CEO. These kits were to be delivered to facilities around the world, primarily in the U.S., Europe, and Asia.

If you happen to pay close attention to manufacturing regulations, you might have heard that many states across the U.S., as well as federal, tribal, and local governments, retailers, and popular brands are acting quickly to address the PFAS crisis.

PFAS, which stands for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a group of human-made chemicals that are widely used in various industrial and consumer products. Introduced in the 1940s, these chemicals are known for their unique properties, particularly resistance to heat, water, and oil—all of which have made them valuable in a range of applications, including firefighting foam, electronics, food packaging, and—of particular interest to OnFulfillment—manufacturing.

Nine months into the current year, we’re proud to say that OnFulfillment is on pace to sign a near record number of new customers for a 12-month period.

While admittedly a lot of the credit goes to pent-up demand for the comprehensive marketing and event fulfillment services we provide, we like to think that our approach to onboarding new customers is a significant contributing factor.

What sets us apart from the competition? The fact that we treat our initial meetings with prospects as an interview rather than a sales pitch. Since our inception more than 20 years ago, our goal when meeting with a potential new customer has always been to first understand what they need and then find a solution that is mutually beneficial to both parties. We endeavor to treat the client-vendor relationship as more of a partnership by offering the right level of support without overselling our services. This approach leads to a greater level of trust and confidence on the part of the customer, and for us, it’s been very effective.

Event managers have a tough job. They are responsible for every trade show, seminar and conference in which your company will participate. That’s a lot to handle.

It’s even more impressive when you consider that each of the events these managers oversee are composed of multiple components and moving parts. There are promotional items, signage, displays, demos, printed collateral, and much more. Add staffing to the equation, including arranging accommodations and both short- and long-distance travel to and from the events for potentially dozens of people, and it’s easy to see just how overwhelming and stressful it can all become. Simply put, event managers must be exceptionally skilled at juggling multiple tasks simultaneously in order to pull it all off successfully.

Back in 2020 and 2021, when the world was in the throes of the COVID-19 lockdown, many companies scaled back their operations and revisited their business goals and objectives while adjusting to a new remote workforce.

Not OnFulfillment.

Rather than lose momentum, we viewed the slowdown as an opportunity to enhance our capabilities, expand our business, and introduce changes that were otherwise difficult if not impossible during busier times. While many of our competitors sat around waiting for the pandemic to end and business to return to normal, we took advantage of the downtime to implement improvements that allowed us to hit the ground running once the restrictions were lifted.