Professional Lighting & Production - Summer 2018 | Page 9

PL&P 09
Redefining Distribution Over
the Decades
SFM Celebrating 40 Years of Business in 2018
By Andrew King
When Sol Fleising formally incorporated SF
Marketing, his eponymous sales agency, in
1978, it was a one-man operation with a cor-
porate headquarters that also happened to be
its namesake’s house.
Now, 40 years later, SFM occupies an
impressive 80,500-sq.-ft. facility in the Greater
Montreal area that’s home to hundreds of
employees and a diverse distribution catalog
comprised of some of the top brands in the
pro visual, pro audio, musical instrument, and
custom integration markets.
“I actually started my company with
$1,000,” Fleising shares, recalling his five-year
plan to raise enough capital as a rep to start
importing merchandise. “I knew early on that
I’d be more successful as a distributor than a
rep, and it was actually just two years before
I signed an agreement with König & Meyer
[stands in 1980] to distribute their products in
Canada.”
That year, the company moved into a
new 3,000-sq. ft. office and warehouse space.
Exclusive Canadian distribution agreements
with now-iconic brands like QSC and Neutrik
soon followed, and in the ensuing decades,
the company saw its distribution portfolio
grow in tandem with its overall profile.
In 2012, the company officially rebranded
as SFM, formalizing an ongoing shift in its
approach to business that focuses more on
SFM’s Pro Visual Team (L-R): Claudia L’Écuyer,
Marketing Project Manager; Franco Caruso, Brand
Manager; Nick Martino, Application
Specialist; Justin Gauthier, Brand Manager
service and solutions than just products. That
year also saw Fleising take a step back in
his role with the company, handing over
day-to-day operations to his executive
team led by COO Randal Tucker, who
has since also been given the title of
president.
“Distribution is an old business
model, so we’ve been rethinking what
that means,” shares Tucker about the
company’s evolution in recent years.
“That involves continually asking a
lot of questions about what we do –
sometimes difficult questions, and we
don’t always get the right answer, but
we spend our time thinking, ‘How do
we offer something that’s relevant and
valuable to our customers, end users,
and suppliers?’”
The company’s current Pro
Visual catalog of lighting, video, and
production lines includes major brands
and leading innovators like ADJ, Antari,
Christie Digital, Elation Professional,
Global Truss, Leprecon, and Wireless
Solution.
As Mike Gregory, director of sales, pro
business unit, explains, “The way we’re selling
is different now than it was 10 years ago, or
even five years ago. We’ve adopted a systems-
based approach on the integration side of the
business, where it’s been about building an
end-to-end solution.”
That formula has proven to be a winning
one, as SFM’s total sales have doubled in the
past decade,
surpassing
$70 million
in 2017/18.
In Gregory’s
words, that
success is
the result
of “being
adaptable to
the market,
and not trying
SFM Founder & CEO Sol Fleising to make the
SFM’s headquarters in Dorval, QC
ADJ exhibit at Expo-Scene 2018
market adapt to you.”
While they may not have always been
touted as loudly as they have been lately,
the cornerstones of SFM’s business – always
adapting to the market, adding value at every
possible stage of a transaction, and continually
reinvesting in the business – have existed
since Fleising was driving across the country
selling guitar amps and speakers to Canadian
music stores in the late ‘70s. Put simply,
SFM’s ongoing success is based on a balance
between its proven and continually refined
business practices and its rock and roll roots.
“We’ve always kept the customer at the
centre of our business,” says Fleising. “Everyone
has to win to do good business, and that’s
what we strive for. I treat our employees,
customers, and suppliers how I’d like to be
treated. It’s a very simple mantra.”
Andrew King is the Editor-in-Chief of
Professional Lighting & Production.
Summer 2018 | 9