IPG Cuts Sales Team, Returns to Commission Reps

Four years after launching an in-house field sales team to replace the commission reps it had previously used, Chicago-based Independent Publishers Group has laid off two of its three field reps and is replacing them with commission rep groups. Breanna Spiegel, who was IPG’s field sales rep for the western part of the U.S., and Amy Disbennett, who was field sales rep for the eastern region, are being replaced on March 15 by three rep groups: Fujii Associates, which will sell to accounts in the Midwest and TOLA (Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Arkansas); Imprint Group, which will sell to accounts in the western U.S.; and Como Sales, which will sell to accounts in the eastern U.S.

Travis Hale, who has worked for IPG since 2017, most recently as the in-house field sales rep serving the central U.S., has been promoted to field sales manager and will oversee the three rep groups.

“IPG moved to a limited number of inside sales reps at the beginning of the pandemic, a move that accommodated the attendant change in retail business,” said Tim McCall, SVP of sales and marketing, in a statement. “But it’s time to think expansively again, and these three groups collectively bring a diversity of interests, robust industry relationships, and the sort of literary zeal that is the hallmark of every good sales force.”

In an email sent to booksellers this morning, McCall explained further: "Over the past year, it’s become clear that to better serve booksellers and publishers, IPG would benefit from a larger field force. Pragmatically, we need more bodies, more expertise, more structure, more market feedback."

Sharon Shell, IPG director of academic and library sales since 2019, was also laid off as of Monday, and library and education sales rep Brad Fish has been promoted to manager of educational and library sales.

As for distribution in the U.K., IPG announced that it is partnering with Gardners for distribution and will be represented by Compass for academic and professional sales. In 2021, IPG acquired the U.K.-based United Independent Distributors, which filed for bankruptcy last summer. “These arrangements with Gardners and Compass bolster IPG’s existing partnership with Gazelle in the U.K., which covers sales and distribution for trade titles,” the company stated in a release. Scott Hatfill, VP of international sales at IPG, will oversee sales and distribution partners in the U.K.