A hypothesis…IS ignorance bliss?

Now that Thanksgiving is done, taking along Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday, and Send Cash to Mike Wednesday, we can start focusing on what’s really important. That’s right: next year’s trade show schedule. In that I’m in the process of bringing a new and exciting company to the North American promotional products marketplace, I need to start focusing on which shows will make a difference for my company and me.  

I recognize that mine is not just another easy to sell (and has therefore saturated the marketplace already) pen or mug company, so a lot of effort is going to have to be made in order to make a dent. Maybe I’m just old-school (it’s already been established that I’m just old), but I still believe in the power and importance of trade shows. I’ve done so many of these over the years…and have sold space at more than my share…I tend to go with my gut when it comes to selecting where to exhibit. While some distributors might look at a unique product line with the excitement saved for new opportunities, many others are reluctant to break free of their comfort zone and try to learn about something that hasn’t already been sold and re-sold. How will I break through to their clients if I can’t get them to understand what we do?

As such, if there are opportunities to exhibit at end-user shows, I’ll have to give those serious consideration. Historically, I’ve been a fan of this format, with my logic being that no distributor can sell my products as well as I can.

I remember an episode from several years ago which proves my point. At a rather well-attended end-user show, I fell into conversation with one of the host distributor’s salespeople. I’d noted to him how busy I’d been during the course of that day, speaking with the end-buyers of his associates. I asked if he’d had a good turnout from his own customers at the show, and he replied that he didn’t invite any.

Over the years, I’ve witnessed much distributor paranoia in regards to having their clients attend shows. If it’s a regional association show, the fear is that other competing distributors will try to poach their accounts (how long must one let a client simmer in the water before it’s properly poached? Nevertheless…). That couldn’t/shouldn’t have been the case with this salesperson, as this was his company’s own show…the other salespeople were essentially co-workers who know to whom each of the end-users “belonged”.  

The other fear of an end-user show is that the exhibitors will try to circumvent the distributor and sell directly to the buyer. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t happen (NOT by yours truly, of course!), but at a show like this, the exhibitors are chosen not only for their product lines and services offered but for their integrity as well.  They’re not likely to want to ruin a good working relationship and piss off their host distributor by going after one big hit.

As such, I was confused (more so than usual) as to why this salesperson didn’t invite any of his clients to the show. Wasn’t this a great opportunity to expose them to so many more products and ideas than he could do during a sales presentation?

And that’s when he hit me with this: he didn’t want to give them too much information. He didn’t want to make it too easy for them to shop.

Here’s his logic: distributors (the sales reps, specifically) are hurting themselves by over-educating their clients. The more tools he provides to his customers, the better the chance that they’re going to “shop” the product…either by taking his ideas and shopping them directly, or giving them enough information so that the buyer can go to a competitor’s website (or any of our industry’s websites) and find the items they’d been discussing. Or, heaven forbid…go direct!

Look…I get it! I’m the King of the Paranoids, so I can understand his fear and concerns. On the other hand, I’m also a huge proponent of education…within our industry or otherwise, and believe that, in the words of the late Sy Syms, “an educated consumer is our best customer”.

Assuming that you’re still reading this column at this point (don’t you have anything better to do?) in search of some great revelation, you may stop right here. I don’t have one. I don’t know what the right answer is.  

I do believe that part of the issue is this salesperson’s own attitude.  If he had a good working relationship with his customer, he wouldn’t have to worry about being “shopped”. If he doesn’t already have that much of a comfort level then (maybe here’s the big reveal), that’s not really his customer. It’s a buyer of promotional products who, most likely, is already shopping products.  

In this writer’s opinion, it’s in everyone’s best interest to make sure that the end-user is as informed as possible about who we are as an industry and what we do…what we’re collectively able to provide. Not just product, but information and education.

Emil Faber said it best: “Knowledge is good”.