As you may not recall from last month’s column, as a board member of a large organization, I was tasked with choosing several items for it, and I was faced the dilemma of selecting the very "best of" those items of perceived high value within a budgeted amount that would represent the organization. Last month’s angst was pens.
Next I was to address a great "leave behind" for those with whom our folks had business conversations, as well as a "wow" item for all staff members.
My idea of a great business leave-behind was not what the senior vice president had in mind, so after several discussions about purpose, I ended up focusing on his idea. After all, as a board member and as a promotional products distributor, I was there to satisfy his (read: the organization's) wants and needs.
He wanted water bottles, so that's what I focused on. While my research tool popped out more than 6,000 to begin with, narrowing it down by budget, number to be ordered, and my favorite vendors, I only had to choose from 233. I was able to narrow that down to about a dozen, and, with the help of my partner, we whittled it down to a handful, with each having different attributes: a lid with flip-up straw, a carrying strap, a carabineer to hook onto something, an aluminum bottle, a Tritan bottle.
So, I walked into his office and placed each bottle on his desk. Giving each one a quick look, he quickly made his choice. Now why couldn't I do that as easily as he had? So off went the order, with a request for a burgundy logo.
My final challenge was to find an item that would "wow" several hundred staff. Now for an organization that had previously (before my time) ordered stress balls and Frisbees, that wouldn't be hard to pull off. But I had the entire promotional products world to choose from. With something new being unveiled every day, I had no idea where to go with this, until, after several sleepless nights, a "Eureka!" moment came to me. I would put together a short list of categories of promotional products for him to review first, before I spent hour upon hour of research. So with a list of about a dozen product categories that would wow the socks off the staff, he pointed to one category and commanded, "Let’s see something from here."
Easy peasy! I even had first-hand knowledge of this category (tumblers) and he went with my number-one choice, that would look oh-so-handsome with a knock-out white logo. We ordered 200 in one color and 200 in another.
And then, being the professional I am, I had the web address included under the logo, so people, should they be so inclined, would be able to find us. (With offices in 10 states, listing phone numbers was not ideal.)
The weekend following the approval of the proofs, something kept niggling at my brain. It was those 2,000 water bottles with a generic burgundy-colored logo. Sure, the company logo looked burgundy, but someone, somewhere within the organization must have the exact PMS color – and I was positive it wasn’t a generic burgundy.
Early that Monday I went to the office and spoke with a bunch of management people. Turns out the individual who designed the logo 20 years ago was unknown. So I sat with my PMS chart attempting to match up the exact burgundy/purple and green. Until the administrative assistant, who must have felt sorry for me, said, "I know the PMS colors. Do you want them?" Lesson learned: always ask the admin first. They know everything.
Well it turned out I had matched the green, but burgundy was, to me, anyway, a far cry from the correct PMS color. Quick, call the vendor before the water bottles are produced. Unfortunately, I was too late. So it was with much trepidation that I anticipated their arrival to the office. Boxes and boxes of 2,000 water bottles.
The day they arrived, I happened to be there. And you can imagine my relief when the senior vice president raised a tumbler up high for all to see in victory with a huge smile on his face.
Sometimes, you just get lucky!
Annette Kurman, an award-winning writer, holds bachelor degrees in journalism and nursing, an MBA, and Accreditation in Public Relations. She has been a newspaper reporter, director of public relations at several non-profits, a senior living administrator, and is a registered nurse. She recently joined Allstates Business Solutions and is learning - and living - the life of a distributor. She can be reached at akurman@allstatesbs.com.