For decades, the promotional products industry has bred reactive salespeople. As Iâve interviewed top performers over the years, one trait seems to surface more times than any. Itâs not verbalizing of having âgreat customer serviceâ, itâs putting that statement into practice, well beyond what most would consider good customer service.
I read a blog post by a gentleman that I consider one of the most amazing business minds today, Seth Godin. He makes you thinkâŠif you choose to do so and I do. Look at a portion of his post under the heading of âWhat does your BRAND stand for?â ~ SG
âIf you tell me about service and quality and customer focus, you havenât answered my question, because a hundred other brands stand for that. If you are what others are, then thereâs nothing here to own or protect or build upon. âŠare you one-of-a-kind or even one in a million? âŠA brand that stands for what all brand stands for stands for nothing.â
In a congested industry where the barrier to entry is lower than ever, itâs imperative to go beyond, way beyond what is deemed good customer service. You must constantly be looking at ways, methods, and systems that will push the perception of your company as being âone-in-a-million.â
There are many ways to be different - truly different. For this article, I want to discuss the concept of helping your clients plan, in order to become a better strategic partner. Developing an event or planning calendar is a proactive approach and a great way to accomplish to align yourself more strategically with your clients. Like you, your clients are incredibly busy and the products and services we offer are generally an afterthought. How many times have you had a client call you and say that they forgot something for an event and can you please help find something quickly? While this scenario is not completely unavoidable, it can be minimized if proper planning is done.
A year or so ago I was working with a client/friend of mine that wanted me to go on a call with him to a major corporation. Before we walked into the clientâs office, he asked me how this conversation was going to play out. I said, âintroduce me however youâd like and then let me take over.â After the niceties and introductions, I began to ask questions, lots of questions. As I surmised, the client was always in a last-minute mode (as are most), very busy, and was being challenged every day to measure or validate her marketing spend. I shared with her that she was not getting all the âhorsepowerâ from our company (my client had introduced me as his marketing/creative director), and we wanted to be more if they would allow us. She asked how I saw this working. I mentioned that we were currently doing $8,000.00 to $10,000.00 in sales and realized that there was much more we could do to assist them in their marketing efforts. We explained in detail, the services we provided WELL BEYOND just promotional products and that for our top clients we work proactively in the background to ensure that all their events are tended to timely and cost-efficiently. This seemed to spark her interest and she wanted to know more. We explained how we prefer to create a marketing/event calendar in our system so we can proactively work in the wings developing concepts, ideas and perhaps products that would fit her budget and goals. She was intrigued and agreed to give it a shot.
Next day, my client called me and said he had received the list of events the client had planned for the entire year, along with the description and goals of each event, some large and others small events. We did a brief analysis of the projected spend and it was over $325,000.00. Obviously, there are no guarantees, but the potential realized opportunity was much greater than what he was currently getting.
Here are a few brief steps you get you on the right road to creating a great marketing calendar. And by the way, you should be doing this for YOUR company too!
1. Ask the client for a list of events for the year. Include their objective, goals and proposed outcomes, and proposed marketing budget for each event.
2. Plug these into your Outlook Calendar (or whatever CRM program you choose) in the following way. You can set up multiple calendars in your system and for your larger clients with multiple events I highly recommend this.
a. The actual event dates
b. One month out
c. And three months out
3. Create a file system for things you receive via email or in the mail and ideas you get from colleagues. I generally have multiple bins on my return that are labeled with the client and within that bin, I have a folder for each event. As I get ideas on what may work for that event, I write down or tear from a magazine or catalog and I place it in the appropriate folder.
4. As the event comes up three months out, I send out reminder emails to the client to set a meeting to discuss the upcoming event. I may secure spec samples, create storyboards, and/or develop a theme or two for discussion.
This approach has proven very successful for me. Remember I was and still am at some level, working in your shoes. I am not a theorist. I have lived it for over three decades. Over the years, clients have truly appreciated this approach because it helped them stay on track. They knew I was working for them and had the best interest of their company in mind. The process saved them time, money, and heartache. In todayâs busy world, that speaks volumes.
The key here is to be proactive, not to be in a typical reactive mode. Only the top three percenterâs go the extra mile. Are you a three percenter? If not, become one! You will be amazed that if you put this into practice you will develop additional time management skills that will make you more productive and profitable.
Until next month, continued good selling! ~ CQ
Cliff is the Director of Marketing for iPROMOTEu, additionally and for over 30 years, Cliff has been speaking, training and consulting internationally to associations and national business groups on more effective ways to market themselves, their products and services, as well as motivating their personnel. Recognized by PPAI for his creativity, he has won the prestigious PPAI Pyramid award 27 times and the Printing Industry's PSDAâs Peak Award for creativity 5 times in three years. He has also received PPAI's Ambassador Speaker of the Year Award six consecutive years and was the inaugural recipient of PPAI's Distinguished Service Award. Named one of top six industry speakers and trainers, he also was recognized by PPAI in the book, "PPAI at 100," as having a significant influence in education. He has also been recognized by Counselor Magazine as one of the Top 50 Most Influential People in the Promotional Products Industry. Cliffâs BLOG 30 Seconds to Greatness won the Award for Most Passed Around Content in 2016. In December, Cliff will be launching his third book, 30 Seconds to Greatness along with a workbook. Connect with him on LinkedIn or via email at cquicksell@ipromoteu.com.