Next month, September, is “Shameless Promotion Month” and it can be fun and capture a lot of attention for you and your clients.
If you are not familiar with Chase’s Calendar of Annual Events, you should be. It is the consolidated source of events, anniversaries, holidays, this day in history and an assortment of esoteric trivia. The morning weatherman who says, “Today is National Umbrella Day” has Chase’s to thank for that vital piece of information. Granted, if it is raining, that information is more relevant. But, what does National Umbrella Day do for your business? It may be a marketing opportunity for a client. Think of a dimensional mailing, think of event marketing in and around that date, think of employee appreciation. Chase’s is an annual book, but buying it just one time gives you a tracking of when an event is held, you can always “Google” that specific day in another year. The book retails for about $65 on Amazon, but is well worth the investment.
It is there… you will find “Shameless Promotion” week, day or month. In marketing, you can use this event to gain attention and a truly shameless promotion (with a wink of an eye) can do just that.
Advertising and promotional agencies perform annual account reviews. In most cases, along with that review, they present proactive concepts to help their clients reach brand goals, even if the client did not request it. My 48 years in our industry, and my experience as a distributor, gives me confidence to say that the vast majority of distributors are more reactive than proactive. They react to the specific needs, requests and activities their clients delineate over the course of a year. I’m pretty confident that most buyers overlook the creative force that a promotional products consultant and agency can be. They see us as product people in too many cases. To truly get a firm hold on your relationship, the more creative your input, the more important you become as a team member. I’d say that up to 99 percent of our distributors do not charge for creative services. It has long been a challenge to either get paid for our creativity or at least get recognized for our talents and value-added contributions done at “no charge.”
The customer paradigm can be changed and the deliverable may be increased sales and a complete lock out of competitors. You can start by considering an annual review. A post-New Year’s visit or lunch is a perfect start to celebrate the new year, express gratitude and review the account. Trying to schedule such a meeting about six weeks in advance gives your client plenty of time to work it in.
Reviewing the account means looking back on the past year and making sure all is well and that your performance met the client’s expectations. You can bring your sales figures and discuss any issues there may have been. Try to elicit information as to the success or reception to the promotions you delivered. Success stories and case histories are invaluable to share. You may even elicit a referral or two.
Out of the office and sitting at lunch is the perfect environment to open a real dialog. Your other goal is to get your client to discuss the company’s plans and where your goods and services may be needed. So far it has been a review and an interview to seek assignments in a reactive way. If you have done a bit of homework, looked at your client’s business and related it to what you can see as creative opportunities with Chase’s Calendar in mind, you can now turn proactive. If you present enough creative and proactive ideas your client will quickly recognize how valuable an asset you are. Of course, not all ideas will be met with excitement and the green light. However, if your client wants you to work on just one idea, you have won.
The biggest companies already look at the calendar for promotional opportunities. About 15 years ago, I did four different promotions with a distributor and his client, one of the three largest banks in the U.S. Each promotion took advantage of a calendar holiday for a demographically determined group of depositors: Black History Month Promotion, Cinco De Mayo, Chinese New Year, Jewish New Year and St. Patrick’s Day. On a visit to the client with the distributor, I learned about programs it ran on Teacher’s Appreciation Day, Home Safety Week and more.
There are so very many appreciation days on the Chase Calendar you are bound to find one to fit most of your customers. I created a spread sheet and have used it in a seminar I have done over the years. The session was called “Calendar Daze.” (Download at http://soundlineuniversity.com/Calendar Daze.ppsx) It is a Power Point presentation, but I have culled Chase (many years ago) and grouped events by application to our business. I arranged it by seasons, annual holidays and events. For each month, I group and identify appreciation events, healthcare events, corporate events, safety, silly, retail oriented and socially relevant. Again, if your client adopts just one of your proactive event marketing ideas, you are a big winner.
Let’s put customers aside and talk about your business. January has customer service appreciation. Companies such as HBO have traditionally spent big bucks on thanking CSRs nationwide that field complaints about service, price, etc. How important are your suppliers’ CSRs? Very. So why not use that opportunity to say thank you with a card or gift and ensure even better service in the months ahead?
February is loaded with special event days and weeks and a good time to reach out to female employees and clients. March has “Companies That Care”… about what? Only a promotion can tell. April is customer loyalty month... can you help your clients build loyalty? Can you help your client’s employees relieve stress with a campaign on April 16... employee stress awareness day? I could go on and on, but space is limited.
I can only imagine the creative fun you can have and the applications you can make to your specific clients. If you put them all together in a proactive proposal and present them to your customer, you are a step closer to being recognized as a true marketing and promotional agency presenting proactive program concepts. Before I close, I do want to take a step back. The larger the client, the more probable such a presentation should be done in September/October. If a client loves a concept, but has not budgeted for it, you may have to wait a year. Larger companies budget in the autumn and begin to spend the assigned budgets in January.
The takeaway... get creative, get proactive and present your clients with unsolicited ideas – and use the calendar as a marketing tool.
Joel D. Schaffer, MAS is CEO and Founder of Soundline, LLC, the pioneering supplier to the promotional products industry of audio products. Joel has 48 years of promotional product industry experience and proudly heralds "I was a distributor." He has been on the advisory panel of the business and marketing department of St. John’s University in New York and is frequent speaker at Rutgers Graduate School of Business. He is an industry Advocate and has appeared before the American Bankers Association, American Marketing Association, National Premium Sales Executives, American Booksellers Association and several other major groups. He has been a management consultant to organizations such as The College Board and helped many suppliers enter this industry. He is a frequent contributor to PPB and Counselor Magazines. He has facilitated over 200 classes sharing his industry knowledge nationwide. He is known for his cutting humor and enthusiasm in presenting provocative and motivating programs. He is the only person to have received both the Marvin Spike Industry Lifetime Achievement Award (2002) and PPAI’s Distinguished Service Award (2011). He is a past director of PPAI and has chaired several PPAI committees and task forces. He is a past Chair of the SAAGNY Foundation, Past President of SAAGNY and a member of both the PPAI and SAAGNY Hall of Fame. He was cited by ASI as one of the 50 most influential people in the industry.