When asked what keeps them up at night, many in our industry fret over the commoditization pricing strategies of competitors — particularly the giants. When asked why they would want to compete with well-known companies with different business models and different buying power, we usually get a “Well, duh! They sell what I sell?”
Here’s a couple of things to keep in mind. Those competitors do not have to rely solely on profits from sales of promotional products. The big guys are either publicly traded or have other investment capital backing them up. Amazon’s primary source of profit comes from AWS - Amazon Web Services powering a huge number of apps and websites. Walmart sticks to its primary business - retail - and outsources the promotional products to an independent, albeit large, distributor. And the big guys have enormous reach. It is estimated that three quarters of US households subscribe to Amazon Prime.
So what’s our typical distributor to do?
1. Change the game. Focus on what you can do that others cannot do. Catch yourself whenever you find yourself playing your competitors’ game. Expand your serves to become a full-service marketing consultant offering solutions instead of "stuff". Become a student of your clients’ needs and learn how to help them.
2. Leverage technology. Be constantly researching the industry technology solutions that will help you connect with your market the way they want to be connected with and ways to make yourself more efficient. Talk to your supplier partners and learn about the tools they offer you.
3. Tell your story. Be authentic. Be you. Yes, be vulnerable. Ignore the voice telling you that people will think you’re weird and go ahead and be weird. Let people know about why you do what you do and how you came about doing what you do. Express your passion unabashedly. People like that. And you’ll like working with those who “get you.”
4. Work together. Get to know and respect your fellow professionals who are doing it the right way. I get to witness this in the regional association community where I see distributors working together to put together powerful end user shows and events that raise the boat for everyone.
5. Have a social mission. Give your clients’ a sense of pride doing business with you. Connect with a community cause and look for other industry opportunities to promote a worthy cause. PromoCares is a new industry initiative and you can find suppliers with cause-related programs on Distributor Central and SAGE searches.
6. Be an experience. Do the extras that get people talking, that make them feel good about themselves and good about doing business with you. Be different and do different things. It could be client appreciation events, open houses, seminars, webinars, podcasts. It could be surprises.
7. Find a niche. Specialize in an industry or an activity. Be the go-to person for wellness programs or the school specialist or the healthcare specialist. Not only does this make you an expert, it give you the chance to pick something you’re passionate about and pursue it every day.
The best way to compete against the giants is to change the game. When David was confronted by Goliath, he tossed the armor and the sword and used what he was best at — a slingshot. Don’t fear Goliath. Play your own game.
Paul Kiewiet MAS+ is an industry speaker, writer, consultant and coach. He serves as the executive director of MiPPA. Kiewiet was inducted into the PPAI Hall of Fame and the MiPPA Hall of Fame. He served as Chairman of PPAI in 2007. A former distributor, he founded Promotion Concepts, Inc in 1982 and worked with some of America’s most valuable brands including Coca-Cola, Kelloggs, and Whirlpool.