“It is never too late to be what you might have been.” George Green
George Green is a well known author of fiction. As such he always created exactly what was necessary to bring his stories and characters to life. His advice, however, certainly can be applied to all of us.
Recently, after yet another phone call about the staggering number of price increases our industry (more on that later) is experiencing along with the overall inflation of consumer goods and services, I was asked by my sales rep, if I had to start a business in promotional products from ‘scratch’, how would I structure it. I told her that was a great question and I would write an article about it - so thanks for the question!
The first time around I was the owner of a full service commercial printing and advertising company. We handled offset printing up to 36” and conventional advertising including direct mail, magazine, trade show graphics, and pretty much everything but broadcast. We also sold some promotional products to support the other activities. During a 20 year period, revenue went from 90% printing to 90% promotional.
So starting fresh,I told her, printing would not be considered. Selling printing might be, but I would leave the actual production to others. My focus would be promotional products media. I have always considered that there are actually three industries included in what we collectively call “promotional products”. First are the suppliers, the manufacturers and decorators who make the products. The second industry is the product-,selling distributors. The third industry is promotional products media .
Having had the experience of providing advertising services to a wide variety of clients, I realized early on that clients invest in message delivery - not promotional products. When I would suggest using a promotional component in a marketing project the discussions were always about the added benefits not the cost of a coffee mug.
She asked if I would just give someone a price quote on coffee mugs if that was all they wanted. My basic answer is shure, why not. But that would not keep me from asking the customer how they planned to use them. My goal would be to open up a conversation that might lead to being a promotional products media adviser rather than a commodity product seller.
My sales rep then brought up a very real concern for her - quick income! She worried that being an “agency” dealing with programs, marketing departments and more complicated transactions takes a lot of time and she needs a steady flow of sales to feed her kids. This is an important difference between the initial question of how to start from nothing and the position of George Green regarding starting over - or more properly, transitioning from primarily selling stuff to providing value-added services to your clients.
A good starting point I told her (and anyone else that this applies to) is to get the term “promotional products” out of your business name! Try instead Specialty Advertising & Marketing, Promotional Marketing, Promotional Products Media, Performance Improvement, Business Gifting and Recognition, etc.. A business name generally tells the public what you do, not the tools you use.
The next step on the “easy” list is to evaluate the clients you already have had business with and announce your name change with a strong explanation of how much more you bring to the table rather than just selling things This is a great time to give the client a promotional item with your new name, logo and contact information. Practice what you preach!
The final direction she took the conversation was regarding suppliers selling directly and her fear that this would eliminate people like her from the sales channel. It was like she was outlining this article for me!
Suppliers can be grouped in two categories, name brand manufacturers and promotional industry suppliers. National brand companies (Sony, Black & Decker, Waterford, Apple) have always had a corporate or special markets division. Usually the goods were handled by premium reps. During the past decade they have also had success using promotional product suppliers in their sales channel. So, transactions might have been ‘direct’ but a salesperson was receiving a commission.
Industry suppliers that sell direct many times use a different business name and quite a few do try to avoid conflicts with distributors, but not all. But, if you have structured (or are in the process of structuring) your business as an agency delivering added value through great ideas, recommendations and ultimately more success from the marketing, then direct selling suppliers are not a significant problem. Same goes for online sellers.
Finally, remember that marketing your business needs to be an ongoing process, not an occasional happening. Every time you promote your business you are also giving a demonstration of the effectiveness of promotional products media.
Gregg Emmer managed Kaeser & Blair’s marketing, catalog publishing and vendor relations for more than 30 years. Prior to arriving at K&B in 1991 he owned and operated a graphic communication company featuring promotional products and full service printing. Today Emmer’s consulting work provides marketing, public relations and business planning consulting to a wide range of businesses including promotional industry suppliers, venture capital and market research companies. If you are interested in growing your business (or privately commenting on articles) contact Gregg at gregg.promopro@gmail.com.