Our industry is perceived differently by almost everyone you talk to. People both in the promotional products, recognition, and incentive's industry and the people we serve can’t agree on what the nature of the business is. An unfortunately large percentage consider this to be the “promotional products” business. If you are a supplier printing a million pens each week I guess that would be accurate. A pervasive problem is that the terminology we use is almost exclusively product focused.
Supplier, vendor, distributor, salesperson, quote, rebate, discount, shipping, delivery - all convey a commodity based business. On the other hand, objective, budget, target market, message, timing, distribution - suggest a cooperative team approach to meeting business goals. With recent information indicating that upwords of 65% of buying decisions are made before you even know your client is looking, it is imperative that you find ways to be involved much earlier on because at “65%” the client is only price shopping!
Be a Research Resource
Basically you want to be part of the 65%, the research that has gone on building to a buying decision. The very nature of being a “buying decision” takes us back to being a product oriented transaction. By offering to help a client research the product they are looking for, you have the opportunity to ask why that product, what is their objective. One of my tactics was to ask if I could show how to get much greater value with the same budget, would they be interested. Tell clients that you have access to and knowledge of special offerings that they can’t find online. Relate case histories that illustrate “promotional advertising”.
Know Your Client
Keep notes and pay attention to all a client shares with you. Do they have kids in school, what school? Does the client golf, is she a motorcycle enthusiast, own another company? Collecting this information will allow you to correspond with the client any time you have pertinent information or comments. If the kid’s school won an award, send a note. If you find a great article about new electric motorcycles, pass it along. Building rapport with clients is almost a guarantee you will see growing business. People like to know you care about them - not just the business you conduct with them. Apart from my regular work with a top 40 distributor (and writing these articles) I do consulting work. It has been my practice to keep in touch with clients with occasional emails congratulating them on achievements or commenting on areas I know they have interest. I never ask if their is any work for me to do. Time after time however I get new projects from old clients.
Be proactive
If you simply wait for the phone to ring - it may not! And if it does it will likely be just to get a price quote on whatever your client has already decided to do, without any input from you. This is where your supplier can help. Ask about case histories that involve businesses similar to your client or prospect. Be sure it is noncompetitive (not in the same city for example) and then relate the information to your client indicating that they might find this interesting. Again, don’t “sell”, but when your client is ready - help them buy from you.
If you work with a large distributor that produces sales tools (online specials, catalogs, etc.) be sure to ask your client/prospect if it is ok if you send to them. And then follow up to see if any questions or comments need your attention. The ongoing goal is contact. Business will take care of itself if you maintain the contact.
Don’t be a Pest
Maintaining contact does not mean making “empty” calls. The “How ya dooing” calls do not work. They interrupt you client. When you do contact your client be sure there is a good reason. Share information, congratulate achievement, relay comments from mutual friends or ask a question. That’s right, asking your client a question will make them feel important and tell them you value their opinion. Just stay away from politics and religion and it will be a relationship builder.
One final tactic is asking for referrals. Rather than begging your client for work, ask if they know anyone else that could benefit from the work you do. It will be a strong reminder of what you do and again give your client a feeling of importance to you.
Gregg Emmer is chief marketing officer and vice president at Kaeser & Blair, Inc. He has more than 40 years experience in marketing and the promotional products industry. His outside consultancy provides marketing, public relations and business planning consulting to a wide range of other businesses and has been a useful knowledge base for K&B Dealers. Contact Gregg at gemmer@kaeser-blair.com.