“If I had 9 hours to chop down a tree, I’d spent the first six sharpening my ax” Abraham Lincoln
I love that quote! How many of you are chopping away at the marketplace with a dull ax? The best way to start honing that ax is to define your business. In a very unscientific study of a too small group I received the exact same answer to this question; What business are you in? All respondents said “promotional products”. Not surprising but disappointing. I then asked if they specialize in coffee mugs or ball caps. The response was basically we sell everything. So then I asked how they know what to sell to each customer. That finally got to; it depends on what my customer wants to do.
So I then suggested that they really don’t sell promotional products but rather they do something that will benefit the customer, improve their business, meet a need or goal the customer is interested in. All but one agreed that this was really more of what they did. The one holdout said (and I quote) “I sell them whatever they want to buy”.
If you don’t understand what your business is you can’t represent it well to your customers. There are 5 basic steps in properly defining your business.
1. Why do you exist? Regardless of the size of your business you need a mission statement. Keep in mind that feeding your family may be the ultimate mission, but your statement should be customer facing, defining why your customer would care that your business exists.
2. What do your provide? Don’t confuse what you use and sell for the work you do. Promotional products are the tools you use, define what you accomplish with them.
3. What customers/clients do you have and want? You can’t be all things for all people so decide who you want for you customers. That allows you to allocate your time to provide the greatest return.
4. What is your marketing plan? Yes, planning is key. Will you wisely incorporate the use of promotional products in your own marketing or will you fall into the trap of using other media? Planning and following through with a marketing campaign that demonstrates your expertise will build business.
5. What are your goals? While the road you travel might have detours, without a destination you are simply wandering! Be specific about what you want to accomplish and when. You can review and make adjustments, but the ultimate goal should always be where you are heading.
Once you have defined each of these areas, use the information to write a paragraph or two describing the business you are in. Here is a fairly generic example:
My business, Excalibur Business Marketing, works with business owners and management to develop and implement promotional, reward, incentive, and recognition programs that will accomplish the current objectives of your business. From safety programs to lower your insurance costs, to customer loyalty programs, Excalibur Business Marketing will produce the outcome you are looking for.
If this was a real company I would send prospects a sword letter opener along with a note with the above statement. It would properly define my business and reinforce the message with the promotional item that would certainly end up as a long term desktop reminder.
Our industry presents us with a double edged sword (clever reference intended). We have our wonderful media to use at wholesale but at the same time we are “auditioning” for our client. If our own marketing is not impressive, why would they trust us with theirs? That is why planning, correct descriptions, creative message delivery, and proper implementation will succeed in developing new clients.
Just a few year ago a company burst on the scene that provided an online platform where people and businesses could upload their own designs and have promotional apparel and goods produced. This “do it yourself” disruptor caused many in our industry to worry. Today they are in serious trouble, laying off staff and trying to reorganize their business. Last year I wrote about Vistaprint opening a storefront operation. They realized that selling “products” online may not be the sustainable model for this industry.
You are that sustainable model! The more you are part of your client’s marketing team, the more successful your business and theirs will be. The old comic cliché of the do it yourselfer destroying his home changing a faucet, is actually a fitting comparison to a business owner being a do it yourselfer for marketing. He may very well end up with more cost and less results.
Sharp promotional marketing concepts will chop down the competition every time.
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.