Earlier this month, I was awarded the ultimate recognition from the Specialty Advertising Association of California at the annual SAAC Expo – the Honorary Life Member award. This is the regional equivalent of the PPAI Hall of Fame and I’m still reeling with gratitude for the honor. I intended to write about it for this month’s Be Bold column, to talk about volunteering and the vast rewards offered up by giving back, but frankly, I’m still processing it and still happily overwhelmed by it. So, I’ll write that column in the future. For now, let’s consider the turkey leg.
A few years back, I was at Disneyland with my family, enjoying a busy day at the happiest place on Earth. My brother-in-law Mike was feeling some hunger pangs and about 11:00 AM he came to me with a question, as the expert on all things Disney. “Rick,” he asked, “do they sell turkey legs here at Disneyland?” I looked at him quizzically, surprised that anyone would want to act like a caveman, gnawing on a massive fleshy bone in an amusement park and responded, “No, they don’t sell those here!” and four seconds later, he looked beyond me at the food cart parked near The Matterhorn and said matter-of-factly, “Oh, there they are!” Sure enough, RIGHT THERE in the outskirts of Fantasyland was said food cart, loaded up with monstrously large seasoned turkey legs and a BIG sign noting that DELICIOUS TURKEY LEGS were available there for a mere $7.95.
I was STUNNED. Not that Disneyland was selling turkey legs, because I quickly came to accept that horrifying human truth, but that they were selling them in plain view, all day, every day and I had never noticed them before.
I realized that I wasn’t seeing the turkey legs because I would never in my life ever consider eating a nasty, gigantic Flintstone bone of turkey – so my mind didn’t see them! And if I didn’t see them, they weren’t there. And I then wondered, in a growth-moment of self-revelation… what else am I not seeing in my life and how might this short-sightedness affect me in my work career?
It was a shocking revelation, a learning moment. What else is right in front of my face that I’m not seeing ALL AROUND ME?? That next week, I was in a client’s office and decided to utilize my new powers of observation to increase sales, to strengthen my client relationships and to uncover previously unconscious possibilities.
I saw photos in the lobby of the Little League team that our client sponsored. I saw a certificate of appreciation for my contact speaking at a national sales meeting of people in the medical device industry, I saw a small fridge filled with cold bottled water for visitors. And a wealth of questions came to mind, for which I asked my contact’s permission to pepper him with. Some of those questions were:
You sponsor a Little League team! Who does your uniforms?
You sponsor a Little League team! How do you communicate the game schedule to parents and visitors?
You have a fridge filled with cold water! What if I told you that we can do CUSTOM LABEL water for just about the same price you are paying for Costco bottles of water and I can have quarterly or monthly shipments sent so you don’t have to warehouse six months of them to get the best price.
You have a fridge filled with cold water! Why don’t I quote you on delicious fresh brownies or healthy trail mix snacks in custom branded packaging to go along with that CUSTOM LABEL water?
You got a nice certificate for speaking at a medical industry event! Do you exhibit at this event? What are doing to get the right people to your booth? Did you know the least important part of your trade show is the trade show? The real work happens BEFORE and AFTER the show. Let’s talk about getting key contacts to your booth with pre-show mailings and something enticing to get them to visit with you. If I can get a trade show exhibitor list, I can help ALL of the show attendees to have a more impactful experience, what is the name of the company putting this together?
And like that, simply by getting in the habit of LOOKING and SEEING what is all around you, you can ask questions that will lead to promotional product opportunities. Opportunities to communicate to their customers, their staff, their prospects the important information that will bring YOUR CUSTOMERS more business and new connectivity with their key demographic groups. Snap out of complacency, never relax, always look and see and make notes and ask questions and offer solutions. Always be alert and thinking.
This past week I was down at the HALO Costa Mesa office looking at a possible new location since we have to move later this year. I brought with me two of the top office Account Executives to meet with our realtor and the company building out the potential new office. We sat in their conference room and they brought us bottled water. Before I could even open my mouth, my salesperson Candis said, “Oh, I see you use bottled water! Can I quote putting your logo onto branded water? That needs to be part of the deal if we move in!” I look at her, pride beaming in my eyes and told her, “I’ve never been prouder of you than I am right now!”
Look. See. Comprehend. Ask. Smile. Sell.
And they lived happily ever after.
Rick Greene, MAS, is the Western Regional Vice President for Halo Branded Solutions, a Past President of SAAC, on the PPB Editorial Advisory Board and the author of two fantasy novels entitled “Boofalo!” and “Shroom!” available at www.amazon.com. His third book is a non-fiction biography of movie character actor Henry Brandon called “Henry Brandon King Of The Bogeymen” published by BearManor Media and available everywhere fine books are sold.