It's 2022 and I still read about distributors complaining about not being able to see prospective customers. The ones that really set me off are those who ask about cold calling. If you're comfortable working in the totally transactional space, well — I hope it works for you and you like it. The transactional space is where Commodity Pricing lives and breathes and thrives.
Purposeful Prospecting is the way to begin profitable, mutually rewarding relationships. The relationship space in business is where Loyalty lives, breathes and thrives. Purposeful Prospecting means having targeted people, companies and industries for whom you want to solve problems. Yes, it does take work to find and build profitable relationships. In my opinion, it is not more work than your knock on every door approach. It just requires more planning and thinking.
Over my career, I was able to work with some of America's most valuable brands. These were companies that I spent a great deal of time learning about, building awareness of myself and my company, demonstrating a knowledge of their problems. When I finally was able to gain conversations, they knew that I was there to help. The strategy that worked for me was to always have a TOP TEN TARGET list. These were ten prospects with the ability to spend six figures or more per year, had values that were aligned with my own, that were interesting to me, and with whom I would want to be associated.
While taking care of my existing clients, I researched these target ten. I subscribed to their industry publications. I even attended - when I could - their industry trade shows. I also spent my self-promotion dollars specifically toward those targets. Here's how using trade publications and trade shows helped:
• Trade publications (and websites) talk about the critical issues facing an industry. You learn about how their channels of distribution work. You learn of new hires, new positions, and influential people in that space. You learn their language, their terminology and alphabet soup of abbreviations. All of this gives you the foreign language training you need and want to have when you finally get to meet with and talk to your target relationships.
• Trade shows show you how they go to market. You may also get a show guide with important names, addresses, emails and phone numbers. You'll see how they present themselves to their market, what their newest product launches are, what their advertising and marketing looks like and even what promotional products they feature in their booths.
I spent nineteen years reading Progressive Grocer before I landed an account that spent seven figures with me for more than five years in a row. I visited big appliance retailers and small mom and pop appliance stores for years to be able to learn what drove them to sell one brand of refrigerator over another. This work also resulted in a seven figure sales relationship that lasted for years.
Instead of self-promotions of cheap, whatever-is-on-sale items to everybody in the Chamber of Commerce directory, take that money and use it on something personalized, on message and targeted to your top ten. I often did these personalized for the recipient but without my own branding. The enclosure would talk about personalized service and the issues they were facing that I wanted to discuss with them. This message resonated and was much more effective than a coffee mug and business card left with the receptionist.
Be unique. I had a designer do a parody of the Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup label. Redone as Creative Noodle Soup, the medallion in the middle featured my logo and the ingredients talked about creativity, listening, problem-solving etc. Re-wrapping a dozen cans with our label, these were mailed to twelve top prospects. Two called before I had a chance to call them. The rest all remembered that I was the guy who sent them a can of soup and I at least had initial conversations with all and four appointments.
To reach the obstetrics departments at targeted hospitals, we mailed premie size Pampers imprinted with "Let us do the dirty work" and the cover letter describing how our company could make community outreach and marketing so much easier for them.
"Find the Pain - Be The Aspirin" has been a mantra I've been repeating in speaking and writing for many years. When you build your career around relationship building instead of transactions, you build loyal friends who happen to spend money with you. Another thing that happens is that they joyfully recommend you to their co-workers because they know you'll help them solve problems too.
Quit the mindless shotgun approach of throwing yourself out there and hoping someone will bite. Know what problems you can solve and lead with that. "Problem Solvers Always Make Money". Remember - no one buys promotional products. They buy the solutions to problems they can solve using them.
Summit: Reaching the Peak of Your Potential - available on Amazon - explores these concepts in greater detail.
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.