Short Story, Big Picture: (NOT) An “OH $h!t” Industry
This isn’t “breaking news” to anyone with any experience in the industry. But, the hard truth is that promotional products are, very often, a last-minute thought for buyers.
Inevitably, once the whole event has been planned, someone will say,
“Oh $h!t! We didn’t get something to hand out!”
Now, with a limited budget and tight timeframe, our suppliers and distributors are tasked with creating top-of-the-line results that fall within budget requirements. Last-minute orders lead to RUSH ORDERS. Rush orders lead to increased cost, increased risk, and product variations due to inventory limitations.
Today’s Short Story is a piece to help you achieve your long-term goals, aka the Big Picture.
Now that we know the event planning issue, how do we change our buyer’s perception of promo? If we don’t want to be compared to Amazon, we need to stop acting like it!
Here are three things to keep in mind when planning your communication with clients:
CRM (Automation) Setup
Know your buyer’s cycles and when their next year’s events are coming up…before they do! In most CRMs or Business management software, you can pull reports for purchases that happened last year and plan emails or calls with those clients a month or two in advance of this year’s event. Trust me on this one, your client will be genuinely excited to have this conversation with you!
Talk (ASK) about the Future
Actively Seeking Knowledge. That is what it means to ASK. When you are talking to your buyer, always be asking questions about what is coming next. Two things will happen; one, you will show the buyer that you are actively engaged in their business, two, you will now have enough time to plan and build an amazing event with product that means something, not a product that just fits in time.
Embrace the Inevitable
Procrastination and laziness are still going to happen. There will always be clients who, even after all the calls and reminder emails, will still wait until the last minute possible, so just be ready. Develop a group of suppliers that are reliable and have a wide range of products that can be produced in a short time frame. How you handle your client in their time of need will give them the confidence to hopefully give you more time for the next order.
Let’s take the steps to educate and inform our buyers on what they can do if they just give you 2 more weeks. They will appreciate the wider range of products that are available and will change their opinion of the promo industry to being more than just trinkets and giveaways.
Believe me… You got this!