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Tip of the Day: Quality Pays Off

Filed under: Tip of the Day

When it comes to selecting ad specialties, marketing communications firm Pinckney Hugo Group is very selective. “You need to really think about what might I need, use or really wear,” says partner Aaron Hugo. “I wouldn’t pick anything I wouldn’t use or wear myself.”

  • For his client Salada tea bags, Hugo invited consumers to “unbottle their tea.” Consumers who shared the site www.unbottleyourtea.com with five friends received a BPA-free bottle. About 100,000 people told five friends, “which allowed us to build a database of 500,000 people for just a water bottle,” Hugo says.
  • For a medical products company that sells to pediatric hospitals, the agency offered a brand Magna-Doodle magnetic writing board toy. Recipients received a miniature model with a chance to receive the full-size version for free if they agreed to meet with a sales rep. “They just went crazy for it,” Hugo says.

From Advantages’ magazine Success Stories.


Tip of the Day - Create More Selling Time

Filed under: Tip of the Day

Ad specialty distributors often spend so much time on tasks that don’t involve selling – fulfilling orders, following up on invoices and talking to suppliers, just to name a few – that they neglect their main objectives. Yes, you need to create as much time in your day as possible for dealing directly with clients.

Carving out time for prospecting, cold-calling, following up on sales proposals and crafting new promotional programs for current clients is vital for distributors. You can’t get so caught up in other administrative tasks that you forget the thing that’s most important to your business: bringing in revenue.
Here are four tips to ensure you’re spending more time selling. These come from Scott Gingold, CEO of consulting firm Powerfeedback (www.powerfeedback.com), who specializes in helping businesses prioritize their time and go-to-market strategies.

  1. Get up early.
    “A lot of businesspeople you deal with today are starting earlier,” Gingold says. “A lot of times, people have to get out of the mindset that the business day starts at 8 a.m. or 9 a.m. It doesn’t. It starts earlier than that. I try to schedule myself a 6:30 a.m. coffee, 8 a.m. breakfast, another coffee at 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. lunch.”
  2. Don’t be a slave to e-mail.
    “It’s easy to fall into the trap of checking e-mail every two minutes rather than setting up a schedule for it,” Gingold says. “Have selling time, whether it’s on the phone or face-to-face.”
  3. Consolidate appointments.
    “If I’m getting in the car and have to drive 10 miles, I’d better be looking at that map and saying, ‘Who else can I see?’ even if it’s just a courtesy call,” Gingold says. “If you’re right there, you might as well meet a current customer.”
  4. Reinforce a positive attitude.
    Sometimes distributors shy away from selling because they’ve come to fear rejection. Turn that around by focusing on current clients that appreciate you and your business – the change in tone should help your confidence level. “If you’re getting doors slammed in your face, pop in somewhere that loves you and loves your company,” Gingold says. “You’ve got to keep pushing that rock up the hill.”

From Counselor’s Game Changer: How To Craft A Creative Sales Approach


Tip of the Day - Top 10 Phrases That Kill Creativity

Filed under: Tip of the Day

Here are the top 10 phrases that kill creativity:

  1. Yes, but …
  2. The boss will never go for it
  3. I don’t have time
  4. Get a committee to look into it
  5. We tried that before
  6. It’s not in the budget
  7. It’ll never work
  8. No!
  9. We’ve always done it this way
  10. It’s not my job

Source: Chic Thompson


Tip of the Day - 7 Niche Markets to Target Swimwear

Filed under: Tip of the Day

Stitches magazine found seven cool niche markets that want decorated swim gear now.

1. Pro sports. Lori Coulter, president and CEO of Lori Coulter LLC (asi/46771), says professional sports teams in the NFL and Major League Baseball are buying bikinis – but fortunately, not for the players. “We get a lot of requests from cheerleading teams, particularly for professional teams,” she says. “They may do a calendar and need everybody in the same swimsuit.”

2. Car and boat dealerships. Coulter also sells some of her skimpier swimwear to high-end auto and boat dealers for what she calls the “age-old image” of an attractive woman standing next to a shiny new car or boat to add appeal for the consumer. “The dealerships are very interested,” she says. “If a decorator has a relationship with a dealer, it’s an easy add-on to the account – so decorate a branded Lexus or Porsche bikini that models can wear for an event.”

3. Fishing. Stan Rudman, a principal owner of Sportailor Inc. (asi/88796), has taken advantage of the fishing industry’s newfound interest in swimwear via one of its brands, Hook and Tackle Outfitters. “The fishing guys are wearing boardshorts,” he says. “My company came out with boardshorts for the fishing industry, but added features to make it fit into that industry, like utility pockets. They can also be sold to beach stores.”

4. High schools. John Amsterdam, president of Neet Feet Inc. (asi/73525), says flip-flops have come a long way in terms of popularity, both in swimwear and in general fashion. “At first they started as a novelty,” he says. “They’ve become more mainstream and visible, from celebrities wearing them to the Northwestern University championship women’s lacrosse team showing up at the White House with flip-flops.”

5. High fashion. Who knew that flip-flops are high fashion? “We do private-label projects for retail customers,” Amsterdam says. “One of our biggest customers is a top New York City fashion designer and we do flip-flops for his retail stores.”

6. Lifeguards. At municipal swimming pools, lifeguards have always been a popular target in terms of swimwear, but Gulbenkian says business is picking up in this area. “This has been a growing market,” he says. “Drownings are up, and people are a lot more safety-conscious. What’s the first safety item at a pool? It’s the lifeguard, just as the policeman is the first safety item downtown.”

7. Swim teams. “The competitive swim-team market grew a little bit after the Olympics and Michael Phelps, no question,” Gulbenkian says. “What is growing is a solid swimsuit with the individual team logo on it.”

From Stitches’ February 2010 cover story, “Suit Up


Tip of the Day - Be A Top Seller

Filed under: Tip of the Day

Three tips on how to be a top seller:

  1. Find a hot-selling product. Joe Stile, the national account executive at Halo/Lee Wayne (asi/356000), calls himself the calendar king, with good reason, since his annual calendar sales alone total $600,000. “My best-selling product has been an African-American history calendar, which features sports figures, singers, scientists and other notable individuals,” he says. In 1969, Stile sold his first order of 500 calendars to a Brooklyn, NY, independent funeral home for $17,500; today, that client buys 80,000 a year for $170,000.
  2. Be a little off the wall. Write a unique tagline for your business and use it on all your collateral. Or, take it one step further and compose a rap song. Keith Wilson, an account executive for PromoShop (asi/300446), starts out his video series to show off products with a catchy rap: “I grant three wishes ’cause I’m Promogenie./ My competition’s played out like Sergio Tacchini./ If you’re lookin’ for the best – and I’m not just in the West –/ Put me to the test, ’cause the Genie never rests./ I’ve been takin’ care of clients for a decade and half./ Livin’ off referrals. Now you do the math.”
  3. Network like crazy. As many times as you’ve heard it, you should network in person (think local business meetings or charity events) and online (use Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn). Plus, have your elevator pitch down cold, and use it all the time. Patrick Doyle, owner of Proforma Synergy (asi/300094), has a great pitch: “I’m not the ‘promotional products guy.’ I sell promotional programs and campaigns. I have four services: print, promotional products, multimedia and graphic design. I put all those together by creating effective programs and promo campaigns that get measurable results for my clients.” He also gives out unique business cards, like a chocolate bar with his contact info on the wrapper or a desk game that people tend to keep.

From Counselor magazine.


Tip of the Day - Cold Calling

Filed under: Tip of the Day

Make your cold calls brief, no more than two to three minutes and be focused on understanding the prospect’s needs at a high level so you can provide them with a compelling reason to spend some time with you, and most importantly, getting the appointment.


Tip of the Day - Take Your Prospect’s Point of View

Filed under: Tip of the Day

Don’t be caught off-guard the next time you have a chance encounter with a potential client. In your elevator pitch you should take your prospect’s point of view. Instead of reciting a list of your products and services, address an issue the prospect has that you can help them with. Also adapt your pitch to the listener. A small businessperson may be concerned about cost, while a larger corporation may be more impressed by an example of your creativity.


Tip of the Day - Give Customers A Reason To Read Your Blog

Filed under: Tip of the Day

Give customers more of a reason to read your blog than just witty charm and expert insights. Slip them a special only for blog readers every so often. For example, maybe you’ve just written a blog about a fabulous new travel mug. Extend a discount to those readers who mention the blog post when they place an order with you for the featured item.


Tip of the Day - Profile Top Clients

Filed under: Tip of the Day

Profile your top 20% of clients and then strategically pinpoint prospects that have the same characteristics. For example, maybe your top 20% are regional financial institutions and you work with their community outreach coordinators. What other kinds of financial organizations might have a similar need in your area? Think of credit unions, banks, accountants, financial aid offices at universities. Look for commonalities that will allow you to present yourself as the expert in that area.


Tip of the Day - Zero In On Growth Industries

Filed under: Tip of the Day

Read your local business journal and newspaper religiously. When you see a certain segment of the local economy thriving, consider this an opportunity. These companies may need extra marketing to keep ahead of new competition. They may be hiring more employees; therefore their human resources department could use some assistance with welcoming, training and motivating the troops.


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