Where has the time gone? 2012 is long past, the IRS is lurking behind every bush, the winter doldrums are at their peak and sales are spotty at best. If this sounds like you and your business, then it is time to get ready for spring and redirect any pessimistic thoughts into optimism. Spruce up the place, build up that spring awards business and, yes, stop feeling sorry for yourself—even if you’re pity party is justified. Let’s get up and get going—spring is near and there is a lot of good business out there just for the taking!
2. Speaking of showrooms… Not only is it important to clean it up, it is also important to freshen it up with new products, new displays, perhaps some fresh paint or new signage. If your showroom is already clean and well designed, consider just moving things around a bit. I learned that if you constantly move displays from one side of the room to the other, customers will see the products as new. Failure to add new products and keep your showroom fresh results in statements like, “Oh, they always have the same old stuff.” That statement is a death song to a business. You must at least have the impression of always having something new. |
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6. Check out new products: Visit a tradeshow or spend a day online checking out new products and bring in some new samples. (EJ’s Supplyline and Product Spotlight departments are also a good source for finding out what’s new as are our special Advisory issues. Check out the 2013 Awards Advisory in this issue for a fresh look at what’s new from suppliers.) Trophy columns, for example, change every year. Bring in some new ones and make it a big deal in your showroom with displays and signage. If you already have a ton of inventory, build up several sets of trophies using your existing inventory that are different from your usual designs or offer them at a slight discount to encourage people to save a little money by buying last year’s columns at “last year’s prices.” |
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8. Seek out customers. Offer to actually go out and meet with sports management groups such as soccer or baseball leagues to show them what you can offer in the way of awards, certificates, participation trophies, etc. If you don’t already know who the league leaders are, just watch for the “sign-up” posters and either call the number or stop by one of the sign-up locations. A short discussion with the adults signing up the kids can glean a wealth of information so you can find out who is in charge of buying awards. Listen closely to the horror stories about past award orders—most leagues have some story about late delivery, using the wrong color, the misspelled team name, etc. 9. Use an added-value strategy. Always have some “added value” you can use to enhance your customer’s order. For example, if a customer wants a 2" riser on the trophies, offer an additional inch at no extra charge. Some businesses offer free engraving or a 2" disk for the awards customized with the league logo (these can be engraved or sublimated). Added-value items are extras that don’t really cost you much and yet make you stand out in the crowd of award dealers. 10. Look ahead. Always try to secure next year’s order at the same time you write this year’s order. This idea may seem a bit strange, but it comes to me from Stephen Capper, owner of a very successful awards business, and it has certainly worked for him. It works like this: When a team, club or league places an order for awards, ask them if they would like to have a guarantee for the same award next year at the same price. Most will be more than happy to secure a locked-in price and not have to go through the hassle of finding an award again next year that they like and can afford. When they say “yes,” have them sign an “Order of Intent” for next year. Now this isn’t binding in court or anything like that, it just indicates that they have selected an award and are promised a set price. They can make limited changes, such as the quantity, as needed. It’s convenient for the customer because it takes care of one thing on their list of things to do next year. More importantly, it causes them to say, “Oh, we’ve already placed our order for next year” to any other award dealer who tries to muscle in on your account. 11. Use promotional products. Items such as pens, key chains and other promotional products are a great way to help team or league leaders remember who you are and they easily provide your contact information. You can have these made in large quantities or make them yourself as you need them. I’ve never found promotional products to work well enough by themselves, but when coupled with a personal visit or handshake, they can be a terrific tool for closing the deal. |
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A Few More Marketing Tips
Keep in mind that you won’t win every sale, so don’t be discouraged if you come up empty handed on your first or second try. There are many reasons why people buy awards from one dealer or another. Listen to what they say and try to discern why you didn’t win the deal. Was it because of something you did, said or didn’t do or was it because you never had a chance in the first place? An old adage is that “people buy from people” and it is true. If your prospective customer has been buying awards from one dealer for years and has always been happy with the products and the service, you will be hard pressed to win the account. I dare say from experience, however, that will be rare. Another piece of good advice is, don’t give away the merchandise. One of the big falsehoods of all time is that the lowest price gets the order. Although this may be true with some award buyers, most people are not so simple minded, even those who claim that “price is everything.” First, there is usually a little more money available than they will admit to and their own children are probably playing in the league they represent, so chances are they want something nice. Therefore, find a fair price and stick close to it. Use things like “added value” (mentioned earlier) to enhance your sale, not price. There is no reason to bid on these jobs if you aren’t going to make a fair profit. The team or league will want you to be there next year and they will demand quality products and quality service—those cost money. Sell your reputation for quality products and service as well as your product. Don’t give away the farm just to get an order. Whatever you have heard about losing money this time and making up for it in additional business or in the next year is simply not true—it never works that way. If you lose money this year, you will always lose money with that customer. Let your competitor lose money instead.
Times are tight. The economy has changed the playing field for almost everyone. Parents don’t have the expendable income they used to and prices have gone up for everything while income has stayed the same or even gone down. It’s no different with them than you. We are all in this economic speed bump together. The amazing thing to me is that many sports teams believe we dealers have been making so much money on their orders that we can hold our prices and service at the same standard and actually reduce prices even more! Of course, for most of us, that isn’t true and part of selling our products is educating the customer about the ways dealers can reduce prices: They can offer inferior quality products such as a thin wall trophy column vs. a thick wall column, by changing the base from a high end to a lower quality version or by using plastic rods rather than metal ones. Cutting these corners may be okay, and even common practice among some dealers, but they become good reasons to justify your price, and selling point. I believe that when money is tight, people don’t want cheap products for cheap sake. They want quality at a price they can afford and most are willing to tighten the belt just a little more if they understand the difference between two products that may look alike on the outside but are totally different on the inside. Your job, if you really want to make the sale, is to help them to understand the difference and why your product is a better buy.
Oh, one other word of advice: Never, never, never run down the competition by name. Use phrases like “other dealers” or “other trophies” when comparing the quality of products. Never use your competitor’s name, even if the customer does. Your job is not to run someone else down but to build yourself up, and people are smart enough to recognize the difference. When you run down someone else, it only makes you appear petty and, very often, it will cost you the sale. |