sleek, modern flashlight

Having trouble deciding which promotional gift will send the right message? Illuminate your path with a sexy new flashlight. Flashlights come in handy often and make great branding tools. Customize these flashlights with your logo and gift them out to your clients or employees and watch your business [...]]]>

sleek, modern flashlight

Having trouble deciding which promotional gift will send the right message? Illuminate your path with a sexy new flashlight. Flashlights come in handy often and make great branding tools. Customize these flashlights with your logo and gift them out to your clients or employees and watch your business draw much wanted attention. Here at Gallant Gifts we offer many different colors and even a few gifts sets which include a multi-tool/pen and the flashlight.

A Curve Light sleek, modern, LED flashlight features a sleek curve design made of anodized aluminum metal in fashionable vibrant colors. These flashlights are sure to send the right message to all of your corporate clients.

Check them out at www.GallantGifts.com

Challenge: When the holiday season rolled around last year, Michael Caputo, owner of Athol, Massachusetts-based distributor Caputo Business Services wanted a way to thank his top clients and wish them a merry Christmas. “We wanted our promotion to stand out among the year-end greetings our clients receive,” Caputo says. “It had to be [...]]]>

Challenge: When the holiday season rolled around last year, Michael Caputo, owner of Athol, Massachusetts-based distributor Caputo Business Services wanted a way to thank his top clients and wish them a merry Christmas. “We wanted our promotion to stand out among the year-end greetings our clients receive,” Caputo says. “It had to be something that was unusual but classy, simple and unique, while also having staying power and substance. I wanted to feel a sense of pride in presenting the item.”

Solution: Caputo tapped Tulsa, Oklahoma-based supplier SELCO to design 30 pocket watches that featured the company’s black-and-white logo on the watch cover and website on the watch face.

The pocket watches weren’t simply wrapped up and mailed out—the sales team made appointments and Caputo personally presented the watches on behalf of his company. “I made sure to tell the recipients that the watches were custom made by SELCO and that their watch was one of only 30. They were made to feel part of an exclusive group,” says Caputo.

Result: “The clients were predominately impressed with the exception of one client who had no idea what to do with a pocket watch,” Caputo says. “I carry mine daily and love it, and about half of my clients carry their watches daily. I’m not sure a wristwatch would have been as well-received because many clients wear brand-name watches.”

Written by Audrey Sellers at PPB Magazine

By the time you read this, I hope the market will be stabilizing, housing starts will be up, consumer confidence will start kicking in, your next big sale will be on the horizon and our industry will be clawing its way back from the muddy depths of the recession. Ah, that’s the optimist [...]]]>

By the time you read this, I hope the market will be stabilizing, housing starts will be up, consumer confidence will start kicking in, your next big sale will be on the horizon and our industry will be clawing its way back from the muddy depths of the recession. Ah, that’s the optimist in me.

In reality, I know the economy has a way to go. The worst of it is the growing unemployment stats and our industry isn’t immune. In the past few months the downsizing dragon has been rearing its ugly head as lack of business has forced some companies to close factories and eliminate long-held positions. What can you do to protect your job? A natural tendency now is for people to lay low and try to blend in to avoid the ax. Wrong, says author Robin Fisher Roffer. Instead, she recommends you learn to be you—only better in 2009. Here are a few of Roffer’s suggestions from her book The Fearless Fish Out of Water: How to Succeed When You’re the Only One Like You:

1. Let go of your fears. While your first instinct might be to hide in your office and bury yourself in paperwork, don’t give in. Be visible. Speak up. Let your creative spark loose. Don’t let your fears keep you from achieving something great for your company. “Remember, being authentic as an employee isn’t about self-expression for its own sake; it’s about bringing all your unique gifts to the table in order to benefit your company,” says Roffer. “You have to put yourself out there completely and fearlessly in order to keep your organization alive and growing.”

2. Uncork your marketable personality traits. If you are a creative person or a good problem solver, strengthen those traits and let them work for you. If you come to work each day and just do your job the way you were trained but don’t look for better ways of doing things or ways to save your company money, you are doing the company and yourself a disservice. “Stifling these personality traits at work will only harm you in the long run,” she says. “Sure, to your higher-ups you might be known as the guy who does a good enough job and stays out of the drama, but think about how pleased your boss would be if you came to him with a money-saving idea right about now.”

3. Push your boundaries this year. Have you cloaked your personality to try to fit into the mold at your workplace? Have you tried to become what higher-ups expect? It’s time to be true to yourself. Rather than hide your attributes just to fit in, look for ways to make those attributes work for you. “If you’re convinced you’d accomplish more by taking an active role with customers rather than toiling behind the scenes, for example, approach your boss with the idea,” she says. “It may seem scary to make such a bold move in tenuous times, but leaders will appreciate any innovation that will get business moving right now.”

4. Go to the top with good ideas. If you have some ideas that can save or make the company money, don’t keep them bottled up. Your boss doesn’t have all the ideas and neither does the company president or owner. Good ideas come from people at all levels. Ask for some time with higher-ups to share those ideas. “Read the company website,” suggests Roffer. “Listen carefully to team pep talks from higher-ups. If you can manage it, introduce yourself at company events and ask at the appropriate juncture in your conversation, ‘What’s keeping you up at night?’ The answer should reveal the challenge they need to meet or the special project they want to put into motion. You could be the person to support their efforts.”

5. Learn to communicate in a common language. Yes, you’ve got some great ideas but stop, take a breath and figure out what’s important to the person to whom you are selling those ideas. “While there isn’t exactly a wrong way to be at the office, there is a wrong way to express your ideas,” notes Roffer. “Sometimes an idea that seems perfectly clear to you might not be so obvious to those around you. A successful fearless fish will stand in the shoes of the person she is pitching and explain with visual words and concrete examples how the idea will benefit the business.”

6. Identify your fearless advocate (and become one). It’s easier to feel confident when someone you admire is cheering you on. If you don’t have that cheerleader or advocate now, find someone in your office with whom you can connect. Perhaps you can even establish a mentoring type of relationship that will benefit you both. “Once you’ve found an advocate, you should start advocating for someone as well,” says Roffer. “Be a leader to the newly arriving fish out of water at your office. Compassionate leadership benefits everyone. Learning from younger or less experienced people spurs evolution and creates staying power for the senior members of the team. For the fish out of water, an added benefit is that by generously sharing your own expertise, you become involved and integral.”

Four Ways To Keep Your Customer Service Top-Notch And Indispensible

Flexible Workforce In the face of staff cuts, cross-train employees so they can fill a variety of roles.

Spoil Your Staff Uncertainty about their jobs can shatter employee morale, so offer work schedule flexibility and other rewards to compensate.

Invest In Low-Cost Technology Consider purchasing small pieces of new [...]]]>

Four Ways To Keep Your Customer Service Top-Notch And Indispensible

Flexible Workforce
In the face of staff cuts, cross-train employees so they can fill a variety of roles.

Spoil Your Staff
Uncertainty about their jobs can shatter employee morale, so offer work schedule flexibility and other rewards to compensate.

Invest In Low-Cost Technology
Consider purchasing small pieces of new equipment that make your workers’ lives easier.

Play Favorites
Keep your best customers happy with fast service, extra attention and flexible rules.

An enterprising early-American offers inspiration and a review of basic economic principles.

In 1806, Fred Tudor departed Boston and arrived in the Caribbean port of Martinique with a shipload of ice harvested from his dad’s pond in the dead of winter. Despite naysayers, Tudor made the ice last by insulating it with sawdust and [...]]]>

An enterprising early-American offers inspiration and a review of basic economic principles.

In 1806, Fred Tudor departed Boston and arrived in the Caribbean port of Martinique with a shipload of ice harvested from his dad’s pond in the dead of winter. Despite naysayers, Tudor made the ice last by insulating it with sawdust and hay.

The first day of Tudor’s arrival was a smashing success with people paying high prices for the ice. But the next day brought about a problem. All the ice had been unloaded but, in an act of misguided kindness, the boys at the dock had washed off the insulation. This created a puddle of water and lots of screaming people offering to pay any price for the ice they now missed. Thus, Tudor’s ice idea was a failure.

Tudor returned to Boston, poorer but wiser. Yet he had learned two key parts of marketing—the importance of adequate storage and the profitability of high demand in the face of scarce supplies. He set about raising new capital and bought the rights to harvest ice from several local ponds. Travel got risky as the War of 1812 broke out and he put his plans on hold. After the war, however, Tudor sent a ship to Havana—not with ice but with thick cedar planking and sawdust—and built an icehouse to keep the ice fresh. Then he had ice delivered to test whether the icehouse worked. It did.

Next, Tudor asked for a 10-year exclusive contract to be the sole ice supplier in Cuba and Martinique. No one thought it was a big deal since folks were not used to having ice in those locales. Then he started giving the ice away, especially to bartenders, along with exotic frosty drink recipes. The free ice created a demand, so Tudor began charging higher and higher prices. (Remember, he held exclusive rights.)

This ingenious marketing concept was later adopted by King Gillette and is commonly called the razor or razorblade theory. It works because the company practically gives the razor away and once customers need new blades they find only your blades fit that razor.
Tudor returned to New England, bought up the ice rights of hundreds of ponds and commissioned the manufacture of huge ice saws to cut ice blocks from the ponds. He compounded the strategy throughout the South; it’s been said he invented the mint julep just to sell more ice. For 80 years, Tudor and his heirs were the “Ice Kings” of America, all from a product nature supplies for free. And he became a multimillionaire in the process.

Are you incorporating The Sixth Sense into your selling strategies? If you’re not selling with heart and passion, my guess is you’re not delivering the value end buyers, promotional consultants and distributors not only expect but demand in today’s market. Joe Scott, MAS, provides a telling observation. He views the shifting sands of [...]]]>

Are you incorporating The Sixth Sense into your selling strategies? If you’re not selling with heart and passion, my guess is you’re not delivering the value end buyers, promotional consultants and distributors not only expect but demand in today’s market. Joe Scott, MAS, provides a telling observation. He views the shifting sands of media in a weak economy as a distinct advantage for our industry. As Scott states, “A lot of organizations are decreasing their marketing presence during this economy. If they switch to an engaging medium like ours they’re going to get noticed, and they will be able to track ROI. We have a phenomenal opportunity in front of us. We just need to realize we have the best promotional solution there is—end of story.”

If that doesn’t get you fired up about your chosen profession I don’t know what will. Hall of Famer Bill Bywater, my mentor and rabbi, has always told me to follow the dollar. His clear, simple advice is more applicable today than ever. No matter the overall economic conditions, there are always industries that are prospering. Whether you agree with the recent stimulus package adopted by our congressional leaders or not, the legislation offers insights to selling opportunities. Firms focusing on engineering, environmental concerns and energy to name just a few will benefit from well-conceived strategies that include our products as they communicate their capabilities. A call to your state economist may be one of the best calls you make this year. Find out about conditions in your state and capitalize on the opportunities they represent.

The present times may be the most difficult you have ever experienced in this business or any other. And because it’s not business as usual, it’s more important than ever to get back to FUNdamentals. If you’re not having fun it shows. Enthusiasm breeds enthusiasm, and there is no doubt in my mind that enthusiasm breeds sales. And besides, which of your clients would not benefit from a messenger delivering a positive, results-oriented solution. Former Board Chair Paul Kiewiet, MAS, CIP, once told me a story about Kellogg’s and its advertising strategy during the Great Depression when its chairman astutely decided to double its spend on marketing and advertising. In the 1930s there were more than 60 cereal companies in the U.S. Today you can count the players on one hand.

Former PPAI board member Joel Schaffer, MAS, has been delivering webinars to distributors telling them “where to go.” He has carefully assessed top buyers in our industry as researched by PPAI and determined new opportunities in healthcare, professional services and fund raising. Joel has diligently studied the markets and shares his findings with passion. No doubt other suppliers are doing the same. This is yet another illustration of the importance of the distributor-supplier relationship and why heart connections make such a difference. As Benjamin Franklin so wisely stated, “If we do not hang together, we shall surely hang separately.”

Tell your stories in ways that create attention. I believe ROI is best understood when we define it with our real life experiences. The result is real value, and the picture you paint becomes one every buyer not only understands but relates to in a personal, sensory way. Like Chip and Dan Heath, authors of Made to Stick, I believe we make heart connections when our selling strategies employ simple, unexpected, concrete, credible, emotional stories.

For me it’s the canvas backpack from Two Fingers Tequila I received while walking down the pedestrian mall at Arizona State University more than 30 years ago, the 1940s hand fan from the Lennarson Swanson Funeral/Furniture/Hardware Store that serves as my personal air conditioner, the 1970s bottle opener advertising my father’s Chevrolet Oldsmobile dealership or the satin jewelry roll I received just last year when I purchased shoes for The PPAI Expo Awards Dinner. There’s no doubt where I’ll shop for my next pair. The services we provide and the products we sell result in tangible, effective connections. Even though some of the businesses they advertise are long gone, the products employed to create customer loyalty remain to be seen and are used lovingly yet today. Think about your stories and share them with passion. Your ability to deliver results is another important component of the FUNdamentals.

Ever have trouble coming up with the best tag line for your clients’ products? Get some inspiration from some of the best classic slogans, compiled by Fast Company magazine from suggestions by users of Digg. Among those that took us down memory lane were:

Where’s the Beef? I’ve fallen and I can’t get up They’re G-r-r-r-eat! Gimme [...]]]>

Ever have trouble coming up with the best tag line for your clients’ products? Get some inspiration from some of the best classic slogans, compiled by Fast Company magazine from suggestions by users of Digg. Among those that took us down memory lane were:

Where’s the Beef?
I’ve fallen and I can’t get up
They’re G-r-r-r-eat!
Gimme a Break, Gimme a Break
Nothing Sucks like an Electrolux
The Best Part of Waking up is Folgers in Your Cup
This is your brain on drugs
Hooray Beer!