Most people make selling more difficult than it needs to be! In order to simplify and master the ability to produce consistent sales, you must first learn how to get people to notice you in a positive way. Combine making a positive impression with appropriate planning, and you have the secret to successful selling.
WE ARE ALL DIFFERENT
Do you know anyone just like you? Unless you have an identical twin, the answer is “no.” Individuals who master promotional products selling make themselves stand out from everyone else. You should always be looking for ways to make yourself appear unique.
MAKE YOURSELF STAND OUT
One of the greatest challenges for individuals who sell promotional products is the fact that there are too many opportunities for similarities. For instance, everyone can buy the same generic catalogs and product search programs and attend the same trade shows. As a result of these similarities, most people in the field have become like vanilla ice cream--only the carton is different. It seems like everyone carries the same color briefcases that hold the same contents. To break away, you must market yourself in a different way.
During my selling career, I have always looked for ways to make me stand out from my competitors. When I sold copiers, I became successful by calling on my father’s old equipment customers. During my price-encoding equipment sales era, I would peddle a machine to one type of business (such as a hardware store), then immediately call on its competitors. At every stop, I pointed out that they were not ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ if they did not also buy a new machine. When selling building materials, I expanded my market by calling on the new homebuilders in my own neighborhood. It did not matter what I was selling or to whom. I always found a unique connection as an excuse to call on those with whom I wanted to do business.
USE A HOBBY TO CREATE UNIQUENESS
Every person is interested in something! The ability to turn that interest into a calling card is what will give you an edge. In my case, I used my interest in taking pictures of neon signs, specifically ones at drive-in movie theatres, as a way of making myself different. I turned my hobby into an effective calling card that no one has ever duplicated.
Ultimately, my hobby led to the publication of a coffee table book about the history of the drive-in movie theater. Instead of just selling books as a means to profit from the hobby, I made our book an integral part of our selling arsenal. We proudly told everyone about the book and used it as a way to connect with every customer and prospect.
Each time I made a sales call, I would find a way to include the subject of drive-in movie theatres in the conversation. By doing this, we made ourselves known as the “drive-in people.” Even suppliers began recognizing us by our love for drive-in movie theatres. After all, who could not like drive-ins since they are such a great part of America’s cultural past? This might seem like a strange moniker, but it is one that we have used to the hilt. During every sales call, sometime during the conversation, we ask every prospect where he or she lived as a child. Ninety-nine percent of those we ask give a quick answer, followed by a big smile. We used talking about drive-ins as a way of making new friends while gaining new customers. To further cement new and old relationships, we would often leave behind hand-signed drive-in books following a call, instead of leaving just typical industry catalogs as gifts.
EVERYONE IS UNIQUE
You don’t have to become an expert on something or have a book published about it to make yourself stand out. You just need to have a passion for something and share it with customers and prospects. To help determine what your passion might be, read the following story to see how another promotional products distributor effectively shared his interest:
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My name is Jim Lowrey. I started selling imprinted items from scratch nineteen years ago. I have plenty of business now; but back in 1984, I could not make that statement. I began with no booked orders or any established clients. To survive, I had to quickly connect with people.
I began by thinking about a potential group of people with whom I could easily network. Since I am a huge fan of all the sporting activities at my college, I decided my best chance would be to connect with fellow alumni. In order to do so, I became friends with the sports marketing director at my alma mater, so that I could get permission from him to print the university’s logo on scratch pads. After doing so, I ordered 1000 imprinted pads from a supplier. I then looked over my alumni directory and found people from my school who owned their own companies in my town.
I found 152 prospects and grouped them by tens. I organized them by physical locations and then took the next two weeks to drop off pads with a personal note to all 152 contacts. I used the third week for follow-up calls to each one. From my first round of calls, I managed to talk with 41 of the 152. Out of those conversations, I scored eight appointments. As a result of the eight appointments, I closed five sales.
The second round of calls yielded 32 more conversations, nine of which yielded appointments. From those nine, I generated four more new customers. That is how I got going in this business. I would have not done it any other way...
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YOU CAN DO IT, TOO!
Both the drive-in example and the school connection are pretty simple approaches. Both create common bonds that helped the distributor stand out from his competitors. Look for a way to set yourself apart, and you will begin driving on the road to success.
If you love taking pictures, perfect the craft and use your photos as calling cards.
If you enjoy gardening, grow small plants that become gifts for new people.
If you love reading, subscribe to different magazines and leave them behind on new calls.
If you like to travel, collect travel brochures from far away places and leave them as a way to introduce yourself.
IT’S IN THE CARDS
To supplement the above efforts, we also use card programs to keep a steady supply of prospects in the hopper. We send bounce-back cards offering free gifts to people who return the cards. We consistently mail the cards to companies we find listed in the local business journal. After finding a new list (such as the area’s 40 largest women-owned businesses), we phone the companies and find out the name of the appropriate contact. From that point, we mail a series of cards to each contact. To learn more about how these programs have worked, visit the “How to Get New Customers” section of our website.
By using this type of card program for lead generation, we were again doing something unique. You, too, can easily use this approach. Find a product you think that will have broad appeal, design the card, and then send them out. By doing so, you will be approaching prospects differently from your competitors. Those who try to connect by just dropping off generic industry catalogs will be left in the dust on the road to selling success.
START THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX TODAY!
If someone else is doing it, do something different.
If you are just leaving generic industry catalogs when making calls, stop doing that.
If you have been thinking of new ways to market yourself, start now.
If you are in a rut, climb out.
If you are from the “old school,” change schools.
DO IT NOW!
Whatever others are not doing, you need to start doing today!
Here are a few ways to market yourself:
Create a monthly newsletter about your hobby.
If you enjoy a particular sport, identify people who share that interest and send them clipped articles about the sport.
Instead of handing out boring business cards, order baseball cards of yourself and leave them on sales calls.
Use one hundred pound weight paper for traditional business cards; that way they’ll be thicker and more distinctive than your competitors.
Have a studio-quality black and white photo taken of yourself, and then send them along with your invoices.
Or choose this idea:
THE "COOKIE MAN"
I started in the industry 30 years ago. In spite of a rocky start, I have become a one million dollar producer each year. I’ve done so by making myself the “Cookie Man.” I selected a supplier of food gifts, in this case Sweet Nut Tree, and started ordering self-promotion tins from them. I have the tins imprinted with my photo on the lid, and then include nine delicious chocolate chip cookies inside the container. Everyday when I leave the office, I take several of my “cookie man” tins along with me on the way to see people. It doesn’t matter who I am calling on--new prospects or existing customers-- everyone gets my ''cookie man'' tin as a gift. Since I started doing this, I have shared more than 1000 tins with others. Sounds like a lot, and it is. But in return for those 1000 tins, I have sold over $15 million dollars worth of promotional products. In addition, my cookie tin giveaway has been covered in newspapers and on the local television station. For my sake, please don’t become a cookie person, too, because I want all the business for myself!
There are thousands of ways you can make yourself stand out from the pack. By making yourself unique, you will be giving your competitors the cold shoulder. Take pride in being yourself, a very unique person.