Obviously, the best way to separate yourself from the competition is by making yourself unique. When out making calls, do not just leave prospects a load of catalogs. Instead, create a one-page newsletter about you and your company. Leave it along with a professionally printed full-line catalog from one quality supplier. By avoiding mass-marketed catalogs which include a multitude of suppliers and generic marketing pieces, you are increasing your chances of making a sale. We have found that the imprinted catalogs from Prime Resources are an excellent accompaniment to our company newsletter.
Moral of the story: Don’t give up until you try harder!
Taking prospects and clients to social functions is an important part of relationship building. When you do, always make sure that your vehicle is in top condition; the interior especially should be clean and odor free. Here’s a handy tip for those times when you are too busy to get to the car wash. Uncap a small bottle of hand lotion, like the ones found in hotel rooms, and leave it overnight in a cup holder. In the morning, your car will smell fresher than it did the day before.
Moral of the story: Some impressions last forever.
The reason most distributorships fail to meet sales expectations is due to under-funded marketing budgets. In order to meet your goals, put into practice that well-known theory of “you must spend money to make money.” Every year set aside a specific amount of money to use for mailers, catalogs, and self-promotion products. Don’t hesitate to spend the necessary money on effective marketing efforts, because it will come back to you in the form of increased order entries.
Moral of the story: Keep your marketing basket full of “goodies” and share them regularly!
It always helps if you present yourself in a favorable light when calling on people. Many salespeople get so busy taking care of business that they often fail to keep their automobiles in good order. This means treating it to a weekly wash, as well as making sure that catalogs and samples are not rolling around in the floor and seats. You never know when a prospect or client might take you up on an impromptu lunch offer. A disorganized or filthy automobile is a big and unnecessary turnoff. So don’t misuse one of your basic assets.
Moral of the story: Wealth unused might as well not exist!
Many salespeople get in a rut by doing the same thing day in and day out. One way to avoid this situation is by keeping conversations on sales calls both interesting and lively. By learning and using one new word each day, you will slowly build your vocabulary and become a more intriguing person. Here’s an example: “One’s lack of action exacerbated a difficult situation today” (the word “exacerbated” is an excellent one to use for emphasis). As a result, you will impress others as both intelligent and open to new ideas.
Moral of the story: The pen is mightier than the sword.
Since most people missed charm school, how does one learn the best behavior to use during meals at business functions? Here are a few simple rules to keep in mind: Do not make “chomp” on ice cubes. Never use a toothpick while at the table or eat with your elbows on the table. Tear rolls and bread into small pieces and butter them one at a time. For the men out there, always rise when a female joins the group. By following these simple etiquette rules, you will go a long way toward impressing your prospects and your peers.
Moral of the story:
Always put your best foot forward.
One of the easiest ways to create a unique impression is with your business card. Instead of printing it on the typical 80 lb. cover stock, spend a little more money to use the heavier 130 pound cover stock. This helps your card stand out, because it is much thicker than most of your competitors’ cards. Recipients will often comment that they think you have mistakenly given them two cards. Not only does this create a talking point, but it shows your individuality and ingenuity.
Moral: It is wise to turn circumstances to your advantage.
To be successful at selling, use some of your childhood memories to your advantage. One holiday that many salespeople forget about in regards to their customers is Valentine’s Day. If you want to impress those you are dealing with, as well as help keep your name on their “front burner,” send a friendly yet professional Valentine’s card or take them some festive candy. I guarantee that the next time you contact them, they will remember you in a postive way.
Moral of the story:
No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.
Moral: It is wise to turn circumstances to your advantage.
After mailing and calling a previous client over a four month period with no response, we decided to contact them for the last time. We keep a supply of laser-engraved boxes filled with gourmet mints on hand. (Be sure to ask for Larry when you contact them; he really understands customer service!) We send them in instances like this with personal notes placed inside the boxes. The messages vary in length; in this case we wrote, “Daphney, we miss you.” Once the customer received the candy, she called and gave us the opportunity to sell her 200,000 imprinted hand fans. If we make the sale, we are going to make $12,000 in profit! We will let you know if we do.
Moral of the Story: Everyone loves food gifts!
Networking! The easiest way to expand your client base is through networking. Not only does it keep the pipeline open for new leads, but it provides ‘insurance’ for those occasional times when you lose a steady client.
To take full advantage of networking, send hand-written thank you notes to new business and personal contacts after meeting them. Not only will this impress them, but it will make follow-up easier. Someone is much more likely to remember you if they have received a personal note from you. By also sending a note to the people who introduce you to others, you will expand your base of contacts even further.
Moral of the story: Do things that make you unique.
Here is a trick we use to distant ourselves from our competitors. From time to time, we have our screen printer do 50 T-shirts with a fun logo or phrase. Last week, we printed shirts with the TCU (Texas Christian University) logo on the front, then hand-delivered them to our Fort Worth customers. By doing so, we are making sure each one of them know how different we are from other promotional products distributors. In fact, we do this so often that customers now ask when they’ll be receiving their next new shirt!
Moral of the story: The “different” bird gets the worm.
Getting new people to like you is critical when making a new presentation. Several easy ways to accomplish this is by mirroring the other person’s body language, smiling, making comfortable eye contact (not staring), and by asking open-ended questions (who, what, when, where, why and how questions). Most people will approve of you instantly if you can mimic their body movements. If you meet someone who is loud, raise your voice to the same level. If your new contact has a meek personality, try not to overpower him or her. If you remember to do these things, you will make a favorable impression on all you meet.
Moral of the story: A bit of thoughtful effort can reap a huge reward.
Since you never know where messages may end up, you need to think before sending them. To be on the safe side, be as gender neutral as possible in any comments or suggestions. Keep in mind that your contact may forward the mail to another party. Your intended reader may think one way about a subject, but the ultimate decision maker might have a different opinion. For example, watch the use of masculine pronouns (he, his, him). Your reader may be male; but his boss, the ultimate decision maker, might be female. The smart thing to do is to always take the neutral position.
Moral of the story: It’s better to be safe than sorry!
Nearly every supplier offers self-promotion items to distributors to use to promote themselves to prospects and customers. Over the years, we’ve used a variety of items to raise awareness about our company. Our all-time favorite self-promotion item is the Sir Holdzalot cell phone holder offered by Quikey Manufacturing .
It is a cost-effective cell phone holder that comes in numerous fun, bright colors. As you can see, our logo really stands out well and provides a constant reminder about us to anyone who has this on their desk. Since the product comes flat, we can mail it in an envelope with our invoices and it’s easy to carry with us to networking events.
We make a great impression on prospects when we demonstrate how it works and then ask the person for their cell phone so that we can insert it into the holder.
We’ve always been big proponents of using direct mail to obtain new clients.
Direct mail works better than ever these days because many companies have stopped using it in favor of e-mail marketing.
We recently sent out a mailing to (1000) contacts that we harvested from local chamber lists. It couldn’t have been easier, because all we had to do did was provide the contacts in a spreadsheet to the supplier and pay for the postage.
Tradenet created the self-mailer postcard and the accompanying magnet. The postage cost us $300 and we have received an excellent return; selling orders to responders in the amount of $3000.
The only thing that most distributor sites offer is the fact that someone can search among 3 Million products! The header of boring sites like these usually include the distributors name, phone number and omit the business address. Examine your site to make sure that you offer customers more than the ability to look for products, because there are millions of places where they can already do that. Add detailed information about your company and focus on things that have made you successful. Perhaps you have created several successful safety programs that have saved your customers money and if so, include brief descriptions of them to demonstrate your savvy. There are many things to add to your site that will make it appear professional and cause people to do more business with you.
