My three favourite words...."Tell me more"

And you thought they were going to be "Here's my order" or "We pay cash". What sort of a mercenary sales person do you take me for? Actually, don't answer that, the truth would only hurt us both in the end.

So why are "tell me more" my three favourite words? It's simply because that's the response that every marketeer should be looking to elicit from their new biggest client, and there's no reason why a piece of promotional merchandise shouldn't do the same thing.

Let's take an example. You go up to a trade show stand and some monkey in a polo shirt tells you why his or her company is great, hands you some literature and, just because you seem like a nice person, gives you a free pen. Your elation lasts even less time than it takes an average Australian to whinge about how we're kicking their arse at The Olympics. Did the polo monkey make a sale? Maybe....maybe not.

Now let's move on to the next stand. This time the company rep tells you about his or her company, hands you some literature and then hands you a calculator and tells you that it runs entirely on tap water. At this stage, your curiousity kicks in and you say the magic words, "Tell me more" and that rep gets to engage you in a conversation. They're not talking about their company or trying to make a sale, they're simply building a rapport with a new prospective client.

And so that same client goes home that night and empties his bag of goodies onto the living room floor to decide which goes in the bin, which he gives to his kids and which go back to the office with a follow up call. Now which pile do you think the water powered calculator is going in?

I was once asked how important I thought promotional merchandise was and I realised that it's really not important at all. Some cool giveaway presented just for the hell of it is a waste of time and money. No sale has ever been won or lost because the winning team gave a pen away with their presentation. The winning team established a rapport with their client - they went the extra mile and they engaged that client in conversations outside of the sale. All of that can start by giving them something more intriguing and more likely to bring about those three magic words....."Tell me more".


Just to be clear, the calculator that runs on tap water is not some random thing I plucked from my brain after a heavy night on the cough syrup. This entire blog was inspired by the fact that a simple meeting with a client became one of the most interesting conversations I have had all year, right after I presented them with the product.

So take a look at the merchandise that you've bought this year. What are you excited about? What was different and special? Did any of it open a door that was previously only left ajar for you? If your answer to that last question is "no" then we really need to talk. If you answered "yes" then I hope that it was me who supplied the gift in question and if not, how do we fix that for next time?

To remind you, a special promotion for the next couple of weeks where you WILL - not CAN but WILL receive a free digital photo frame with built in MP3 player for orders over £1000 in value (or 200 water powered calculators if you prefer). Have a good week.