OK OK Calm Down! I know I'm a day later than expected but the fact is that I spent the last two days on a buying trip and there simply wasn't time to come up with anything inspiring. Let's face it, sleep deprivation, red wine and creativity don't mix.
This week I want you to think about something that you will no doubt have faced in the last week - disappointment. At some point something will not have gone the way you expected it to. You moaned, you vented, you told people off and, if you were lucky, you managed to resolve the situation.
Now consider this for a moment. What would have happened if, just as you were feeling that disappointment, someone came along from an alternative source and solved your problem? Surely their appearance will have been accompanied with a glowing white light and a chorus of angels! A true saviour in your hour of need. Who is this masked stranger?
You see, at any given moment, you can become a hero, and then turn that situation to your advantage in order to create business. Sounds simple enough doesn't it? All you have to do now is jump on the phones, call hundreds of people and wait until one of them sounds just a little bit upset.
Because you'll always take a cold call when you're having a bad day won't you?
Oh no! A gaping whole in an otherwise flawless plan - how ever will we handle this catastrophe??? Geez, you really are very excitable today aren't you? Have you considered the revolution that is decaf?
OK, so we need a plan. Well the first thing to consider is that disappointment takes many forms. At one end of the spectrum you have an encyclopedia of errors that leave you looking for the nearest tall building with access to an open window, but on the other end of the spectrum, there are those results which simply have you shrug your shoulders and say "Oh well".
THAT is the disappointment that you're looking for.
Not everyone has those nightmare moments, but everyone, without exception, has had a moment when they had hoped that things would go a little better. A mailing campaign that produced better than a 1% return. A sale where the only way to close the business was to offer a discount and therefore lower one's margins.
And how to capitalise on this? It's simple - all you need to do is add one more to your list of already powerful questions. "Tell me something, when was the last time that you took a look at a result and wished that it could have gone a little better?"
BOOM! How can they not answer that with some powerful information? Remember that good relationships come from asking good questions, and I think that this one is a doozey (is that how you spell doozey? Doozie, doozee - I don't know).
Now what you do with the information after that is entirely up to you, but taking an interest in this client and really getting them to open up to you should present more opportunities than simply asking what their current needs might be.
Now this information comes at a price. Other sales gurus will want you to buy their books or go to their seminars. Well I don't have a book out there and I'm not hosting any seminars. All I ask of you is that you share this blog with others and that you report back on how these tips are working out for you.
Have a good week.
Friday 29 January 2010
Thursday 21 January 2010
Put me in that Den
I know what you’re all thinking. “OK Paul, it’s been a week since you went to that massive trade show – what fantastic new bits of merchandise are you going to share with us all?”
Well the sad truth is that I brought you all back very little. The promotional marketplace has become overcrowded with people who are simply trying to reinvent the wheel.
Every once in a while I would see something that would make me want to stop and ask questions. That’s a GOOD thing. That’s what you want your promotional merchandise to do – have people stop and engage you in conversation. After they’ve started talking to you, it’s up to you to ask them the right questions and work towards converting them into a fully fledged, flesh and blood, money spending CUSTOMER. You remember customers don’t you? They were big around 2007, but I bet that feels like a million years ago now doesn’t it?
You see I spent a lot of time at the show feeling like one of the Dragons in the Den. Enthusiastic sales people would show me the product that they believed would be “the next big thing” and it was up to me to decide whether they were onto something, or simply another deluded nut job who spent far too many nights in his shed jacked up on cough syrup and bad espresso.
There were ideas that made perfect sense to me. A fridge magnet with a little blinking light inside it. Sounds simple enough – say you want to leave a message for someone on the fridge and it’s REALLY important. Simply use this magnet to attach the message, press the button, and the light blinks to alert this person that there is an important message for them on the fridge.
Of course, I would argue that if something were that important, there must be a more efficient communication device than something that sits in your kitchen, keeping your cheese and beer at the appropriate temperature – but who am I to argue with progress?
And how about this? A pen (yes I said pen) with a plant growing inside it! I am not making this up. The pen has a little bit of earth in a small plastic dome at the top and you grow a plant inside of it. It’s certainly novel, and for those companies looking to promote idea of growth, it makes perfect sense.
Oh, here’s one. A miniature bottle of Tabasco sauce in it’s own presentation box which can be branded with your company’s details. Perfect if you want to run a campaign about a product that’s going to be 'hot' or that you can help customers 'spice' things up.
Do you see a pattern here? You see, taken out of context these products seem utterly pointless. Present them to Theo and his mates and they’ll laugh you right out of the den – demoralised, deflated and having to face that bloke with the sticky out ears to have your humiliation rubbed in your face one last time on camera.
However, tie them in to a specific and targeted campaign, and you just might be sitting on a very profitable idea. Think about how many weird and wonderful items you got sent last year from companies looking to secure your business. Did all of them instantly make sense? They probably did because some slick marketing executive came up with some really good copy to accompany the gift. My wife got sent a packet of sunflower seeds from her car dealership. We didn’t plant the seeds, but she did buy her next car from that same dealership because we read the literature that came with the seeds. Clever word play is worth its weight in gold.
Merchandise, in and of itself, will do absolutely nothing for your marketing. You need to make it relevant and interesting. Nobody reads junk mail, but they may well read the card that comes with their free gift – but only if it makes sense. The sunflower seeds accompanied a summertime promotion which spoke about how people’s love of their car can grow – not rocket science, but it did produce the desired result.
So how does this information help you? Well it’s to tell you that if you align yourself with a merchandise company who merely provide you with product, then you are limiting yourselves to what you see in catalogues and websites. What makes more sense is to align yourselves with someone who helps you to create a complete campaign, right down to the wacky slogan.
As you know, I’m prepared to do that work for FREE. That’s right, a slick and effective merchandising campaign, designed completely free of charge. All I ask is that you buy the merchandise from me, which would seem only fair wouldn’t it?
You’re more than welcome to pay agencies to come up with ideas for you, but they’re still going to come to me for the merchandise, so why not skip a step, save some money and get straight to the good stuff? Call me right now and let's get started.
Oh, and just so you don’t think I found the silver lining in every cloud I saw, I’ll leave you with this item - a small device that you attach to your luggage. When the carousel starts up, you press a button on a remote control and a light starts flashing on your luggage to help you locate it. Two things come to mind – first; I know what my luggage looks like thank you very much and second; an electronic device attached to a suitcase operated by a remote control – what could possibly go wrong?
Have a good week.
Well the sad truth is that I brought you all back very little. The promotional marketplace has become overcrowded with people who are simply trying to reinvent the wheel.
Every once in a while I would see something that would make me want to stop and ask questions. That’s a GOOD thing. That’s what you want your promotional merchandise to do – have people stop and engage you in conversation. After they’ve started talking to you, it’s up to you to ask them the right questions and work towards converting them into a fully fledged, flesh and blood, money spending CUSTOMER. You remember customers don’t you? They were big around 2007, but I bet that feels like a million years ago now doesn’t it?
You see I spent a lot of time at the show feeling like one of the Dragons in the Den. Enthusiastic sales people would show me the product that they believed would be “the next big thing” and it was up to me to decide whether they were onto something, or simply another deluded nut job who spent far too many nights in his shed jacked up on cough syrup and bad espresso.
There were ideas that made perfect sense to me. A fridge magnet with a little blinking light inside it. Sounds simple enough – say you want to leave a message for someone on the fridge and it’s REALLY important. Simply use this magnet to attach the message, press the button, and the light blinks to alert this person that there is an important message for them on the fridge.
Of course, I would argue that if something were that important, there must be a more efficient communication device than something that sits in your kitchen, keeping your cheese and beer at the appropriate temperature – but who am I to argue with progress?
And how about this? A pen (yes I said pen) with a plant growing inside it! I am not making this up. The pen has a little bit of earth in a small plastic dome at the top and you grow a plant inside of it. It’s certainly novel, and for those companies looking to promote idea of growth, it makes perfect sense.
Oh, here’s one. A miniature bottle of Tabasco sauce in it’s own presentation box which can be branded with your company’s details. Perfect if you want to run a campaign about a product that’s going to be 'hot' or that you can help customers 'spice' things up.
Do you see a pattern here? You see, taken out of context these products seem utterly pointless. Present them to Theo and his mates and they’ll laugh you right out of the den – demoralised, deflated and having to face that bloke with the sticky out ears to have your humiliation rubbed in your face one last time on camera.
However, tie them in to a specific and targeted campaign, and you just might be sitting on a very profitable idea. Think about how many weird and wonderful items you got sent last year from companies looking to secure your business. Did all of them instantly make sense? They probably did because some slick marketing executive came up with some really good copy to accompany the gift. My wife got sent a packet of sunflower seeds from her car dealership. We didn’t plant the seeds, but she did buy her next car from that same dealership because we read the literature that came with the seeds. Clever word play is worth its weight in gold.
Merchandise, in and of itself, will do absolutely nothing for your marketing. You need to make it relevant and interesting. Nobody reads junk mail, but they may well read the card that comes with their free gift – but only if it makes sense. The sunflower seeds accompanied a summertime promotion which spoke about how people’s love of their car can grow – not rocket science, but it did produce the desired result.
So how does this information help you? Well it’s to tell you that if you align yourself with a merchandise company who merely provide you with product, then you are limiting yourselves to what you see in catalogues and websites. What makes more sense is to align yourselves with someone who helps you to create a complete campaign, right down to the wacky slogan.
As you know, I’m prepared to do that work for FREE. That’s right, a slick and effective merchandising campaign, designed completely free of charge. All I ask is that you buy the merchandise from me, which would seem only fair wouldn’t it?
You’re more than welcome to pay agencies to come up with ideas for you, but they’re still going to come to me for the merchandise, so why not skip a step, save some money and get straight to the good stuff? Call me right now and let's get started.
Oh, and just so you don’t think I found the silver lining in every cloud I saw, I’ll leave you with this item - a small device that you attach to your luggage. When the carousel starts up, you press a button on a remote control and a light starts flashing on your luggage to help you locate it. Two things come to mind – first; I know what my luggage looks like thank you very much and second; an electronic device attached to a suitcase operated by a remote control – what could possibly go wrong?
Have a good week.
Wednesday 13 January 2010
A Day Early - and with Good Cause
Well hello there my blog loving friends, eagerly working away at your desks whilst the rest of the UK slaps on their best Eskimo kit and tries to race a pack of penguins to the office. Well done you. I'm writing this at 4pm on a Wednesday and have only just made it in, having being trapped at home looking after Felix whose nursery was just impossible to reach and whose mother actually managed to make it to work.
But enough of my woes. The reason I'm writing this now is because tomorrow I will be attending a massive promotional merchandise trade show in Germany. Trust me, it's not as much fun as it sounds - but at least I get away from this weather for a day, so that's nice.
So put yourself in my position. You have one day to walk through 6 massive exhibition halls crammed with merchandise. There's just no way you can see everybody, so how do you choose who to see and who to pass by?
My formula is simple. If I already know you, then I'll say hello if I see you and speak to you another time. I'm not trying to be rude, but if I'm able to meet you at your UK offices or better still, arrange for you to come to mine, is it not better to do that, knowing that you will then have my full attention?
It is - trust me.
OK, so we've managed to whittle down a lot of exhibitors. So what next? Well, next I need to establish exactly why it is I am there. I am NOT there to negotiate with suppliers for better buying rates - they're not likely to be able to do that at a show anyway.
I am not there to see who has the cheapest version of a product that I can buy from 20 different people - we all know how I feel about bargain hunters when it comes to marketing.
No. I am there for inspiration. Year upon year I am asked by clients old and new to show them all the new and wonderful merchandise that our world has to offer them. That's why I go to the show - to find that one perfect product which leaps off of the shelves and screams PICK ME - I'M EFFECTIVE!
Sadly, in a show surrounded by literally tens of thousands of products, that item doesn't always find me. It's not that I feel I have seen it all before, it's just that I find it really difficult to get excited by certain items that I just regard as tacky, useless rubbish.
I don't want to spend my time trying to work out how to get my clients excited about stuff. I want to find them the items that do it without even trying. We're all of us looking for that 'WOW' moment where we're not only blown away by what a product is, but more by what it can do for us.
The positive spin on this for me is that when I do call you, excited about a product, then you know that the call is going to be worth taking. I've never called anyone to tell them that I've just seen the most amazing pen but rest assured if I ever did, then you'd better believe that the pen in question was going to CHANGE THE WAY YOU THINK ABOUT WORDS - FOREVER!
So be warned. I plan to come back excited. Forget all this new year, new decade, new whatever nonsense - it's hard enough even getting to work right now. Let's just get your marketing exactly where it needs to be - profitable.
But enough of my woes. The reason I'm writing this now is because tomorrow I will be attending a massive promotional merchandise trade show in Germany. Trust me, it's not as much fun as it sounds - but at least I get away from this weather for a day, so that's nice.
So put yourself in my position. You have one day to walk through 6 massive exhibition halls crammed with merchandise. There's just no way you can see everybody, so how do you choose who to see and who to pass by?
My formula is simple. If I already know you, then I'll say hello if I see you and speak to you another time. I'm not trying to be rude, but if I'm able to meet you at your UK offices or better still, arrange for you to come to mine, is it not better to do that, knowing that you will then have my full attention?
It is - trust me.
OK, so we've managed to whittle down a lot of exhibitors. So what next? Well, next I need to establish exactly why it is I am there. I am NOT there to negotiate with suppliers for better buying rates - they're not likely to be able to do that at a show anyway.
I am not there to see who has the cheapest version of a product that I can buy from 20 different people - we all know how I feel about bargain hunters when it comes to marketing.
No. I am there for inspiration. Year upon year I am asked by clients old and new to show them all the new and wonderful merchandise that our world has to offer them. That's why I go to the show - to find that one perfect product which leaps off of the shelves and screams PICK ME - I'M EFFECTIVE!
Sadly, in a show surrounded by literally tens of thousands of products, that item doesn't always find me. It's not that I feel I have seen it all before, it's just that I find it really difficult to get excited by certain items that I just regard as tacky, useless rubbish.
I don't want to spend my time trying to work out how to get my clients excited about stuff. I want to find them the items that do it without even trying. We're all of us looking for that 'WOW' moment where we're not only blown away by what a product is, but more by what it can do for us.
The positive spin on this for me is that when I do call you, excited about a product, then you know that the call is going to be worth taking. I've never called anyone to tell them that I've just seen the most amazing pen but rest assured if I ever did, then you'd better believe that the pen in question was going to CHANGE THE WAY YOU THINK ABOUT WORDS - FOREVER!
So be warned. I plan to come back excited. Forget all this new year, new decade, new whatever nonsense - it's hard enough even getting to work right now. Let's just get your marketing exactly where it needs to be - profitable.
Thursday 7 January 2010
Let it Snow Let it Snow Let it Snow
Well of course I'm going to talk about snow. It may not be the most original idea but let's face it - it's on everybody's mind at the moment so it seems like it would make good sense to capitalise on the idea.
Happy New Year by the way. It's weird that my last blog was written in a whole other decade, and just how many people are going to play on that idea? No doubt Simon Cowell will be delighted to announce that the last X Factor winner had a career which spanned two decades, whereas the truth is that he'll last about six weeks - max.
Oh the cynicism! Where would we be without it? Well these blogs would be a lot shorter for one thing. So why am I so pleased about the snow? Well let's get all of the negatives out of the way first:
My deliveries did not make it through, hence a whole bunch of customers were wondering when they were going to get their stuff. Now of course these people are reasonable - they don't blame me for the snow (although some of them would dearly love to) but it's still frustrating for them.
Lots of customers were not in their offices. This meant that the phones were quiet and even if we tried ringing people, they weren't there. Essentially, business came close to a complete stand still.
People in the office moaned about the cold. Oh, is it cold outside? I hadn't noticed, what with the seven inches of snow and the nationwide shortage of salt, fresh vegetables and Lemsip! Seriously, we get it OK - it's cold, now get on with something more interesting.
And so to the positives, because there are some:
People that did make it into the office found themselves with a little more time on their hands. Rather than being pulled in twenty different directions, they had time to reflect on the year past and plan for the year ahead. They took time to THINK, perhaps even to STRATEGISE.
How good would it have been for them if, at the very moment they were thinking they needed a particular service, that someone from your company called up simply to say hello? You'd have been like a St Bernard on the snowy mountain, there to rescue them in their hour of need. They may be thinking of trying something new, and you're just the person to help them do it.
I sent some introductory emails to prospective clients yesterday and they actually got read. In fact, I even got replies. These people are stuck in the office, wishing they could be at home making snowmen with their kids, and so they may as well read every piece of mail that comes in. I've spoken before about the power of a good and well structured opening email, and at times like these, it's even easier to get them opened by your next would be customer.
The moral of the story? Well it's quite simply that you should embrace every opportunity, and make the most of every situation. How much would your clients love you right now if your branded ice scraper was the very thing that helped them get out of their driveway this morning? Could you send your favourite client a nice branded scarf, or perhaps a branded travel mug so that they could enjoy a nice warming cup of coffee on their arduous journey to work?
Of course, if you think you've missed the boat on snow merchandise, you may well be right, so why don't we start thinking about Valentines Day, or even Easter? The earlier you get in with a good gift, the more you show your new customers that yours is a forward thinking company, ready to face the future.
Have a good week in business, and please do mail me photos of your snowmen and women so that I can include them in this blog.
Happy New Year by the way. It's weird that my last blog was written in a whole other decade, and just how many people are going to play on that idea? No doubt Simon Cowell will be delighted to announce that the last X Factor winner had a career which spanned two decades, whereas the truth is that he'll last about six weeks - max.
Oh the cynicism! Where would we be without it? Well these blogs would be a lot shorter for one thing. So why am I so pleased about the snow? Well let's get all of the negatives out of the way first:
My deliveries did not make it through, hence a whole bunch of customers were wondering when they were going to get their stuff. Now of course these people are reasonable - they don't blame me for the snow (although some of them would dearly love to) but it's still frustrating for them.
Lots of customers were not in their offices. This meant that the phones were quiet and even if we tried ringing people, they weren't there. Essentially, business came close to a complete stand still.
People in the office moaned about the cold. Oh, is it cold outside? I hadn't noticed, what with the seven inches of snow and the nationwide shortage of salt, fresh vegetables and Lemsip! Seriously, we get it OK - it's cold, now get on with something more interesting.
And so to the positives, because there are some:
People that did make it into the office found themselves with a little more time on their hands. Rather than being pulled in twenty different directions, they had time to reflect on the year past and plan for the year ahead. They took time to THINK, perhaps even to STRATEGISE.
How good would it have been for them if, at the very moment they were thinking they needed a particular service, that someone from your company called up simply to say hello? You'd have been like a St Bernard on the snowy mountain, there to rescue them in their hour of need. They may be thinking of trying something new, and you're just the person to help them do it.
I sent some introductory emails to prospective clients yesterday and they actually got read. In fact, I even got replies. These people are stuck in the office, wishing they could be at home making snowmen with their kids, and so they may as well read every piece of mail that comes in. I've spoken before about the power of a good and well structured opening email, and at times like these, it's even easier to get them opened by your next would be customer.
The moral of the story? Well it's quite simply that you should embrace every opportunity, and make the most of every situation. How much would your clients love you right now if your branded ice scraper was the very thing that helped them get out of their driveway this morning? Could you send your favourite client a nice branded scarf, or perhaps a branded travel mug so that they could enjoy a nice warming cup of coffee on their arduous journey to work?
Of course, if you think you've missed the boat on snow merchandise, you may well be right, so why don't we start thinking about Valentines Day, or even Easter? The earlier you get in with a good gift, the more you show your new customers that yours is a forward thinking company, ready to face the future.
Have a good week in business, and please do mail me photos of your snowmen and women so that I can include them in this blog.
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