I have a new sales rep team member and I’ve spent the last month working with her and teaching her the business of promotional marketing. She came from advertising sales so much of the genre is familiar and she understands the importance of branding. However, I guess because I’ve been in this business for so long I’d forgotten how much we really offer our clients.
In advertising sales she worked from the same rate card every month. Had the same magazine deadlines very month. She could sell a client a year-long program and only check in for new artwork on a monthly basis. Our business is very different.
We took a factory tour last week at one of our industry’s largest manufacturers and she was overwhelmed by all the decorating processes, product offerings and all the levels within a product offering. We really do have a lot to offer and keep on top of.
Think about it. Even if you are really familiar with your own personal top 10 industry suppliers (and I do recommend you have your own top 10 or 20 go to companies) they probably introduce 100+ new products each year. That’s at least 1000 new products to get to know every year (and still remember the tried and true ones from the years before).
Take bags for instance. We have the budget, low end option of non-woven polypropylene, 210 denier polyester, and it moves up the scale so to speak to 600 denier polyester and more. Then you get into the various weights of cotton, from the very lightweight to the very heavy. Literally thousands of options to choose from to pick the right one for a client’s budget and branding. This industry really has something for everyone. And we are supposed to be the experts about all of them.
Training someone new to the industry has really made me appreciate all that we know and do for our clients.
Just yesterday she made the comment about all the steps we go through to make sure a client is happy. From recommending the right product options to making sure the order is completed correctly and on time. And all the many steps in between.
Her first opportunity for us was a great example of the good, bad and ugly of our business.
She was reaching out to some of the clients she had worked with before as part of building her prospect list. And one was actually are in a bind, their usual company couldn’t help them. They needed 1000 cotton tote bags with a 2-sided imprint in 9 working days. I’m thinking we should easily be able to deliver this early. And it should have been easy. But I was wrong.
The client wanted a very specific recycled cotton tote. Still, shouldn’t be a problem. We found a couple of options and she of course wanted samples to make sure it was what they wanted. We got them overnighted and they placed the order! We’re off to a great start!
Well, the day the sample was chosen, I was out of town. Still shouldn’t have been a problem as another team member was helping her prepare the purchase order for the manufacturer. Of course, it wasn’t from a supplier that could decorate as well, and it was coming from the factory across the country. Still I had no worries. We have a great decorator that will produce jobs for us in a day or two if they know its coming.
So the bags ship to the decorator. We are now 5 days before they are due to the client. I am confident we are going to wow them and deliver early.
I was wrong. Here comes the bad! Luckily, in the proofing process we discovered she had ordered the wrong bag. You see, she didn’t confirm the product number of the one they wanted. And, they wanted the one without the gusset. She didn’t even know what a gusset was. She does now.
She was in a panic, worried she’d never have another opportunity with this client and that there was no way we could make this happen. I guess this is where experience comes in.
I didn’t panic. I knew we could still deliver.
We checked with the bag company and yes they had inventory of the right bag and could ship it out overnight (of course on us).
Step one we are good. So we check with our fast decorator and of course we hit another issue. They are going on vacation and the whole shop was shutting down. They can’t do the job. Now we could be at the ugly of the business.
Luckily we have a back-up decorator (highly recommend for all your processes). So I gave them a call, can you do 1000 bags with 2-sided imprint in 2 days? They are a small shop but after a bit of discussion they said yes!
So we overnight the bags and 3 days later we delivered the bags ourselves. That’s the good! Yes, we could have gotten a messenger but this is the beginning of what I think will be a very large client opportunity. So why not take the time and deliver ourselves. Gave me an opportunity to meet the client as well!
Now, the client doesn’t know the wrong bag was ordered, they don’t know the panic that set in for our new sales rep, all they know is they got their bags on time. It’s what we do.
It was a great learning experience for her. She learned that I’m not going to let her fail. That I truly have her back (she said it gave her great confidence that I was so calm about throughout the whole process). And I think that’s an important element of a long-term successful relationship.
Now, we are still assessing all the expenses of this and we will not make the money I had hoped (think restocking fees, rush fees that weren’t expected and overnight freight expenses). And that’s okay. I’m not worried at all. Because she will never make that mistake again and now sees to what extent we will go to for a client.
Sometimes it’s good for all of us to remember what we do for our clients and maybe in a subtle way let them know too.
Danette Gossett is the founder of Gossett Marketing, co-founder of Promotions Rescource LLC and co-author of the best-selling book “Transform” with Brian Tracy. Danette utilizes her more than 30 years of advertising agency and corporate marketing experience to develop effective promotional campaigns and products for her clients. Visit GossettMktg.com or SalesPromo.org and follow us on twitter @MarketngTidbits.