We are a nation of sales people. Sales are the exchange of goods or services for payment, and we are just the group to make it happen. There are variables that shape sales in every industry, and variables within those industries, but in most ways we are aligned. Whether we are selling advertising, real estate, tech, medical or professional services, we have our leads, prospects and customers. We are on a mission to connect our products and services with customers. We are a singularly driven force.
There is a little known component of advertising and marketing known as sales promotion, and a lesser known subset of sales promotion, dancing along, just out of the spotlight. It goes by names like promotional products, advertising specialties, branded merchandise, or dimensional marketing providers. The objective is to help clients increase sales, encourage customer loyalty and generate brand awareness. The measures typically fall into two categories; recognition and incentive. Recognition examples are awards and loyalty gifts, while incentives can be a myriad of branded products, designed to motivate and extend the message.
How did we come to buy golf shirts with the logo of a once little shoe company from Oregon? Nike built a brand so strong that people chose Nike to Be Like Mike, and for a quality line of products that represent inspiration and empowerment. We buy their goods and then advertise for them. It’s awesome if you think about it.
Our industry hit hyperspeed when iconic Apple stickers began showing up in the car windows of people that didn’t work for Apple. There was a shift. The people sticking those stickers were more than customers; they were fans and they wanted to be associated with an identity. That little sticker told people the driver was an innovator, a creator, and a rebel.
Suddenly wrists were adorned with yellow Livestrong bracelets wherever we went. Again, people wanted to be associated with a winner, Lance Armstrong, and make a statement that they were on the side of a good cause, cancer research.
These are three powerful examples of branded merchandise movements, but all we have to do is look around to see its ubiquitous output. It’s the branded t-shirt in our closet, the travel cup from the corporate event, the tote bag hanging on the hook, the logo-ed pens in our everything drawer. Sure enough, there they are, but how did they get there?
Thousands of sales professionals at promotional distributors that used to hit the pavement, light up the phones and network online to find, serve and connect buyers to merchandise providers and branding services. They work to add value to every transaction and build their customers’ brand via thoughtful merchandise solutions. It is a unique sales environment, where every organization is a prospect and every product imaginable is on the table. It also has a reverse engineered feel to it, as the mission begins with finding the customer before identifying the product. These aspects make the learning curve long and it takes creativity and dedication to carve out a career.
This long learning curve is studded with everyday ups and downs, cataclysmic fails and intoxicating highs. Every call, presentation, sale and “fail” carries with it at least one lesson to build upon. Sounding familiar?
We have all been stuck, not knowing how to move forward, but we did. We all have been put on the spot with a prospect and client and fumbled the opportunity. We have all stumbled onto a big sale by chance, but never while resting on our laurels. We have all found ourselves sitting across from the right customer and knowing what the wrong customer feels like. We have all had a door close and a window open. These experiences are what make sales mysterious, adventurous, and a continuous lesson.
The book Promoted contains more than fifty real life stories and the lessons that move us forward. The stories explore business development, apprenticeship, expertise building, customer care, systems, adaptation, referrals, and balance to name a few. These are the stories behind the wins, losses and lessons in sales from a fellow traveler in the promotional products business.
The best in our business understand that connecting with fellow sales people is as important as connecting with customers. We are all in this together and learning from one another is the way to enlightenment and next level sales.
“There is no substitute for experience, unless you gain it from the experiences of others.”
