Providing a service, rather than just product, is a sales strategy often cited as a way to not only close deals with large clients, but also to make yourself indispensable to your customers in general. Michele Adams, owner of Proforma Global Sourcing, Tampa, Fla., shared a great example of how providing a service instead of just product can make you a vital (and well-compensated) partner with a big client.
Hired by Office Depot to source, pack and distribute a gift bag meant for teachers who attended promotional breakfast events the chain was hosting across the country, Adams faced a complex logistical task. Not only did she have to source 150,000 bags (for which she chose an insulated lunch tote from Bag Makers), she had to balance all the donated contents of the gift bags (made up of donations from seven different Office Depot vendors, such as 3M and Sharpie), and deal with a staggered distribution schedule (a national promotion, the breakfasts were held on different times and dates). She also faced the challenge of packing, labeling and shipping all items.
Considering the promotion involved 1,350,000 items (the bag, the seven items from each vendor plus a vitally important coupon book meant to drive attending teachers to Office Depots after the breakfast, all multiplied by the 150,000 order size), her success was no small feat. By being able to handle a complicated logistical problem while also sourcing product, Adams was able to close a large deal with a big company that is likely to become a repeat customer.
Promo Marketing: What made this such a successful promotion for you?
Michele Adams: Well, I think it was the fact that we had a solution. Because obviously there were a lot of logistics behind this, so it’s not something they can easily go out and source elsewhere. I think we provided a lot of value-added services.
PM: Would that be one of the best decisions you made with this promotion?
MA: I would definitely say that. I mean that’s my goal every day. I don’t want somebody to call me and ask me for a quote on 144 coffee mugs. I always want to add value to my clients’ marketing efforts.
PM: How did you handle the distribution?
MA: I have a really great team down here in Florida in UPS. I sent them the spreadsheets ahead of time and they produced all the labels and did all the data entry for me. They literally uploaded everything, printed all the labels and sent them out to me overnight. They even provided me with trailers in my parking lot, which is really kind of cool because you’re leveraging your vendor to help you with this other client over here, you know? We would finish one whole wave, which was a week, and we would call them and say “Okay, the truck’s loaded, everything’s labeled, come pick it up and drop another trailer,” and this went on for like six weeks.
PM: Any other advice you’d like to give, either for distributors working with an office super-store or just in general?
MA: Just the value-added service. Instead of just selling product, sell solutions, sell promotions, sell programs, you know? I think that’s really the key to success.
Want to be considered for a future addition of My Best Promotion? Contact Michael Cornnell at [email protected] or (215) 238-5449 for a list of questions and other details.
