The promotional products industry for decades has bred reactive salespeople. As I have interviewed top performers over the years, one trait seems to surface more times than not. No, it’s not the verbalizing of having “great customer service.” It’s actually putting that statement into practice well beyond what most would consider good customer service.
A couple weeks ago I read a blog post by Seth Godin, a gentleman I consider to have one of the most amazing business minds today. He makes you think (if you choose to do so, and I do). Look at what a portion of his “ What does your brand stand for?” post stated:
“If you tell me about service and quality and customer focus, you haven’t answered my question, because 100 other brands stand for that. If you are what others are, then there’s nothing here to own or protect or build upon. … Are you one-of-a-kind or even one-in-a-million? … A brand that stands for what all brands stand for stands for nothing much.”
In a congested industry where the barrier to entry is lower than ever, it is imperative to go beyond—way beyond—what is deemed “good customer service.” We must constantly be looking at ways, methods and systems that will push the perception of our company as being one-in-a-million.
There are many ways to be different—really different. Today, I want to discuss the idea of helping your clients plan. Yes, be proactive for them in order to become a better strategic partner. Developing an event or planning calendar is one great way to accomplish this. Like you, your clients are incredibly busy, and more times than not, the products and services we offer are an afterthought. How many times have you had a client call you and say they forgot something for an event and ask if you can please help them get it? While this is not completely unavoidable, it can be put at minimum if proper planning comes into play.
A year or so ago I was working with a client/friend of mine that wanted me to go on a call with him to a major corporation. Before we walked in the office, he asked me how this was going to work. I said, “Introduce me however you’d like, and then let me take over.” After the niceties and introductions, I began to ask questions—lots of questions—and as I surmised, the client was always in last-minute mode (as are most), very busy and was being challenged every day to measure or validate her marketing spend.
I shared with her that she was not getting all of the “horsepower” from our company (my client had introduced me as his marketing/creative director), and we wanted to be more if she would allow us. She asked how I saw this working. I mentioned that we were currently doing $8,000 to $10,000 and we realized that there was much more we could do. We explained in detail the services we provided well beyond just promotional merchandise and for our top clients we work proactively in the background to ensure that all of their events are tended to timely and cost efficiently. This seemed to spark her interest and she wanted to know more. We explained how we create a marketing/event calendar in our system and, by doing this, we could proactively work in the wings on developing concepts, ideas and, perhaps, products that would fit her budget and goals. She was intrigued and agreed to give it a go.
The next day my client called me and said he had received the list of events—some large and others small events—the client had planned for the entire year, along with the description and goals of each event. We did a brief analysis of the projected spending of this company, and it was more than $325,000. Obviously there are not guarantees but the potential realized opportunity is much greater than what he currently was getting.
Here are a few brief steps to get you on the right road to create a great marketing calendar; and by the way, this is a great practice for you as well for your company.
- Ask the client for a list of events for the year. What is the company’s objective and proposed outcome? What is its proposed marketing budget for each event?
- Then plug these into your Outlook calendar (or whatever program you choose) in the following way. You can actually set up multiple calendars in your system and for your larger clients with multiple events I highly recommend this. Add:
- Create a file system for things you receive via email and in the mail, and ideas you get from colleagues. I generally have multiple bins on my return that are labeled with the client and within that bin I have a folder for each event. As I get ideas on what may work for that event, I write it down or tear it from a magazine or catalog and place it in the appropriate folder.
- Three months before the event I am sending our reminder emails to the client to set up a meeting to discuss the upcoming event. I may have secured spec samples, created story boards and/or developed a theme or two for discussion.
—The actual event date
—A reminder one month prior
—A reminder three months prior
This approach has proven very successful for me. Remember I was, and still am at some level, working in your shoes. I am not a theorist; I have lived it for more than three decades. Over the years clients have truly appreciated this approach because it helped them stay on track. They knew I was working for them and had the best interest of their company in mind. It saved them time, money and heartache, and in today’s busy world that speaks volumes.
The key here is to be proactive, and not to be in the typical reactive method. Only the top three percenters go the extra mile. You will be amazed if you put this into practice. You will develop additional time-management skills that will make you more productive and profitable. Be a three percenter!
Until next month, continued good selling!
