“Become a Better Strategic Partner by Helping Your Clients Plan”

by Cliff Quicksell, MAS+, MASI

The promotional products industry for decades has bred reactive salespeople. As I have interviewed top performers over the years, one trait seems to surface over and over again. It’s not the verbalizing of having ‘great customer service’, no it’s actually putting that statement into practice, well beyond what most would consider good customer service.

              A couple of weeks ago I read a blog post by a gentleman that I consider one of the most amazing business minds today, Seth Godin. He makes you think…if you choose to, so I do. Look at a portion of his post stated under the heading of “What Does Your BRAND Stand For?” ~ Seth Godin

              “If you tell me about service and quality and customer focus, you haven’t answered my question, because a hundred 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 brand stands for stands for nothing” ~ Seth Godin

              In any 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 look 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 briefly the idea of helping your clients plan, yes - you being a proactive catalyst for them, to to be 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 that they forgot something for an event and can you please help me get it? While this is not completely unavoidable, it can be put at minimum if proper planning is done.

              A year or so ago I was working with a client of mine who wanted me to go on a call with him at 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 talk for a bit. After the niceties and introductions, I began to ask questions, lots of questions, and as surmised, the client was always in a 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 they would allow us. She asked how I saw this working. I mentioned that we were currently doing $8,000.00 to $10,000.00 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 have a marketing/event calendar in our system, we discuss and interview our clients, and plug those events into our system. Doing this gives us the opportunity to proactively work in the wings, well before the event, developing concepts, ideas and perhaps products that would fit her budget and targeted goals. She was intrigued and agreed to give it shot.

              The next day, my client calls me and said he had received the list of events the client had planned for the entire year, along with the description and goals of each event, some large and other small events. We did a brief analysis of the projected spend of this company and it was over $325,000.00. While there are no guarantees, the potential opportunity is much greater than the $8,000.00 in sales he was currently writing.

              Consider these brief steps you get you off on the right foot in creating a great marketing calendar; and by the way, this is a great practice for YOU as well, for the marketing efforts of your company.

1.     Ask the client for a list of events for the year, what's their objective and proposed outcome, what is their proposed marketing budget for each event?

2.     Plug these into your Outlook Calendar (or whatever CRM 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.

a.     The actual event date, one and three months out

3.     Create a file system for things you receive via email or in the mail. Ideas you get from colleagues. I generally have multiple bins on my desk which are labeled with the client, within that bin I have a folder for each event. As I get ideas on what may work for the event, I write down or tear from a magazine or catalog and I place it in the appropriate folder.

4.     As the event approaches, three months out, I am sending out reminder emails to the client to have 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.

This approach has proven very successful for me; remember I am at some level, working in your shoes. I am not a theorist; I have lived it for nearly four decades. Clients I've had over the years truly appreciated this approach because it helped them stay on track, they knew I was working for them and had their best interest 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 not the typical reactive mode. Only the top three per- centers go the extra mile. You will be amazed, if you put this into practice, you will gain the loyalty and respect of your client, and at the same time, develop additional time management skills which will make you more productive and profitable.

Become the 3%'er! It will pay dividends - I promise!

Until next time, continued good selling! ~ CQ