Promo Biz Coach Blog:Promo Biz Coach Blog
Promotional products business coach and sales trainer, Rosalie Marcus, "ThePromo Biz Coach",  shortens the learning curve for people in the promotional products industry, helping them make more money with less effort in less time! To sign up for free monthly sales-boosting tips and a free FREE Promo Biz Sales-Boost Kit visit her web site:
http://www.promobizcoach.com

October 4th, 2011

3 Easy Tips to Increase Q4 Promotional Products Sales

If you’ve been reading my blog posts for awhile you know my mantra is “nothing beats personal contact.” If you’re ready to skyrocket your 4th quarter sales it’s important to get out there in a big way. Contact your most wanted prospects and clients and tell them you have great ideas for increasing their business that you want to share. Consider offering a free end-of-year marketing check-up. In short, give your most wanted clients and prospects a reason to want to meet with you. Here are three proven strategies to do just that.
1. Provide free tastes. Baskin Robins made this famous with their little pink spoon. You could taste the ice cream flavors before you purchased. Gourmet food gifts are a top seller this time of year. Many of our top suppliers are now offering delicious food items that your clients may be purchasing in the retail market. Why not let them know you can provide these
too! Want an easy way to get orders for food gifts? Bring your clients tasting samples. Many of our suppliers offer free tasting sample programs. Let your top prospects and clients know that you have a delicious surprise you’re bringing
to the meeting. Supplier Admints provides  tasting samples from their gourmet food line.
2. Be tech savvy. Smart phones, tablets, MP3 players and flash memory are the products we use every day. Let your clients know that not only can you provide many of these products, you can also personalize them with their logo, or provide enhancements to the products such as carrying cases and screen cleaners. Supplier Direct Connections has a cool new holiday card with a paper web key that can be programmed to go to your client’s website and programmed to show the ROI.
3. Be different. Looking for a different idea to suggest this year, or to use as your own holiday gift to your best prospects and
clients? Think books. There are thousands of titles to choose from to accommodate just about any type of client. Last year one savvy promotional products distributor sent her best clients a gorgeous, beautifully illustrated Williams Sonoma cookbook at Thanksgiving. Sending a gift around Thanksgiving will make your gift stand out and will make you look like one in a million
instead of one of many. Check out supplier The Book Company for more book title ideas.
One more important tip…
When meeting with your prospects and clients emphasize that you want to make this easy for them. You’ll do all the legwork, take care of all of the details and make them look fabulous. These days, ease of purchase goes a long way in securing more business!
Follow any of these strategies and watch your 4th quarter sales soars.
Looking for more ideas to easily increase your 4th quarter promotional products sales? Get a free Skyrocket Your Spring Sales audio download with non-stop ideas to increase your promotional sales, plus supplier discounts and my new special report “10 Big Mistakes Promotional Professionals Make and How to Avoid Them and Double Your Sales” at www.promobizcoach.com

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September 13th, 2011

FREE:Skyrocket Your 4th Quarter Promotional Products Sales Audio Download

If you’re like most promotional products sales professionals you’re always looking for fresh ideas to increase your sales and income. That’s just what you’ll find here.

Plus, I have a special bonus for you, but you’ll have to listen to the  MP3 audio download first.

FREE: Skyrocket Your 4th Quarter Promotional Products Sales Audio Download and BONUS Gift.  Read below… 

HERE’S YOUR BONUS

Listen to the entire call. Contact at least 2 suppliers for free samples or catalogs and tell them you heard them on the call with Rosalie.

Send me CC of the email and I’ll send you a bonus gift. Special Report: “How to Outsmart the Bidding Process and Make More Money in Promotional Products Sales.”

Click on the purple link to download the Skyrocket Your Sales audio.

Click on the purple link to download the Power Point Pdf notes.

Click on the purple link to download hundreds in cost savings Special Offers.

 

Did you enjoy the call? Post a comment at the blog. Comment button below.

SUPPLIER CONTACT INFORMATION

1. Roni Wright: The Book Company. roni@thebookco.com

2. Allison Gower: The Platform Group Gallery allison@theplatformgroupgallery.com

3. Glen Straughan, Ash City: gstraugh@ashcity.com

4. Steve Weinstein steve.weinstein@emteasy.com

5. Daniel  Townes, Shepenco, daniel@shepenco.com

6. Mary Crug, Direct Connections, mary@directconnectionsus.com

7. Glen Hersh glen@admints.com

8. Rebecca Kollmann: AIA, rkollmann@aiacorporation.com

AIA Website: www.aiagearedforgrowth.com
– and click on ‘Contact Us)

August 26th, 2011

5 Proven Strategies to Avoid Overwhelm in Your Promotional Products Business

Whether you’ve been in the promotional products business for 10 days or 10 years, you know that this is a business where it is easy to get overwhelmed. The day-to-day operations of running a successful promotional products distributorship can be challenging.

Today’s blog post will give you five proven strategies to get more done in less time and avoid being overwhelmed.

Overwhelmed by clutter? If you’re buried knee deep in samples, catalogs and piles of paper, here’s a quick organizing tip. Pick one area to start with. If it’s your follow-up list, prioritize the calls and emails. If it’s the top of your desk, work on one small area at a time. Set a timer for 10-20 minutes and just take action. It’s amazing how much you can get done in a short amount of time. To keep the momentum going put on your favorite music while you’re getting organized. It will energize you and help you stay on task. To eliminate even more paper clutter consider paying invoices online and accessing your supplier catalogs digitally.

Overwhelmed by email? Turn off the email alerts and vow to check your email at ONLY certain times during the day, such first thing in the morning, lunch and at the end of the day. For questions that you get asked frequently, set up an FAQ page you can refer customers to. Consider setting up an additional email address for non-urgent emails.

Overwhelmed by social media? And who isn’t these days? Set a time limit for yourself. I recommend no more than 30 minutes a day during business hours. If you post to more than one social media site, use a social media management tool such as Hoot Suite. Save the socializing for the evenings when you’re not working.

Overwhelmed with small orders and smaller profits that take up too much time? Do a client profitability analysis. Some customers and their orders may not be worth the time they take. Consider setting a minimum order limit and turning down business that doesn’t meet your profit goals. In the long run this will free your time for more profitable orders and customers.

Overwhelmed trying to choose the best supplier? Choose two to three suppliers in each of the top selling categories. Give those suppliers the bulk of your business. You’ll get better pricing and service when you’re loyal to a core group of suppliers.

The real secret to dealing with overwhelm is to block time on your calendar every day for your most important revenue generating activities. Schedule and prioritize your day ahead of time. Work ONLY on revenue generating activities first. These are the things that directly relate to bringing money into your promotional products business such as client meetings, follow up and proposals.

What are your best tips for eliminating overwhelm and dealing with the day-to-day operations in your promotional products business? Please comment below.

Looking for more ideas to easily increase your promotional products sales? Get a free Skyrocket Your Spring Sales audio download with non-stop ideas to increase your promotional sales, plus supplier discounts and my new special report “10 Big Mistakes Promotional Professionals Make and How to Avoid Them and Double Your Sales” at www.promobizcoach.com