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Does this sound familiar? You’re excited. The great prospect you’ve been trying to get in to see for months finally agrees to a meeting with you. You know the company could use your expertise and you would love to win their promo business! 

You prepare for the meeting ahead of time by going to your prospect’s website to understand more about their company’s culture and product line. You look for trigger events such as a trade show, product launch, or a company milestone. You ask your friends, relatives, and colleagues what they know about the company. You do a Google search to see what is posted about the company. You follow the company and your prospect on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook. You study the company logo thinking about how it can best be used and on what products. When the big day comes you’re prepared. You go into the meeting optimistic and confident.

You listen, ask great questions, and get your prospect talking. The meeting goes well and you have your prospect interested in using a targeted promotional product to solve their current business challenge.

You build rapport and suggest a next meeting. You’re confident you can get business from this company. You’re setting up a time to meet again and present your best ideas when the prospect “bursts your bubble.”

She tells you that any idea you present will have to be in the form of a proposal and go before a committee for approval. She also tells you that standard procedure in her company is to get two other proposals. You would love to get the business, but don’t want to lowball your price and end up making very little money. What should you do?

Before you decide if pursuing this is worth your time, get some basic information. First, and foremost, find out how decisions are made on proposals. Are they based on lowest price, quality, delivery, creative ideas, or previous relationships? Also, ask what they value most in a vendor.

You need to know this information ahead of time before you can decide if this order and future orders are worth your time and effort.

If you’ve made the decision to pursue this company, here are some quick tips to make your proposal stand out and get the business without cutting your price!   

1. Ask if you can be present at the committee meeting. Nothing beats personal contact and no one will be able to present your proposal as well as you can. If you can attend, come prepared with samples with the company logo, small promotional gifts for the committee members, and refreshments for the group if applicable.

The following tips will work well whether you present in person or not.

2. Provide options. Present a three-tiered option with low, medium, and higher priced promotional products. People appreciate options and you’ll have a better chance of securing the order with more options. Studies have shown that most customers will choose the medium- priced option.

3. Provide testimonials. Prospects don’t want to take chances. Provide testimonials from your clients about how great it is to work with you. Make sure you have permission to use these. Include in your testimonials specific results your accounts had when working with you, such as increased traffic at a trade show booth, or less accidents in the work place. You get the idea.

4.  Provide an actual product sample with the company logo. Providing an actual or virtual proof of the product with your prospect’s logo will position you as someone who goes “the extra mile.” Samples work and will help secure the order.

5. Provide quality and event date guarantees. Again, prospects don’t want to take chances. Working only with quality suppliers who back up their products and delivery dates will make this easy.

6. Provide faster turnaround. If you can get the order to them faster than your competitors you have a unique advantage. Any way your company can stand out should be pursued.

7. Provide a company or personal bio. People buy from others they know, like, and trust. Giving your company background and accomplishments can go a long way in establishing the know, like, and trust factor. Include any awards you or your company have won and some personal information to make you more relatable.

8. Add the personal touch by including a video with your proposal. This is the next best thing to meeting with the committee in person and will give the people in charge a sense of who you are and your capabilities.

9. Provide special packaging options. Are there ways to package the item creatively that you can provide that will enhance the promotion for your prospect?

10. Provide additional help. Let your prospect know that you’re not just there to take the order, you can help them with distribution and marketing ideas and design.

Above all, remember, in order to make money in promotional products sales you need to give your prospects a reason to do business with you that is not based on the lowest price.

What do you think? Would you add anything to this list? Please comment below. 

One more thing… Will you be attending EXPO EAST in Atlantic City next week?  I’ll be presenting two sales-building sessions. If you’re there, please stop by and say hello. I would enjoy meeting you. Below are my sessions on MONDAY, JUNE 11.  

Connections Corner Round Table Discussion: Powerful Networking Secrets for Savvy Women 11:00AM – 11:30AM, Room 312 Foyer, CAS 0.5

The Small Distributor Advantage: 1:00PM – 2:00PM, Room 314, Level 3, CAS 1.0