It’s Evolution, Baby!

Nevertheless, product tweaking is only part of the solution to driving sales traffic. Emmer strongly encouraged individuals to remember the products themselves are secondary to the creativity executed to sell the product. “Businesses want to invest in an outcome, so find out what the outcome is they’re interested in and then figure out how to make it work using promotional products, which frankly, is very easy to do,” he stressed.

Oftentimes, selling promotional products requires distributors to be “idea sellers” to ensure customer loyalty. If an end-user rejects a distributor’s sales pitch to buy a promotional item, then that potential business relationship is finished. Emmer encourages distributors to ask their clients, “What is your problem? What are you hoping to accomplish?” These seemingly basic questions are often overlooked. He recalled working with Chevrolet on a campaign for its top-end sports car, the
Corvette. Because there were different car dealerships in the marketplace selling Corvettes, Emmer’s customer needed a solution to differentiate itself from the competition.

When a distributor’s customer asks for help, that distributor must think fast. Kaeser & Blair presented Chevrolet with his-and-her, high-end, black leather jackets featuring the Corvette logo. Emmer suggested the jackets be strategically placed across the front seat of the Corvette. The catch? The jackets were only available to those who purchased the car.

Leed’s national sales manager, David Grobisen, elaborated. “With the business-to-business aspect of this industry, our customers have their own customers who they are trying to please. Sometimes, our customers are asked to do the impossible and we have to make it happen for them,” he noted.

Grobisen also encouraged forms distributors to expand their product line to include promotional products. These distributors already have several advantages indicative of success, he said. For instance, forms distributors have an established working relationship with their clients—the only difference being the customer’s brand is promoted differently.