|
Part #3 of the 7 Deadly Mistakes
Exhibitors Make When Purchasing Promotional Products
For Trade Shows
When most exhibitors think of
trade show promotional products, they think of using
them
for one reason - Using them to drive booth traffic.
But I must let you in on a secret, most are overlooking
one of the most powerful uses of promotional items,
building customer loyalty through appreciation gifts.
The bottom line is this… Some of your budget
must be used for customer retention.
It Costs 7 Times As Much To Get
A New Customer
As It Does To Retain An Old One
What do you think is the number
one reason customers leave their current supplier?
Price? Nope. Service? Nope. It is the feeling
that their business is no longer appreciated.
Fortunately, the #1 use of promotional items is in
fact - for customer gifts. These gifts foster goodwill
and customer retention. Although there are a number
of ways to show you appreciate your client’s
business, very few of them have the residual
impact of re-usable gifts.
You see…not only do promotional customer gifts
have the effect of the initial “thank you,” but
also the product itself has staying power and reminds
them of your appreciation over
and over. Picture it
like this. Your gift subconsciously says “thank
you” every time it is used. That is the power
of re-useable promotional items.
A
Lamb Amongst Wolves
Here’s something
to keep in mind. If you are at the show - odds are,
so is your competition. And here’s the real
kicker… Do you know who most of the new customers
you picked up at the last couple of shows are? The
unappreciated ex-clients of your competition!
Nothing beats trade shows for meeting clients and
prospects face to face. But consider this, your competition
has the same advantage. Listen, I’m not kidding
around, it is imperative you let your customers know
you appreciate them or our competitors will.
Here Is My Horror
Story
It was my first
trade show. I was a young businessman who had landed
a huge account. Now, the year before
we had purchased about $250,000 worth of T-shirts
from our primary supplier (which was respectable)
and $50,000 from our secondary supplier. (If you
haven’t figured it out yet, I started in this
industry as a T-shirt printer!)
I decided to take a walk over to my primary T-Shirt
supplier’s booth. (Who we had bought about $250,000
worth from during the course of the year) What happened?
I stood for about 10 minutes and was
completely ignored.
(Keep in mind, the average attendee will wait only
3 to 5 minutes without being attended to.)
Ok, so I left and came back a few hours later. Sure
enough, there I was in the booth again for about another
10 minutes - completely ignored. Man, I thought I
was a big fish to these guys, but they didn’t
know or even care who I was.
So here’s what happened next. I went two isles
over to my secondary supplier (who I ordered a small
amount from during the year). They came up to me immediately
and spoke with me as if I was the biggest customer
they ever had!
To this day, I remember our conversation. They gave
me a nice promotional pen, thanked me a million times
and asked what they could do better.
The result? The following year I bought $1,000,000
worth of T-shirts from them and only $50,000 from
the other guys.
But it didn’t stop there either. 12 months
later the rep from my old supplier showed up at my
plant. He was completely blown away by the expansion.
He was eager to know why our sales with them had dropped
so dramatically. My response? “We got a
better deal from the other guys.” He still thinks he
lost the business because of pricing.
Pre-Approach:
The Lanyard Example
I learned a valuable
lesson that day. I decided that when I started exhibiting
at shows I would do everything I could to avoid this
ever happening to me. Like many other businesses,
I have many customers who I’ve never met face
to face. Keep this in mind… trade shows are
a great opportunity to either build on our relationship
or destroy it.
The first time we worked a show it was pretty simple.
We focused primarily on acquiring new business. The
challenge came next year when we worked the same show
or when we worked another show in the same industry.
How would I decipher between existing customers, prospects
from other shows, and new prospects?
Here’s what I did. I sent all the existing
customers we acquired from the past shows a bright
yellow lanyard with a laminated V.I.P. badge. I wanted
them to be seen from a mile away. The badge had an
invitation to our booth with our booth # and a picture
of the gift they would receive.
I informed the staff to look for these lanyards and
at all cost and to make sure they were recognized
and attended to. My salespeople were also required
to call them and invite them to stop by the booth.
If we were talking to a “trick or treater”,
we knew to move them along and greet our V.I.P’s.
What’s more, I instructed my co-workers that
we must make contact within 3 minutes - even if it
meant greeting them and telling them that we’d
be with them in a moment in order to finish up with
who we were talking to.
Every existing customer with a yellow lanyard was
to be introduced to me (the president) and I would
personally thank him or her for his or her business.
We would give them a gift or two, take care of everyone
they were with, and make sure they knew before they
left that we appreciated their business.
In truth, I must admit that we did send a lot of
lanyards out to people who never made the show, or
showed up without wearing it. But, consider this -
they all knew we cared.
RJ Williams, is the
owner of Poor
Richards Promos. Our goal is to help
educate exhibitors and give them the tools to maximize
their trade show results.
Email for
free marketing tips, “52 Ways to Trade
Show Wealth.” For a copy of our full report, “7
Deadly Mistakes Exhibitors Make When Purchasing Promotional
Products for Trade Shows” visit www.poorrichardspromos.com
|
