September 2007
Rise to the Top
Four tried-and-true ways to edge out your competition.By Michelle Altobelli
In 1990, I was introduced to this industry by one of my college roommates and did an internship with Kay Bauer from Impact Advertising in Eau Claire, WI. She was and still is a wonderful mentor to me. And, what I’ve learned over the years is there’s a lot more to this business than just supplying products to your clients. It’s really about how you sell the products – you’ve got to be able to show your clients how to achieve their objectives by tying in ad specialty products to their advertising needs and creating a sound marketing strategy. I get a lot more gratification from implementing a working program versus just supplying a stand-alone product. The wearables end of the ad specialty market’s a very creative place to be, as apparel and accessories trends are constantly changing and influenced by retail. Fabrics also continually become better, softer and easier to manage – and they offer lots more performance capabilities that blend function with fashion. It’s our job as distributors to keep current with what’s available and the seasonally changing wearables trends. Here are some tips to up your success in the wearables sector: 1. Take stock of the sales training available to distributors. There are numerous industry trade shows that offer training and educational seminars. While at shows, attend classes that will really give you an edge over the competition. And, while you’re on the show floor, take a little extra time at suppliers’ booths. Instead of just saying, “Show me some of your new products,” actually ask the supplier reps how to sell, for example, the new fabrics or performance features they’re offering. Ask them what buzzwords people are using to sell the new trends and fabrics. And, ask about which industries the new styles can be geared toward. 2. Take the time to really learn what products suppliers are offering. If a client asks you for a royal blue performance wear shirt with protection against ultraviolet rays, do you know what suppliers carry it? Or, if a client asks for a lavender lightweight women’s shirt with spandex in it, do you take the time to send the buyer a published size chart or actually order some samples for her to be sure it fits properly? Recently, I had a corporate client on a tight budget that needed 16,000 shirts in an odd color. The quantity, color and budget were each a challenge, but together posed a greater challenge. It took some researching on my part to find a T-shirt |
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3. Sell a program to really market your client’s company. Another of my clients recently needed shirts for a company outing. The company had 5,000 employees and wanted to stand out from the crowd at this event. Realizing I was bidding against another distributor who constantly low-balled jobs just to get the order, I needed to show this client something that was “different” in order to get the job awarded to my distributorship. I asked the buyer if he had a certain budget that he had to stay within, and he actually didn’t.
The company had a great imprint on a promo poster it did for this event. We tweaked the company’s art a bit and made its cool logo work on a nice red T-shirt that spanned toddler to adult sizes. We also offered the company a package deal: We sold it silicon bracelets with its debossed logo, rolled the T-shirts and put the bracelets around them to be more of a gift when given out to employees. It was a success, and we won the job.
4. Don’t forget to toot your own horn. My biggest challenge is my company’s size; my “big company” competitors come in and promise the world to my existing clients. I love the subject lines of some of the e-mails I’ve received from former clients who went with a different vendor: “We miss you – please take us back.” My biggest successes are showing those same clients that I can actually deliver on my promises.
