Feeling A Bit Sentimental

I was just reminded that we are coming up on an anniversary in a few days. One of our long-time customers out in Texas just called to order his 2011 promotional calendars and reminded me that he had been buying these from us every year for the past 11 years. 11 years is a long time to do anything and we truly appreciate his loyalty.

WE LOVE YOU, GARY!

On August 15, 2011 we will celebrate our 14th year in business. They say that time flies when you're having fun, so this must be work! ;^) We - you and I and this country - have been through a lot over those years. My youngest was just starting kindergarten in 1997. She is now a sophomore at college while her sisters have both graduated and begun their post-daddy lives. I now have a son-in-law and a grandson. Somehow, though, my wife is just as beautiful, talented and smart as she was then, while I ... well, let's be kind and just say that I am not.

Over the years, things have gone up and things have gone down. The Dow Jones Industrial average on January 1, 1997 was 6448.30. The average price of a gallon of unleaded that year was $1.23 and gold averaged $331 per ounce. In contrast, the yield on the 10 year US Treasury Bond began 1997 at 6.58% while the average interest rate on a 30 year conventional mortgage was around 7.6%.

It's a funny thing. I can't remember how old I am, but I can remember our first order. It was for business card sized refrigerator magnets for a florist. In our first 6 months of business existence, we served 16 customers. All of them either knew me in a former life, or met me when I walked into their place of business and asked for a moment of their time. Over the next 13 and a half years 6 of those customers sadly closed their doors, changed professions or moved far away (remember, Al Gore's internet had not yet become commonplace!). Of the remaining 7, 1 has changed ownership (and apparently their promotional products distributor) while 6 are still currently active customers.

WE LOVE YOU GUYS!

We stopped using calculators and columnar pads to keep our books in 1998. (Yes, I still have ours from 1997)

Our e-commerce web site went live in 1999.

Our nation was attacked and has been fighting back on 3 fronts since 2001. God bless our troops.

We have have served thousands of customers over the years, including 14 who placed their first order with us this year. Our new customers found us either by internet search, or they met me at a networking event, or they were referred by a satisfied customer. By the way, we reward referrals! Looking back, 9/11 has made door-to-door sales very difficult. The internet has made door-to-door sales almost unnecessary.

What does all this mean? We love our customers. We work hard to make them happy. We remember their names and their preferences. We return phone calls and answer emails. We want to be sure that their promotion or their event goes off successfully, without a hitch - at least our part of it. We work with them to find the right product at the right price and get it delivered on time...year after year after year.

Steve

Danger...Danger

This is a dangerous business. You wouldn’t think so, but danger lurks all around a promotional products order. Sooo many things can go wrong…wrong Item Number, wrong quantity, wrong artwork, wrong shipping address, wrong imprint color …sooo many things…no inventory in stock, wrong stock in the bin, wrong sizes pulled, wrong product color, wrong need-by date. Those are just some of the avoidable mistakes. There are always things that cannot be planned against. Things like boxes lost in transit, shipments damaged or destroyed, hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards, labor strikes, US customs delays or even theft. Now throw on top of that RUSH requirements and the whole order looks extremely risky. How I sleep at night is beyond me. Wait…I don’t sleep some nights.

How do you mitigate the risk?

First, of course, know who you are dealing with. Work with someone you trust, especially if they have experience in the matter.

Second, order early. There is usually no need to wait to the last minute to place your order. “Proper prior planning prevents poor performance”, right? Waiting will cost you both in money and in worry. Rush orders often involve a substantial Rush Charge and expedited shipping. Rush charges are necessary because we are asking someone to put in extra hours, ie work overtime, to get your job done and to us by the event. The shipping cost for 1000 Magnetic Business Card Pro Football Schedules (the kind that you add your business card to) UPS ground to me, usually a 3-4 day trip, is about $29. Shipping the same quantity UPS 2nd Day Freight is about $110. Next Day Super Saver will cost you around $242.

Third, require a written acknowledgment or confirmation of your order as well as a proof of the artwork. There is almost always time to make sure. My father, a printer by trade, always warned “If you don’t have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?” Make sure the item number and description, quantity, colors, shipping address, in-hand date and art are all correct. Those are the things you can control. If you receive the acknowledgment and proof, but then don’t check them, any mistakes in production are rightfully yours.

Steve Raggo
www.raggo.com

Showtime

Trade shows can be a great business-building venture. They can also be a waste of time (and money and hard on you back and knees). Depending on the show, hundreds or thousands of people will walk past your booth, table or display. At the show, your job is

1) to figure out which of the passers-by are good prospects and then
2) get the good prospects to stop so you can proceed though your sale process

Last week we discussed some pre-show activities to help ensure your success at the show, namely to get qualified prospects – the people you really need to meet – to your booth at the show. At the show, the approach we take is to divide the attendees into 3 groups.

Group 1 are qualified prospects. These are the people who need your goods or service and can make the decision to buy them from you.

Group 2 are unqualified prospects. These are people who may need your goods or services, now or in the future, but either cannot yet afford them or will not purchase them from you for some reason (long term vendor relationship, their supervisor makes the decision, the boss's son is in your line of work, etc). These might develop into Group 1 prospects when the situation changes in the future.

We call Group 3 ‘the bag people’. These are the folks who are there only for your 'stuff'. They will take everything off your table if you let them. They don't care what you do or what you offer. They bring several of their own bags - really big, sturdy ones - to the event and will walk around the entire venue several times collecting everything they can.

It is best, therefore, to not to go the event alone, especially large events where you have invested a big entry fee. It is also advisable to have several giveaway items of differing values at the show. Think of it as collecting in a river. Put your best closers at the table and one or two screeners in the ‘upstream’ path of the attendees. Arm the screeners with inexpensive items that will satisfy the 'bag people' so they can direct them back into 'the current'. The screeners then direct the Group 1 qualified prospects and, depending on the size of the show and the number of closers you have, the Group 2 unqualified prospects to the closers. The closers take contact information, make the pitch, make the follow up plans and reward the prospects with the more expensive giveaway item you have hidden discretely from view of the ‘bag people’.

For more information along with product suggestions CLICK HERE.

Steve Raggo
www.raggo.com

Winning Strategy for Trade Shows

Ok. Let's talk specifics. For the next several entries we will focus on a number of industries and events. We will discuss which products seem to make the most sense for each, and how best to use them. It is always dangerous for us to do this sort of thing. Once we start naming products we run the risk that you will think we only offer those products. If we talk about an industry you are not part of, you may lose interest in us. Oh well. No risk, no profit…

Today… trade shows.

Exhibiting at trade shows can be a great way to build your business. Depending on the show, hundreds or even thousands of potential customers will walk past your booth, table or display. Your job is


1) to figure out which of the passers-by are good prospects and then
2) get the good prospects to stop so you can proceed though your sale process

Prior to the show it is a very good idea to decide who you want to meet and what your goals are. If you don't know who you want to meet, why spend the money to exhibit in the first place? Start with your best prospects. Add your dream accounts. Who are your best customers now and who might be their 'clones'? It doesn’t have to be a big number if adding just one of them can make your year.

Once you know who they are, invite them. Yes, invite them. Don't make the mistake of assuming that the event coordinator will send them an invitation. Send them something so that they know you will be there and that you want to see them. More importantly, give them an incentive to STOP AT YOUR BOOTH. Getting them to the show is NOT enough.

Here’s an idea. Send them an ‘invitation to the movies’ along with the event information and promise them a movie gift card when they stop at your table. Or, prior to the event, arrange with the event caterer to buy a number of drink tickets, then send a tote bag with your logo and a QR Code linked to a map with your booth location on it to your list promising to give them extra drink tickets when they stop at your booth WITH the bag. Not only will this send them to your booth, it will help you determine which of the people passing by your booth are the people you want to meet - they are carrying your bag!

More on trade shows later. For a sneak preview, CLICK HERE

Steve Raggo
www.raggo.com

My Favorite Promo

Practical promotional products are one of the best investments you can make for your business. They’re marketing tools that do the work for you, keeping your name in front of your customer on a regular basis. I can’t reiterate this point enough. If your customer uses a promotional item weekly, daily or several times a day, then your name and logo are constantly displayed and reinforced. Not only are they reminded of you when they use it, but the people who see them using that promotional item with your logo on it see that as an endorsement of you. Think about it. Someone who sees a calendar on your office wall with Jennifer A. Realtors’ name on it is going to think that you would recommend her. Why would you hang it up if you think she does shoddy work? All you have to do is get the right product in your customers’ hands and they can become walking billboards for your business.

I mentioned calendars as a practical promotional product that often gets forgotten in our search for new, innovative items. Well, I’d like to dedicate this particular post to my favorite of all practical promos: the ink pen.

I am a pen guy. I cannot run my business successfully if I do not have a pen or two on hand at all times. Honestly, from writing down my newest ideas to signing checks to filling out orders, I need a pen. Jotting down a phone number so I don’t have to deal with my complicated smart phone—hand me a pen please! Writing down an appointment? Gotta have a pen! I have at least 10 littering the top of my desk so they are always at hand and I always carry extras with me when I go to meetings. Someone always seems to need one and I really like being ‘a hero’.

Pens are an extremely customizable item as well. With some manufacturers, you can specify the refill color (you can even get three ink colors in one pen-WITH a highlighter), medium or fine point, barrel color, trim color – all this customization in addition to your imprint.

There are click-style pens (2800 on our web site). There are stick pens with caps (1500 on our site). Twist-style pens as well (3900 listed).

Pens that are small, pens that are huge, thick pens, thin pens , twisted , or heat-sensing mood pens .

Earth-friendly pens made from renewable resources or recycled materials. There are even pens that write in zero gravity - below zero degrees - upside-down!

Take a moment to flip through our online catalog to get an idea of your choices. Think about what you like in a pen and what your prospects would like. When in doubt, you can always contact us if you need any help choosing your next promotional pen.

Finally, check out our facebook fan page where our friends get an additional 5% off every order of pens.

Steve

Year Long Advertisements

As I think more and more about practical promotions and gifts for customers, employees, and others, one particular product seems easily forgotten. I attribute this primarily to the sheer amount of use this item gets, as well as the number of styles this product comes in. Sitting at my desk, I have 4 of them in sight. There are 3 in my kitchen as well. If you want your promotional message appreciated, kept and looked at multiple times every day, then there is no better medium than the calendar.

Calendars are, plain and simply, useful. Think about it. The true measure of the practicality of an advertising specialty is whether your customer will spend their own money to buy one if you don't give it to them. I know that I would buy calendars. As a matter of fact, I give a wall calendar every year to my daughters as a Christmas present. Though they are twenty-somethings, my girls still look forward to their yearly calendar.

As I said, calendars come in many shapes, sizes, and styles to fit your needs. The most common is the 12 or 13 month wall calendar. Other popular standards are the the desk calendar, the desk pad calendar (you know the kind, the one that gets buried by paper and your keyboard) and the pocket planner. But that doesn't even scratch the surface. Calendars can fit on computer keyboards, mouse pads, wallet cards, pencil holders and even on ink pens. We have the vinyl self-stick calendars for the car or workshop, and magnetic calendars for your prospect's refrigerator that will stay on their refrigerator all year, and maybe longer. Why longer? Because magnets on the refrigerator are useful beyond the date. I still have a 2008 calendar magnet on my refrigerator from a local real estate agent that is holding up my favorite recipe for chocolate truffle tart.

Calendars are a gift that is greatly appreciated by customers because they are USED. But don't just send them to customers or prospects. Think about the types of businesses that can send you referrals. Mortgage companies get most of their referrals from real estate agents, for instance. An auto body shop might get referrals from repair shops that don't do body work; cleaning services from plumbers or HVAC contractors who see a lot of water damaged homes, etc. Get your calendar on their wall as well. Imagine someone fresh from a fender-bender sitting in the repair shop waiting for the car to get fixed and wondering how much the body work will cost. There is your calendar on the wall behind the counter...who will they call?

Just a little side note. Most of our wall calendar vendors offer special pricing for ordering your calendars early in the year. The savings are substantial. If you are certain that your logo, address and contact information are not going to change, then take advantage of the specials and order early. Once the order is placed, we will print them, send you the bill, store them for free and ship the calendars to you in the fall when you need them. Once it is printed, though, we cannot change the imprint. Here is the sale information from just one of our vendors.

Steve
www.raggo.com

Keeping It Practical

As I mentioned previously, practical, every day items imprinted with your advertising message will make great additions to your next business promotion. The more often a customer uses a product with your business name and logo, they more they are reminded of you and the less likely they are to forget about your great product or service. Practicality is what makes promotional products a superior advertising medium...they have perceived value. I don't believe a customer has ever thanked me for running a radio, newspaper or television ad. But while I am handing someone an item that they want or need, an item that they likely would or have already spent their own money to purchase, I often hear a sincere thank you. Though not (usually) an everyday item, an umbrella is a great promotional product because of its practicality and high perceived value.

I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been caught in the rain without an umbrella. We’ve all had those days, perfectly sunny in the morning when we leave for work and then an afternoon downpour hits. Racing from the office to the car with my portfolio over my head...getting drenched and wondering why I can never remember to pick up an extra umbrella for the office and maybe one for the car as well. Your prospective or current customers have likely had the same experience, so they know the value of that umbrella and will appreciate your thoughtfulness in picking one up for them.

Umbrellas come in all sizes. Large golf umbrellas are great when you’re sponsoring a tournament. Their size also makes them perfect home or office use. Larger umbrellas are able to handle really heavy downpours because of their larger canopy. They also offer a bigger imprint area, so keep that in mind. Because of their size, storage and shipping can be a bit of a hassle, but large umbrellas make up for it in their durability and their, simply put, ability to keep you dry!

A word about venting. Vented umbrellas like the one shown above, allow strong wind gusts to pass through the canopy and help prevent the umbrella from inverting or breaking apart in big storms. Both golf umbrellas and folding umbrellas can be vented. The venting costs more, but your customer knows it has a higher value.

My daughter hates getting caught in the rain, and so she has invested in several telescopic umbrellas. She likes these for their portability. Folded up, they fit in her purse, glove compartment, and anywhere else she hides them. (I think she has two in a junk drawer.) One of her favorites is the 37-inch umbrella with a traveling case from Hit Promotional. Zipped up, it takes up all of six or seven inches worth of space, unfolds to a full size, and the bright lime green is a little pick me up on those dreary days. Other colors are available.

Want to be a hero...put an extra one of these in your briefcase or car and be sure to carry it into a rainy day networking event. When it is your time to introduce yourself to the group, mention that you have an extra and ask if anyone needs an umbrella. I am certain that you will see a number of hands in the air and a relieved smile on the face of the prospect you hand it to. They won't forget you quickly.

Steve
www.raggo.com

Another New Start

I want to apologize for the length between blogs; things have been busy in the Raggo business and household as I am sure that they have been in yours. I did a better job of keeping in touch in 2010, though and will continue to improve in the years ahead. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season! I know I did and let me be one of the first to wish you a Merry Christmas 2011!

Now, it’s a brand new year. Happy 2011! While working out resolutions in our personal lives, we sometimes forget it’s a good time to reevaluate our business goals and take steps to improve our sales, service, and (of course) profits. The beginning of a new year is a great chance to think about where you want to go and how to get there. We have great sale pricing on many of the items you need and pledge to keep the sales current throughout this year.

In the past few years, we have been tried with difficult economic times. We have had to make sacrifices and turn our attention to filling our basic needs, ignoring frivolity and fun. There have been trends in the consumer market reflecting this return to basics. Think... packing lunches, walking or riding bikes instead of driving, and other more thrifty practices. I will be writing a few upcoming blogs on some of these practical products to help you keep your business on your customers’ minds.

Right now though, I’d like to mention a gift for your customers that is just plain fun. While the dreary days of winter are wrapping up, you can give a gift to your customers to help brighten their home or garden. Seed packets and seed papers are available in a variety of shapes and sizes and at very economical prices as well. Bright daisies, forget-me-nots, and all types of herbs are available in a number of unique packaging choices. They make great Earth Day promotions (April 22, 2011), too.

Indoor plant kits are also available, for those with less of a green thumb. I’m a fan of the Sunflower kit. This four-inch pot is small enough for a window sill and the pop of yellow from the sunflower will brighten anyone’s day.

As the doldrums of winter drag on, a gift of seeds or a growing kit are a great way to remind customers that spring is indeed on the way.

Happy New Years everyone!

Steve
www.raggo.com