How Much To Shell Out

Corporate Holiday Gifting

So what do you spend on corporate holiday gifts?  That’s a tough question in a tough economic climate.  Providing you haven’t just laid off a bunch of employees and times are tough but your company is pluggin along, I hope you are still gifting your clients this year.  I have mentioned in past posts that you should at least send a holiday card.  They are inexpensive and they go alot further than not acknowledging your customers at all.

The reason I did this post is Monday I got an email from a new customer asking for gift ideas under $3.00.  My first thought, was “Holy Crap gifts under $3.00?”  But then rationale clicked in and I realized that every company has a budget and at least they were giving something, which is far better than giving nothing.  Now this customer had no ideas of what they wanted to give.  She only had a budget.  I was given no direction, but needed to brainstorm ideas.  Now keeping in mind that I have 800,000 products to choose from…where was I to start.  She gave me quite a challenge, but I did manage to come up with quite a few ideas for her.  I was fairly proud of myself when all was said and done.  It’s not hard to find a marketing piece in that price range, but something that is considered a gift…well that was a bit harder.

So that left me to wonder – how much do you spend on your corporate holiday gifts?  Does every customer get a gift?  Do you have tiers, where customer that spend x amount with you get this gift and customers that spend y amount get that gift?  Do you base spending on a percent of what they spend with you?  Every company has a different method. 

When all is said and done, holiday gifts can be very high end or very inexpensive…the main idea is to build relationships with your current customer base, build goodwill and show appreciation.  It doesn’t really matter the amount you spend, just spend…the economy will thank you and in the end the repeat business will make it all worthwhile.

Marketing Commodities vs Programs

What the heck does marketing commodities vs programs mean?  A commodity would be a product.  For example I sell promotional products.  Actually that reminds me of a little story.  I was at a networking/chamber event and I was introducing myself.  When I mentioned that I own a promotional products company, the person responded “Oh you sell trash and trinkets”.  At first, being not a very confrontational person I was apt to say yeah, that’s what I do, figuring that the person could relate to that.  But in all honesty I never thought of myself as a trash and trinkets sales person.  I have always thought of myself as a brand builder a marketing partner for companies.  The products I sell, better yet the programs I sell are far from trash and trinkets, they are advertising that works 24/7/365 days per year.

On that day I realized that I don’t market products or commodities.  I market programs: incentive programs, customer loyalty programs, brand building programs, employee appreciation programs, client retention programs etc… The vehicle I use is promotional products.

What sets you apart from your competition?  Is it the product you sell?  I don’t think so.  If so you are very replaceable.  You must sell ideas, your creativity, programs.  When you can do that, it doesn’t matter what product is that vehicle.  Your ideas and creativity are what make you indispensable.  It is what sets you apart from the competition.

No matter what company you work for you will always have competition.  To put yourself out in front of the competition you must rethink what you do and offer.  Are you a product pusher or a person who solves problems using a particular product?  Rethink, Reinvent!

Holiday Gifting Doesn’t Have To Be Scary

Does the thought of finding the right holiday gifts for you customers scare you?  With a bit of imagination and some help from yours truly (no that’s not me in the picture) it doesn’t have to be a nightmare.

Being that today is Halloween, I thought I would take the fright out of holiday gifting by spotlighting a few products that are great for the holidays.  Ok it just wouldn’t be right if I didn’t start off with food gifts on Halloween, but these won’t leave your recipients with a big belly ache.  Did you know that food gifts are the #1 best selling holiday gift?  One of the reasons they are great is because people can share them with coworkers or family.  One of my favorite items is a combo of sweet and salty:  maybe some english toffee and cashews in a wood box with your imprint branded on the box.

Beyond food gifts there are so many great gift ideas, one favorite of some of my customes are USB drives.  You can now even get those in custom shapes.  I love gifts that people will use all the time, like bag chairs, you know the ones that people take to soccer games – not a bad way to advertise too.  Fleece blanket are fantastic this time of year, embroidered with your logo.  Stainless travel mugs are always a hit.  Lets not forget one of the most popular tech items…digital picture frames.

The key is to not get so caught up in decision making process that you don’t make a decision at all.  The holidays are the time to really let your customers know that you value them.  Choose a gift that you can be proud to give out that will leave a lasting impression.  We can make your gift giving more like a day at the beach than a creepy night at the graveyard.  Give us a call.  We’ll make your job easy and make you look like a million bucks.

Cash Crisis

This will be just a quicky, but I did feel a need to address this topic.  The country is heading if not already in a recession.  Companies that have been long fixtures are gone.  House are being foreclosed upon.  People are losing jobs.  The stock market…well let’s not talk about that (I try not to even look at it right now).  Seems like a perfect time to tighten up the purse strings and not send those holiday gifts right?

Well in a cash crisis what appears to be the right decision is anything but.  If your business is still up and running, the most important thing to do (other than counting your blessings) is to make sure that you hold on to customers and employees.  When times are tough you have to pull out all stops.  I’ve mentioned in earlier posts that it is much easier to get business from current customers and much less expensive than trying to get new customers.  Make sure you are thanking those customers with even a small gift of appreciation.  It will go a long way to making sure that they want to continue to do business with you next year.

As for employees, they are the backbone of your organization.  It is so important to pat your employees on the back when they do a good job.  Did you know that many people are motivated by just being recognized for their efforts?  Did you know a pat on the back doesn’t cost a dime?  There are lots of free ways to give employees recognition.  It is also great to consider gifts if you have the budget.  You will find that the payoff is happy employees who love their job, which helps your business and profits grow.

Making The Right Choice

calendars

You have decided that you really do need to hand out promotional items to market yourself.  Right away – I have to say you have made a good choice.  Promotional products (products with your logo or info on them) is one of the least expensive, best advertising choices you can make.  Let’s say you choose to send your customers a calendar this year for the upcoming 2009.  Regardless of what kind of calendar you send, wall calendar, desk calendar, computer calendar – you have chosen a product that you pay for once, but you get 24/7 advertising.  How great is that?!

So what do you choose for your continuous advertising?  Well that depends on what your marketing efforts are.  Are you in a tradeshow?  Are you leaving a promotional item behind at sales calls?  Are you sending a thank you gift to your valued customers?  Are you doing a mailing?  That’s right, your choice of promotional item will depend on how you are marketing.  It will also depend on who you are marketing to.  Another factor will be how you want to represent your company.

The who you are marketing to:  Possibly you are marketing to a particular niche.  Lets say for example, your customer is someone who is always at the computer – then computer related promotional items are the perfect choice.  What if your customer or potential customer is in a specific industry – then you could choose an item that relates to that industry.  What about if you customer doesn’t fit into any particular category – then it is time to consider items that relate to your industry or the event.

Marketing for your industry:  How do you want your company to be viewed.  Do you portray your company as very serious and professional?  Do you prefer customers to associate your company with fun?  Are there specific products that directly relate to your company.  For example, a car saleperson may want to give people who buy a car from them a keychain.  Or a new housing developement that happens to be on a golf course may want to give out golf tees to everyone who previews their model houses.

Whatever idea you choose you want to make sure that you are choosing a useful item.  The more the recipient will use the item the more times they see your info. 

If you need great ideas check out our website at www.cgpros.com or give us a call – we will help guide you to the right choice.

Promotional Products with a Twist

You are marketing your company.  You’re building your brand.  You’re using promotional products to do both – fantastic!  What products are you marketing with?  Are you using letter openers?  Maybe you are using coffee mugs.  Yawn.  Sorry that was not super nice of me and while a mug is useful, it can be a bit unimaginative. 

When you are building your brand, do you want the same ole same ole to represent your company or do you want creative, unique and special to be associated with your brand?  Sometimes it is hard to be creative but in the promotional products world there are some 800,000 items to choose from.  So instead of ho hum why not make a statement.

Improved Mousepad

There are oodles of new products, but today I want to talk about standard products with a twist.  For example, mouse pads, everyone with a computer uses a mouse pad.  Sounds like a great idea.  The user will see your name day in and day out.  That is a good thing.  Here’s the catch, it they have a mouse pad why will they throw their current one to the wayside and replace it with one you give?  The answer is…you give a better mouse pad.  Maybe your mouse pad has a calculator or a wrist rest.  The following are good ole products with a twist or upgrade, if you will.

• That letter opener – what about one attached to a staple puller or stapler.
• Pen – why not give a dual pen, pen/highlighter all in one.
• Highlighter – give one that had the post it note flags on it.
• Stapler – wouldn’t your recipient love a stapless stapler?  Or what about tape dispenser/stapler combo?
• Key tag – bottle opener keytag or caribiner keytag.

See what I mean by products with a twist.  New, upgrade and unique will always get them to use the product you gave, will get their attention and will build your brand.

Beer & Branding !?

So what does beer and branding have to do with one another?  Well this past weekend I went to a Beerfest.  There were literally 400 different beers offered for tasting there.  Now it is my understanding that beers are distributed by different companies or distributors.  I saw those distributors mentioned in the program that was handed out.  The program also showed the names of the beers that each distributor brought for the tasting.

While I realize that the beerfest is a fundraiser of sorts it is also a wonderful opportunity to get people to taste the distributors beers and realize that they have been missing out on some fantastic beers.  I tried so many different ones and while I won’t get into the effect that all that tasting had on me (I did have a designated driver – don’t worry) – the one thing that left me a bit cold, if you will, is the following:  Let’s say that I tried 100 of the 400 offerings.  There were many that I really liked alot.  I would say to my husband – hey remember I really like that “______”, in case I forget.

Now that is where I am headed – after trying 20, 50 or even 400 beers, how in the world was I going to remember which ones I liked.  Barring the fact that I was pretty well snockered, even if I was dead sober I would have a hard time remembering.  I am thinking that these distributors are sharing their beer in the hopes that it will increase sales.  But if I can’t remember the name of your beer how am I going to buy it?

Point being, these distributors, in my opinion, made a fatal mistake.  If I taste your beer and then I surprisingly tell you that I like it, don’t you think it would have been wise for them to hand me something with the beer name on it?  It could have been anything – a business card, magnet, a coaster – anything that would help me become a purchaser of their product.  Instead I am going around telling everyone I loved a bunch of nameless beers and when I go to the liquor store, I will probably end up with the old Miller Lite because I never got a promotional item – that would have helped me remember a wonderful beer.

Don’t miss perfect opportunities to have your company stuck in the heads of potential customers.  Call me for some good promotional ideas - heck even a not great promotional handout would have been better than no promotional handout.  Wanna bet who I will be calling on soon?

Yesterday, I spent the day with a tent on the 13th hole at a golf tournament.  It was a beautiful day out.  I handed out tons of logoed freebies.  I had imprinted golf tees, pens, six-can coolers, stainless steel travel mugs, magnets, business cards and catalogs.  I also had a contest where I was able to collect peoples info. 

The event was successful for me for many reasons.  First I got to meet lots of people.  Many of these people were business people.  For a lot less money, I could have just donated a logoed product to the tournament.  Instead, I spent quite a bit more money to have a tent on the course and hand out logoed product.  What is the importance of this? 

If you are a well known business in your community it is not as significant.  But for a company that is newer or not as well known, it allows you to let people know exactly what you offer.  If I had donated product imprinted with my company name it is very possible that no one would know who Corporate Gift Pros is or what we do.  But since I had a tent at the tournament and I could physically hand people my imprinted product.  I had an opportunity to introduce myself and briefly tell them what my company does.  So now when they see Corporate Gift Pros they can put a face to the company.  They now know that Corporate Gift Pros offers about 800,000 different products that we can imprint their logo on. 

In trying to establish a name for yourself or your company try to do events that you will actually attend and get to talk to people.  This insures that people know exactly what you do.  Making direct contact with them is a great first step in getting new business.

Paper, Plastic or Neither

19 x 10 x 12 x 10

They always ask at the store, “paper or plastic”, but the trend these days is neither.  While I tend to avoid jumping on band wagons, this is one you may want to jump on a ride for a while.

Clearly the environment is a big topic and reducing your impact on the environment is much talked about.  A super simple way is to use reusable shopping totes.  Of course, you could buy them at the store, but wouldn’t it be better to provide them.  Not only would you be helping the environment, but you would be increasing your exposure dramatically.  What a great product.  Your recipient actually wants this item.  They will actually use this item and everyone at the store will see your bag and probably want one too…as long as you chose wisely.

There are tons of reusable shopping totes.  I always say that you should put a twist on every product.  So lets think about the recipient.  When you grocery shop you will need more than one tote or a very large tote.  it can also be a pain to bring 5 to 7 totes with you to the store.  The key here is to solve a problem.  Problem…People want to use a tote instead of plastic bags, but they hate dragging a bunch of totes with them.  Answer…this is where the twist come in…Offer an answer to the problem with a neat new solution…Below are some great options.  If you like these or want help with totes or other promotional products visit our website at www.cgpros.com or call 866-414-5559.

19 x 10 x 12 x 10

Folds In Attached Pouch

4 Bags In 1 Pouch

Spans Width of Cart

 

 

                                                                        

 

  

 

 

 

A Gift For You On My Birthday

It is my birthday today.  So in celebration of my birthday and all who might have been born today, I have decided that I should give you a present. 

For today and today only, anyone who places an order will receive a $43 discount.  Yep, $43 dollars – I know that it is a crazy number.  Why $43 you may be asking yourself.  Does it really matter?  You get to save $43 – that’s a good deal.  But in case you just have to know – the answer is simple, I just like the number 43…just kidding, of course it is because on this illustrious day, Sept 10, that I turned 43.  Hey I could have chosen to do a $10 discount for September 10th.  I think you and I will agree that the number 43 sounds pretty good in terms of savings as compared to 10.

So here is the catch – there is always a catch…you must order today before the end of my business day.  Normally that would be 5:00p.m. central time, but it’s my birthday so I can end my day whenever I want, 3:00 p.m., 8:00p.m. – whatever.  You must spend at least $500 (not including shipping) to receive this discount.  You must either call in your order (btw, do mention that you read this blog post) – 866-414-5559 toll free or if you are local 316-789-1930 or you can email me an order request.  My email is on my website at www.corporategiftpros.com.  The shorter version is www.cgpros.com.  I would put my email here but I get enough spam. 

You need to hurry because it is 9:00 a.m. central time.  Get your order in before the day runs out and save save save.