Add Value, Win Loyalty
This distributor builds goodwill when she sells promotional products.
Graham Data Services, Amarillo, Texas, supplies "everything under the sun," including note pads, Quikoins and folders, says Lacie Burnett, the distributorship's vice president.
Sometimes a good business partner gives ideas away for free. When a community bank wanted suggestions for a promotional activity, Lacie Burnett, vice president at Graham Data Services, Amarillo, Texas, recommended handing out homemade cookies to customers.
The distributorship didn't stand to sell anything for the event, but Burnett anticipated other benefits. When they perceive you as valuable, "they want to do business with you," she says. "You can buy the products I sell from a lot of other distributors. You cannot buy from any other distributor the value that I bring. We've got to bring more than a product to the table."
Graham Data Services sells "everything under the sun," including promotional products, to a range of industries. "Our whole goal at Graham Data is to have a client for years and years and years, not to just make a sale," Burnett says.
To earn a client's loyalty, Burnett acts more like a consultant than a product provider. A recent project lasted more than six months, during which the distributor helped another bank change names and reintroduce itself to the eight communities it serves. Graham
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced a recall of 6,300 promotional plastic water bottles distributed by H&M clothing stores nationwide. The bottles' drinking spouts detach, posing a choking hazard to young children, the CPSC reports.
Consumers received the bottles as a free premium with purchase of children's wear in February and March this year. H&M offers $5 toward any other purchase when consumers return the bottle.
The Allen Company/Color Craft Line, a manufacturer headquartered in Blanchester, Ohio, received four awards from the Society of Glass and Ceramic Decorators at the International Society's DECO 2004 annual convention in March. The company won awards for design excellence in the following categories: Food Containers, for a 26-oz. clear apothecary jar with "Color Advantage" screened in an innovative ceramic blend; Promotional Products, for a 15-oz. black "El Grande" Coffee Mug imprinted with 22k gold over a light satin etch to give the penny design a burnished and florentine look; Novelties and Souvenirs, for an 11-oz. black anchor mug screened with a iridescent/simulated color blending process to give "Horse Ranch" a distinctive look; and Innovation, for an 11-oz. black pearlized mug screened with simulated pewter and a subtle dot pattern to create the globe and Pegasus image for Schenk Pegasus Corporation.
Stationery and Branding Tools
Purple Communications Ltd., Surrey, United Kingdom, offers Paples™ stationery products, promotional products and branding tools. An alternative to staples and paper clips, Paples hold paper by combining sticky-note adhesive with a fastening design. Standard-sized Paples are 1 1/4 x 2 1/2 inches, with an imprint area of up to 2 1/3 square inches. Jumbo Paples, for use on larger paper formats, measure 2 1/6 x 4 1/3 inches. Paples' design templates can feature most client logos and colors, as well as additional promotional information such as a URL. For more information, call (877) 727-5370 or (517) 913-6033 (fax).
4-Color Calendar Pad
Fey Industries, Edgerton, Minn., offers its Peel-n-Stick™ 12-month calendar pad. It's available in 73 standard shapes or custom designs. Add any 4-color calendar pad to any Peel-n-Stick shape to create value for customers. For more information, call (800) 533-5340 or (507) 442-3686 (fax).
provided promotional giveaways and T-shirts with 3-D rubber logos for employees to wear, and it also helped the bank choose dates to hold promotional events. "They made sure we were an integral part of their marketing team," Burnett says. She collected special-event information from each community's Chamber of Commerce to present to bank officials.
Working this closely with a client presents challenges. The bank ordered several thousand dollars' worth of logoed clothing and giveaways for use at an open house the following week. In deadline situations like these, you have two choices, Burnett says: "You can say, 'It's impossible,' or you can work your butt off for three days and get it done." The extra effort pays off in repeat business and referrals, she says. "If I can help them make more money, which I truly believe I can do, then it's a given that we grow."
--Andrew Brown
