PPB July 2015

DEBUNKING THE MYTHS ABOUT SELLING PREMIUMS & INCENTIVES

IRST IN A TWO

PART SERIES

The Experts Say:

Hendrickson:

It’s true that brand-name incen-

tives are not sold exclusively through distributors

like promotional products are. Manufacturers no

longer have sales departments to cover the corpo-

rate/incentive channel; they depend on manufac-

turer’s representatives, who are also spread very

thin. Good communication is key: The more your

local reps know about the customers with whom

you work, the better they can provide you with

leads and information that might interest your cus-

tomer. You’ll be able to proactively provide the

newest and latest brand name products that

should interest your clients.

If your customer contacts a manufacturer

directly, that is forwarded as a “lead” to the local

rep. If that rep knows you work with that cus-

tomer, he or she is far more likely to give you the

lead than to try to build a relationship with that

customer from scratch. But make no mistake: the

rep is contractually obligated to follow up on the

sale. The path of least resistance is to provide that

lead to the distributor who already has the rela-

tionship. Many successful reps and distributors

have formed mutually-beneficial relationships

regarding specific clients.

Knollenberg:

In reality, incentive companies

want to help promotional product distributors sell

incentive solutions to their customers. We don’t

care which one the end buyer purchases from, we

just want to make sure they buy our products

instead of our competitors’ products. Incidentally,

promotional products suppliers feel the same way.

With such a vast array of products available to the

distributor, no one can present the product as well

as the supplier themselves. Being involved in the

selling process provides the ultimate service to the

end buyer to make the best selection for the suc-

cess of the program. In many cases a large end-

user company might have several divisions and

each one could run a different program. For exam-

ple, the sales department might implement an

online sales incentive program for its sales staff that

could run for a 12-month period. The VP of sales

could be looking for a supplier that could set up

the entire program, including helping select the

right awards to motivate the sales force to sell

more. Perhaps the marketing department is looking

for the right trade program to introduce their new

product and gain shelf space at the retail level. Or,

perhaps the HR department wants to implement a

whole new employee engagement program. The

typical distributor may not know how to sell these

types of programs. The incentive companies that

exhibit at PPAI’s

brand.

pavilion every year have

made a commitment to help distributors learn how

to sell these kinds of programs to expand their

business and increase their revenue. The premium

representatives for these brands are willing to make

those sales calls, together, to help the distributors

learn how to sell a wide variety of programs.

Landry:

Most brands that play in the promo-

tional products sandbox are thoroughly familiar

with the landscape. They understand that there is

no better conduit to corporate America than

through the promotional products channel. They

have price lists set up, they can decorate with a

logo (albeit in an understated, upscale manner)

and they offer services such as drop shipping and

note insertion. In an effort to utilize the promo-

tional product distributorship base, they do not

actively solicit in that manner. In fact, many brand-

ed companies will refer the odd request that

comes in from an end user to a promotional prod-

ucts distributor with whom they have already

developed a good relationship.

Mitchell:

Yes, some do sell direct. But most

don’t, because they don’t have the staffing to do

the “hand-holding” end users require. Most

brands (like mine) do well over 90 percent of their

corporate markets business through intermedi-

aries. The days when we had active efforts selling

to end users are so far in the past that only old

people (like me) remember them.

Piereth:

You always want to offer more tools

for your tool belt. You want to offer that one-stop

solution to your customer.

52 •

PPB

• JULY 2015

GROW

“ ”

What Distributors Believe:

PREMIUM COMPANIES

SELL DIRECT TO MY CLIENTS.

I SHOULDN’T BOTHER.