PPB July 2015

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FIRST IN A TWO -PART SERIES | DEBUNKING THE MYTHS ABOUT SELLING PREMIUMS & INCENTIVES
JULY 2015 • PPB • 57
wonderful one-time immediate buys. There is no
greater value that a distributor can show his or her
client than this list, which, by the way, is not avail-
able to the general public. It’s something they could
search the net forever and not find.
Mitchell: If price is the only thing you’re sell-
ing, then it’s hard to argue this point. However, if
price was the only consideration, then every client
would be calling us to work with them.
Distributors exist because they offer a service to
their clients above and beyond the product itself.
Ask Best Buy if they will gift-wrap 100 pieces of
something. Or, go to Home Depot and give them
a list of 15 participants, each getting two BBQ grill
tools. Price is always important. But what keeps a
client a client is the ease of access you provide and
the logistical support.
Piereth: Again, I disagree. We take on the
inventory risk, offer customer service, bring items
to the clients, handle accounts payable and pro-
vide our clients with a one-stop solution. People
who are interested in getting into this market need
to offer more than what customers can get at
retail. We have great customer service, the best
merchandising team here, a big warehouse and a
lot more to offer our clients that offsets price.
Roark: It’s too tough to compete with retail on
pricing, except when it isn’t. The fallacy for me in
this argument is that it assumes that you are selling
your clients based on price. Assuming that you are
providing a service and a complete solution, you
can justify any change in pricing against the value
added. By the way, there are many of the biggest
branded products that I can sell for less than the
tightly controlled MSRP contracts that bind most
retailers.
Watch for Part 2 of this article in PPB’s August
issue in which the experts will debunk five more of
the most common myths about selling premiums
and incentives.
888-I-AM-PPAI(426-7724) or for details
By CrosStar Network Solutions