58 / 94
56 •
PPB
• FEBRUARY 2016
THINK
FAST FORWARD
On Your Honor
Progressive Insurance wasn’t the first
company to use a “name your price” gim-
mick to bring customers in ... garage sales,
produce stands and street hawkers have all
given clients the option to pay what they
feel an item is worth.
Online retailer Everlane took this
approach at the end of 2015, offering cus-
tomers the chance to purchase select over-
stocked items at one of three price points.
The kicker? Everlane detailed what each
suggested price point would cover in terms
of labor, materials and ancillary employee
costs—as well as funds for future company
growth.
If you think this new kind of tiered pric-
ing might work for a promotional products
business, ask yourself these questions first:
Have your customers clearly or frequently
stated what they think an item or service
should cost? Is the actual price much higher
(or lower)? Do your customers’ valuations
vary greatly among each other?
If the answer to one or more of these is
yes, it might be possible to implement a
tiered pricing system that doesn’t factor in
customer order frequency, volume or credit,
but instead shows the customer just what
each price point accomplishes for them and
for you.
Of course, the most important question
to ask yourself is, do your customers know
the value of what you do for them? If the
answer to this is no, then it’s time to
become a consultant who imparts value to a
comprehensive service, rather than a dis-
tributor who merely sells products.
know that sounds generic, but it’s
about the sense that you’re not just
making a ‘widget,’ you’re actually
contributing to something much big-
ger. We make great products, and
we make jobs and dreams for peo-
ple. We have several multigenera-
tional employees working here.
PPB
What unique values or per-
spectives does a family-owned
business bring to the promotional
products industry and its clients?
Crownover
We talk a lot about
adding value. There’s a thought that
people defer to price, absent value;
we see this in our personal lives. I
visit a particular shop when I need
something for my Vespa. I don’t
know if they’re the cheapest, but I
go because they take care of me
and they’ve done a great job show-
ing me what value looks like. That’s
the kind of business I want to be.
The value proposition is real for me.
Running a business well and treating
people well is a real thing for me.
PPB
From a business standpoint,
what changes or new ideas would
you like to implement at ID Plates
going forward?
Crownover
We want to grow. All
the people who built this company
are nearing retirement age. As part
of my coming here I wanted to
move the business forward. The pur-
pose of our business is to bless the
lives of others, starting with our cus-
tomers, our vendors and our
employees. But we have to grow.
I’ve spent the last year taking our
company through the Goldman
Sachs 10K Small Business Program.
They look at your business from all
angles … the process was painful,
but helpful. Not only do we have the
desire, but we now have the plan
and the confidence.
I’m not trying to change every-
thing, but I want to know if we’re
doing the right thing or just the same
thing. It’s a fresh opportunity to eval-
uate our relationships, and we’ve
recently hired a marketing profes-
sional who’s very interested in the
promotional products side of things.
PPB
As a member of the commu-
nity, how does staying involved
benefit ID Plates?
Crownover
We have a bunch of
small things that are cool. We’ve
always had a robust relationship with
high school programs. Some of our
long-term employees came to us
that way. We have at any given time
four or five of those students work-
ing here. It doesn’t always turn into
a home run, but you never know the
seeds you plant.
We also participate in a program
called Sharing Life, which operates a
food and clothing bank for families.
There’s a 5K run that we volunteer
to make the awards for, as long as
our employees participate. One of
the things that challenges us is that
our customers don’t actually live
here. But the overwhelming majority
of our employees live within five
miles of here.
PPB
What, if any, ideas do you
have for getting or keeping ID
Plates involved with its local com-
munity, or with charitable organi-
zations or causes?
Crownover
I’m looking at a compa-
ny-funded volunteer program–I’ve
already done this informally, but I
would like to make it a company
benefit. The best thing I can do for
the community is to run this busi-
ness well so I can hire more people.
If I can give you a job, with benefits,
you can send your kids to college.
We are also looking at models that
deliver some financial management
tools to families, things like Dave
Ramsey’s programs, for instance. All
of us could acquire better skills for
budgeting, being out of debt, etc.
In the end, such steps free us to be
more generous in our efforts to love
our neighbor, and that’s what it’s all
about.
Continued From Previous Page
MARKET SHARE