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Going e Extra
Mile For Clients
HDS Marketing embodies the consultative approach
to build long-term relationships with corporate clients
PPB
What’s the story behind the HDS
tagline: Merchandise As Media?
Schwartz
This is actually an adopted tagline
from the company I purchased; they were in
the sports merchandise world, but it ts [with
what we do] because the media industry is
exactly what we’re in; we just communicate
with promotional products.
Media is anything that tells a message,
and “Merchandise As Media” portrays
what we do. We’ve also used the tagline
“Our business is promoting your business.”
But we’ve changed that to “Ideas.
Innovation. Integrity.”
PPB
What misconceptions does your team
encounter when pitching premiums as
custom/promotional items?
Schwartz
Cost is one misconception. People
think they can buy one piece at a time at
retail pricing, but that’s impossible. Take the
cost of headphones, for example. We can’t
compete with Best Buy on a single set of
headphones, but when you want 40 pairs,
we are going to be competitive. We also
provide personalization, tracking, individual
drop shipping—Best Buy can’t do all that.
Additionally, the margins on premiums,
particularly electronics, are much narrower.
Interestingly, many clients ask for discounts
on gift cards, but the only way money is
made on gift cards [with cash value] is to
charge a service fee on the administration of
a gift-card program.
PPB
You work with a group of “preferred”
suppliers. What’s the strategy behind
selecting suppliers to include in this group?
Schwartz
It’s a multi-pronged approach.
Obviously there’s a nancial component, but
the three things we’re looking for are price,
quality and service. You have to gure out
what’s best for your clients, and you need
to gather metrics on suppliers so you can
gure out what’s going to t.
PPB
Your clients include regional and
global brands; what common pain points
and challenges do they present, and is
there a universal ‘solution’ that you use to
address them?
Schwartz
No client is exactly the same.
Their pain points are different, but you can
look at similarities based on budgets, for
example, and craft a solution that’s going to
work for them.
PPB
What qualities and work habits of
your team elevate HDS from ‘distributor’
to ‘promotional consultant’?
Schwartz
We want to be somebody who
goes the extra mile. A distributor, to me,
is someone who is just trying to sell you
something. We do it in a consultative
manner, so it’s a partnership. We are looking
for repeat clients and long-term partners, so
we provide a value proposition.
Promotional consultants will also make
sure mistakes are mitigated as much as
possible. I once heard a presentation on ‘ding
happens’ (a substitute for the more common
saying), and it was based on a premise
that I always tell my salespeople: ‘Ding’ is
always going to happen. But when the job
is hard, that’s what sets you and your value
proposition apart from another distributor.
We want to become an extension of our
clients’ organizations, so that we can make
their jobs easier.
FIVE MINUTES WITH
Howard Schwartz
founder and CEO
of distributor HDS Marketing
|
SEPTEMBER 2016
|
69
THINK