PPB September 2019

provide more help than you can even imagine. 4 Merchandise what you show. When you walk into a retail store, you see merchandised apparel on display. Nordstrom’s will never have a mannequin wearing just one piece of apparel—they will show an entire outfit from head to toe. We, as consumers, are visually stimulated to buy what we like. Your customer is no different. If you walk into your client’s office with just a polo, the odds are good that you will sell it. But, you will only sell that polo and have very little chance of upselling additional garments. However, if you walk in with a merchandised offering (for example, a polo layered under a vest or jacket with a coordinated hat), your client will be able to visualize their brand in a complete outfit, not just a polo. We are professional marketers, we do this for a living and yet we forget the fundamentals of marketing. We get complacent and predictable, and thus get into bidding wars for apparel because we are simply selling our clients what they ask for instead of providing that customized solution that sets us apart from our competition. 5 Utilize virtual presentations and specs. Most every supplier in the industry provides free or discounted virtual storyboards and/or specs with your client’s logo. If you are not using this resource, you should. By providing your client’s logo and branding guidelines to the supplier, you can receive a virtual representation of what your client’s logo will look like on the product; not just a static photo captured from an online catalog or website. The more personalized and customized you can make your client presentations, the less competition you will have to deal with. Again, anyone can open a catalog, pick out an item, slap a logo on it and make a sale. It takes a special distributor to harness tools and sharpen their knowledge to sell differently and more effectively. Selling apparel isn’t hard but it does take effort. Find a supplier partner or two whose products you love. Become knowledgeable about the line and the decoration opportunities they provide. Establish a relationship with the sales rep and let them know you want to grow your sales with them. Together you can capture a bigger piece of the apparel pie with your clients. When a client reaches out and asks for an apparel solution, show thema good, better and best option. Too many choices result in decision-making paralysis for your client. Michelle Sherwin, CAS, is the southeast account executive for Vantage Apparel, Inc. She is also the current president of the Georgia Association of Promotional Products Professionals. With over 20 years in the industry (18 years as a distributor and two as a supplier), her knowledge, experience and passion for the industry is contagious. In May, Sherwin attended PPAI’s Legislative Education and Action Day (L.E.A.D.) in Washington D.C. where she and fellow colleagues lobbied for the promotional products industry. Sherwin was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, where she and her husband currently reside. 56 | SEPTEMBER 2019 | GROW