PPB November 2019

compiled by Danielle Renda Should I Give Clients What They Want? Clients are asking for presale virtual proofs without following through with the order. How can I make up for the lost productivity? Q A DISTRIBUTOR ASKS: I’m being contacted by a lot of clients asking for presale virtual proofs after they narrow down their search, but they don’t want to commit to an order until they see it first. What can I do to sort out the time-wasters from the real buyers? This is an ever-growing challenge to our industry, as we continually face client needs for instant gratification and even higher service levels. Qualifying a client can be a challenging proposition, and this presale virtual technique has certainly sent us all onmany a fishing expedition. I’ve had success explaining to (potential) customers that it’s muchmore efficient to get a proper proof upon submission of an order as opposed to a virtual. I reassure them that nothing is produced without approval, and that very often virtuals are just that— virtual interpretation. Factory proofs are carefully speced and received to ensure any decoration challenges are met head-on. We’ve all had the “but it worked on the virtual” conversation [with clients]. JOE FAVRE Vice President of Promotional Products HiTouch Business Solutions Saddle Brook, New Jersey Charge for virtuals. This is a way that you can see how serious a potential customer actually is. It is completely fair to ask for a virtual proof prior to purchase. Personally, I wouldn’t want to simply trust [a distributor] whom I have never worked with to get it done right without seeing it first. However, if they haven’t committed to an order yet, let them know that a presale proof will cost X. Tell themwhen they place the order, the proof charge will be removed, and if you say it, stick to it. Feel free to send an invoice for the proof charge to anyone who doesn’t follow through with an order. That way, at least your time wasn’t completely wasted. AMBER JEWELL Office Manager Big Promotions Dallas, Texas I think this is a fair request by a client. I take a two-tiered approach with these. For my “A-listers,” those repeat clients who do multiple orders with us annually, I give them as many virtuals as they need, no questions asked, because they’re going to order. Even if they don’t order for some reason, I’ve given value and it reinforces the relationship. For other existing clients who do low-volume orders with us, or for brand new clients, I’ll do the virtual plus one revision for free, but I tell them at the onset what additional revisions will cost for the design time. MARK STADWISER President Specialty Marketing, Inc. Walnut, California Q A DISTRIBUTOR ASKS: What’s something you wish you’d known about this business that you learned through making an expensive mistake? Here’s mine. When my company was just a few years old, we had a new client that was changing their logo. They wanted to introduce the new branding to their staff of 250, so we came up with a promotional gift for each employee. Going with the theme, “We’re changing from head to toe,” we embroidered socks and hats with the new logo, but the products came from two different suppliers. We didn’t do a pre-production sample of either; that was our first mistake. On a call with the client, we learned that when the second product was delivered, its specifying PMS 12 | NOVEMBER 2019 | INNOVATE