PPB May 2020

compiled by Danielle Renda How To Move Forward Amidst The Uncertainty With the disruption the coronavirus has brought to businesses and their clients, what’s the best next move? Q A DISTRIBUTOR ASKS: My home state just closed everything down and issued a stay-at-home order. Included is the closing of all suppliers in the state, including some I use. I understand why it was necessary, but just as soon as I thought I had a new strategy to try and survive this pandemic, I was thrown another curveball. So, today I started cold-calling for the first time. How are other distributors finding business in the midst of these new challenges? Here’s some cold-calling advice: With a single product in mind, call every plumber and offer magnets shaped like their vans, or call every nonprofit and offer a direct mail magnet postcard they can use to request donations. Be patient. My largest client came on my 25th call of the day (20 years ago). Cut yourself some slack. We’ve all been working our behinds off for years. Know your best is plenty good enough and we are all hurting during this time. KAREN ALCORN HERZOG President Adco Marketing San Rafael, California PPAI 217279, D5 As this progresses, the reality is that the vast majority of businesses are going to be spending every available dollar on keeping their doors open and trying to retain employees. To some areas of the country it's still somewhat business as usual, but that is changing and will continue to change every day until we hit some sort of stabilization point. I'm in the New York City area and to be honest, it's close to being a total shutdown. I know many people who have already been laid off. We will get past this, but unfortunately, promo items are at the bottom of the priority list, as they should be. I have strong relationships with my clients—I still do both print and promo—so I am touching base, but I couldn't attempt to "sell" anything in good conscience during this time. Hopefully, we'll at least start to approach some semblance of "normalcy" in a month or so. TOM BRUNO Vice president Spectrum Plus Little Falls, New Jersey PPAI 368258, D2 Personally, I would not even think of cold calling right now. People have other fish to fry. JUDITH SKINNER PEACOCK President JHT Associates Oxford, Maine PPAI 190136, D1 12 | MAY 2020 | INNOVATE