PPB October 2020

PPAI Introduces A NewDistributor Tool To Inspire More Sales PPAI has released a new resource to give distributors fresh ideas for using promotional products to help clients reopen their businesses. The Playbook To Restart Businesses , a new PPB digital supplement, is a free, informative, visual guide designed to help distributors visualize new and creative ways to incorporate promotional products into a business’s reopening plan. From hair salons to retail stores, the guide features seven kinds of work environments and provides relevant promotional product ideas to keep them clean and safe for customers and employees. “Our members are selling a lot of hand sanitizer and masks, but we wanted to go beyond those items and look at the entire scope of different types of businesses to consider all of the promotional items that could be used to ensure the health and safety of employees and customers who enter those spaces,” says Tina Berres Filipski, PPAI’s director of publications/editor. “Our goal is that this new supplement gives distributors countless new ideas to bring to their clients and inspires more demand for promotional products.” Two versions are available. The distributor version includes several pages of related supplier resources. The buyer- friendly version allows distributors to share the Playbook with their clients. View and download both versions at pubs.ppai.org/supplements. The Playbook To Restart Businesses , a new PPB digital supplement PromoPolls Spotlights Industry Perspectives OnThe Issues PPAI’s PromoPolls are a series of quick, informal, twice-weekly polls published in every issue of PPB Newslink that capture the promotional product industry’s opinions on a wide range of relevant topics. Several of PromoPolls’ recent questions to industry members quizzed them on the state of their business operations during the present circumstances, and on how they were using PPAI’s programs and services. Here’s a snapshot of recent poll results: More than half (58 percent) of industry professionals who participated in the poll are at least considering hiring new employees this year. More than one- third (38 percent) of industry respondents are spending most of their time servicing existing customers, and 22 percent are focusing on generating new business or working just to keep the doors open. Asked which of PPAI’s deliverables are most valuable to them at this time, 31 percent listed news and information, while information or communications to send to clients proved most valuable for 23 percent of respondents. PPAI’s networking tool, Promo Connect, has been used by a large majority of those surveyed (79 percent) with 14 percent using it regularly. To learn more about the polls’ findings, participate in the latest polls and see how industry peers have responded to other topical questions, visit pubs.ppai.org/polls. leungchopan / Shutterstock.com | OCTOBER 2020 | 97 CONNECT