PPB November 2021

Toomany to list, but one thing to be more aware of are overruns. Lots of suppliers will do five- to 10-percent more (sometimes less) and bill you for themor charge a fee for doing an exact quantity. It’s no fun to be surprised and to have to pay for 50 more pens or 10 more tote bags. Read the fine print in the description and ask every supplier what their over-run policy is for that item. Then let your client know that’s a possibility and ask if they prefer to be a little short, a little over, or neither. TIFFANY SIRLES Owner Homewood Printing & Promotions Birmingham, Alabama Q A Distributor Asks: As a new distributor, I spend too much time on everything because everything is new and thus there’s a learning curve. I spend a lot of time trying to come up with the perfect ideas for my clients, but on the other hand, I spend so much time on the actual project that it doesn’t offset the profit. How are other distributors managing their time with the creative process? Other people may have more helpful advice, but when I was just getting started it was the same thing. I am thankful for the time I spent looking for products because it helped me get to know what was out there a little better. It will go faster with time. Something I definitely learned the tough way is that overthinking will kill your creativity. Unless my client gives me something super exact or specific, I give them a few [product] options in a few categories and price points. I tell them there are lots of product options beyond this presentation and if they want to see more, let me know. If it strikes creative genius with your client, then great! If it becomes exactly what they’re looking for, great! But it helps me not to spend five hours finding products and then they say, “No, I don’t like this. I think we’ll change directions. Can you look for …?” You’ll find a groove that works for you. NICOLE DIANE BAKER Account Executive American Solutions for Business Glenwood, Tennessee PPAI 101656, D12 The time you spend learning the business now is your long-term investment. Also, the money in this business is in the lifetime value of the customer, with their repeat orders for years to come. So, the cost of the time you spend doing research initially is the cost of acquisition of a client. GLORIA LAFONT President Action Marketing Fort Lauderdale, Florida I only provide ideas and suggestions after I know the quantity, budget and due date of the order. I, then, spend my time providing product suggestions based on the potential order size. I also leave the common items in my clipboard in ESP so I can easily find them again. Once you narrow down your supplier list, finding items will be much easier. Today, a customer needed drawstring bags by next Friday. I spent about five minutes in ESP finding four to five good options from one of my favorite suppliers and sent her a PDF with pricing and product details. That one was easy, but I knew exactly what she needed and who I could depend on for quick turnaround. SALLY ANDERSON Owner Key Promotions, an authorized Kaeser & Blair dealer Newnan, Georgia Do You Have An Answer? A Distributor Asks: I’m wondering how other distributors go about handling similar situations to one I recently encountered with a prospective client. A new customer called to request rush t-shirts, and asked us to provide them with artwork beforehand. We produced the artwork and the client said they’d get back to us the following day with their credit card information. The next morning, we walked into a Dear John letter, which simply said, “Sorry, but we went with another vendor.” Not only did we lose the order, but now they’re using the artwork that we produced. What can I do to prevent this from happening again? Email your response(s) to Question@ppai.org for the chance to be featured in a future issue of PPB . Danielle Renda is associate editor of PPB. “Ask questions of every factory rep youmeet. And if there are any factories near you, go on tour, understand how things are done."  Judy Sharp Owner and President Sharp Ideas, Inc. | NOVEMBER 2021 | 11 INNOVATE