Times are a-changin!

Boy, do not let it ever be said that this great industry of ours is boring! In my 20 + years of experience I have never seen so many significant things pulling manufacturers, suppliers, distributors and salespeople in different directions. Some examples include:

• Direct Importing – to do or not to do?
• Pricing Policies – you get what you pay for?
• Product Safety Guidelines – who is responsible?
• Technology Innovation – What can we afford?
• Social Environmental Concerns – How much are you will to pay to be “green”?
• Government Legislation – How much control is enough?

How will these issues all play out over the next few years? The reality facing us all is that our opinions and feelings are shaped by where we fall in the supply chain. A salesperson certainly does not always agree with the top management of their company about the risk involved in going overseas. A supplier does not always agree with a distributor who imports products direct on their own. A manufacturer and a distributor will not always agree on who is responsible to make sure that a product is safe for use. What is the definition of “green”? Does anyone really know?

We have not even mentioned the end customer yet. Do their wants and needs match up with what we can provide? Do they understand the product safety guidelines? Do they care? And last but certainly not least, are they willing to pay for a safe product?

When it comes to importing how does a distributor or a supplier decide who they are going to import from? Salespeople might say to import from the company who can get you those stainless steel mugs for the least amount of money. The customer might agree with the rep saying yes that is the answer because this will help them to reduce their spending and meet their management’s goal of lowering the budget. Is this the right answer? What if you the distributor has to pay 75 to 100 % of the cost up front on an order with a lead time of 90 days? Obviously this has some ramifications with respect to cash flow. Do we need to consider the fact that we have NEVER done business with this company before or that they have no US presence and cannot be found in Dun and Bradstreet (credit rating service)? Does this significantly increase the risk? Yes, would be my answer!

Looking at technology, there have been some phenomenal advances in the last 5 to 10 years. It really is amazing if you look back. What has your company implemented? Are they getting a return on their investment? Has it been worth it? Many of the newer initiatives seem to be affordable to only the biggest suppliers and distributors. Is it right that they bear the brunt of the development costs? Does it make sense to adopt some new technologies if only 20 suppliers and 20 distributors are willing to use the technology? H-m-m-m-m?

I have found myself wowed by some new applications made available, only to download them on my computer, and uninstall them 60 days later because I never used them. The bottom line in those instances was that the technology was cool but really not practical for me to use. Do you ever find yourself with that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach that says if I stay still and make no changes (technology wise) that I will stagnate and die? I do!

How about the “go green” movement? I feel that 99 % of the people in this country are 100 % behind the green movement as long as they do not need to pay any more or change their behavior! What do you think? Of course, to be fair the eco-friendly movement really started growing in our industry just as the economy was souring so this situation is tough to read however I think many customers have spoken loud and clear that they do not want to pay 10, 15 or 20 % more to be green.

And finally that brings us to the government’s intervention into our industry. Legislation and initiatives have popped up all over the country with many of them restricting what companies can buy and how products can be used. It seems like officials with the swipe of a pen can significantly impact a local distributor’s ability to sell their insurance company or the hospital in their community. Recent news stories and speeches by top national politicians regarding the dangers of imprinted plastic bags could singlehandedly destroy some industry firms whose primary product line is comprised of bags. Wow am I glad that we are more diversified than that! But we need to be ever vigilant. We need to keep our eyes and ears open and make sure that we act to protect our interests to survive.

So the message here is to stay tuned. The changes of the last decade, as many as they were, may be dwarfed by the changes of the next ten years. All of us need to be nimble and flexible. We need to be open to other ideas, models and initiatives. We need to recognize that our way may not be the only way, and more importantly our way may not be the best way. We will have to learn to compromise! None of us will be working in a vacuum, meaning that how we act will be affected by the opinions and actions of those around us in the supply chain as well as customers and their desires. I feel education will be a top priority for many years to come. Communicating to others around us why something costs more and what value that represents will be critical for every layer of the supply chain. If anyone cannot or chooses not to communicate this information they will fall prey to lower cost competitors or more articulate competitors.

Are we up to the challenge? I am because I know that times are a-changing and I if I do not change with them I will fall by the wayside and I am not ready for that. Buckle up, here we go!

BE MORE with PPAI - Today is the Day!

PPAI has officially declared today as BE MORE - get profiled day. In an effort to learn more about its members and what they want from THEIR organization we are asking all members to visit vc.ppa.org
Once there you will need to log in with your UPIC Name (it will provide it if you do not know it).

It will take 3 minutes...maybe depending on your typing skills to tell us about yourself.

I have been volunteering and active with PPAI for many years and I truly can say that it is a great opportunity to mix and mingle with your peers. Who better to learn from than others in the business.

So please if you are a professional and you care about this industry and more specifically helping your business to grow visit vc.ppa.org
This may be your first step to a better future!

Thanks

Perspective is EVERYTHING!

It is not often that I take time to share about my family but some recent events in my life have caused me to really consider what is important. I know that my wife would probably kill me if she knew I was writing about this but I will take the chance….God knows it is not the first one that I have taken.

As many of you know my wife Jan and I have two daughters, Erin (17) and Katie (15). Erin is a senior in high school and contemplating life in college and all that goes on with those decisions. My other daughter Katie who has “special needs” (diagnosed with Williams Syndrome) lives outside our home in a group home run by an organization called Child Serve. She has lived in this type of setting for the past three and a half years. She attends a local high school as a sophomore. So two daughters, 17 and 15 years old, both in high school and oh what a ride it is!

What happened recently involves my youngest daughter and her take on life. I know we all get caught up in our own daily lives and as a result of this sometimes things get blown out of proportion. Every once in a while something brings you back down to reality. This happened to me just a few weeks ago.

It was a Friday afternoon when I received a call from my daughter Katie and it was apparent from the tone in her voice that she was very excited. “I have a date for the homecoming dance” she exclaimed. She then repeated this to me in a high pitched teenage girl squeal. I almost had to pull the phone away from my ear. As I began to question her about how this happened and who was the boy and how did he ask her she stopped me abruptly in my conversation to tell me that she asked him, well not actually him, but she asked his teacher to ask him because he wasn’t in school that day. Huh? She had it very clear…she asked the boy Ben’s teacher who asked him if he would like to go with her and he told the teacher to tell Katie that yes he would love to go with her to the dance.

It all seemed so simple to her. This caused me to think back 100 years when I was in high school. If I had only known that I could have one of my teachers ask the girls if they would go to the dance with me life would have been much easier. I quickly snapped back to reality realizing that I have been pretty lucky getting my wife to marry me so all was OK in my world despite having to get my own dates for homecoming dances and proms.

So my 15 year old was growing up, going to homecoming at her high school, which just happened to be on the same night as homecoming for our other daughter Erin’s school. Thank goodness that the timing worked out so we did not have to pick.

Homecoming day arrives and we have to go through all the fanfare of this “BIG” day for my girls. My wife handled all the appointments for the haircuts, the make-up, the nails, etc. I sat back and watched a football game or two while all this was going on. I have to admit thought that I was very excited about Katie’s first homecoming dance. She was so-o-o-o excited about this first official date.

The night finally arrived and the plan was for us to meet Katie and her date and others from her class at their dinner prior to the dance where we could take some pictures. Katie was bursting with excitement on the phone about how she was going to “dance all night long”. We got to the dinner right on-time and were met by Katie who immediately brought us over to meet Ben, her date for the evening. We were mildly surprised to say the least when we saw that Ben was seated in a wheel chair. We quickly found out that Ben, a handsome boy, was a quadriplegic with a feeding tube who did not communicate verbally.

Let me step back and say that for three weeks leading up to this homecoming dance Katie had been telling us about Ben. She talked about how they were going to dance and she remarked how funny he was. Even on that special night when we were at dinner, when I pulled out my camera, she ran over to the side of Ben’s chair and put her arms around his shoulders and gave us all a big smile. A tear came to my eye as well as my wife’s eye.

You see Katie does not see the world the way many of us see the world on a daily basis. Katie is full of joy 99.9 % of the time. Katie doesn’t see wheelchairs or feeding tubes. It never dawned on her to tell her mom or dad that the boy she invited to homecoming didn’t walk. She was happy, as happy as a girl who was the homecoming queen going with the homecoming king.

It caused me to pause and think for a minute (actually a lot longer than this)…why can’t more people be like this?

To Franchise or NOT to franchise...

That is the QUESTION!

Or is that the question? As an astute observer of the promotional products industry I am very much involved in watching what companies do when it comes to attracting people to their team.

Much time has been spent within our own organization to make sure that we craft a message that is first and foremost an honest message and not misleading while at the same time making sure that it taps into what we feel are our strong points. We definitely have our strengths! On the other side of the coin, we have weaknesses as well, or points that are less strong as I like to say putting on my best spin. I think it is fair to say that every significant distributor in the industry has probably done their own SWOT analysis to determine what they are good at and what needs work.

Our sales force is constantly barraged by recruiting messages from one of these giants and this provides me an opportunity to analyze their messages and what they are saying and promoting. Don't get me wrong as I want to receive these messages to see what folks are saying but I will say that many of my reps do not and it has become very apparent that hitting the unsubscribe button does nothing. Emailing the contact person on the emails will not get you removed. calling that person will not get you removed from the list and sending correspondence to the CEO will not get it done either. I may be opening myself up here as we send out recruiting messages as well but our unsubscribe button actually works. Taking it one step further if I get a call or a note about these messages I will respond to it because it is the correct thing to do and I will personally see that the individual and his or her domain is taken off of any lists that we might have. This is the professional way of handling this!

What does a franchise offer that a large industry distributor does not? This seems to be a loaded question at first glance but maybe not....

A franchise offers -

• a better profit split usually (this is the main attraction in my opinion)
• the opportunity to run your own business

OK I am out of ideas! Oh, wait here are a few others that just popped into my head. Franchises offer -

• a long term contract
• Non-compete contracts...I think that they are now called early termination fees. This sounds better but the impact is the same
• lots of additional fees such as late payment fees, insurance, technology, association dues
• the ability and need for you to hire your own staff and support personnel (there goes that profit split advantage)
• restricted territories
• restrictions regarding advertising, logo use, self-promotion, etc.
• 
  
• potential lawsuits...If considering a franchise or any distributor to align with we recommend that you ask for a D & B credit report. There is a view that shows pending lawsuits brought by or against an organization. I don't think this is a good thing in either case!

I know that I am biased here however I really struggle to find out why an individual who has decided that they need to make a change opts for a franchise, especially if they are asking for an upfront investment of cash before you have sold dollar one. WOW! (I know that they will sometimes waive these fees for companies that can show solid documentation of sales in this business)

A good distributor partner pays the commissions up front, backs up the order and offers supplier pricing discounts. They also offer a variety of marketing and technology tools. You do not need to be a member of ASI or PPAI as you are covered under the corporate umbrella. You have all the flexibility of owning your own business. You come and go as you please. Work when you want and where you want. You can sleep at night!

All this and more without requiring a business to become a franchisee.

And the list goes on and on and on....

But I must be missing something because I still do not see the franchisee appeal. What is it?

I welcome any enlightenment and conversation on this subject because we want to engage in this discussion with people!

I encourage people to drop me an email TODAY at daver@vernoncompany.com

Or pick up the phone and give me a call at 1-800-743-7545 ext 8256

Think about my points. Are they valid? Am I close minded and missing the big picture?

H-m-m-m-m!

Whose Responsibility is Product Safety?

In the past few years there has been a frenzy of activity in our company with respect to product safety issues. Unless you have had your head in the sand you should have noticed some very high profile recalls and cases involving unsafe promotional products being sold and distributed.

There is agreement that cases like these have given a black eye to what you and I do for a living and that each additional case like this threatens our ability to make a living down the road. With that being said I think this is where the agreement ends.

Who is responsible for making sure that the end user recipient receives a safe product? I guess we can say that there is even some ambiguity about what constitutes a safe product. As I have said many times, let me add the disclaimer that I am not an expert in this area but I try to learn as much as I can and then apply some common sense to how our company approaches these types of issues.

I think it is fair to say that no one wants their customer or the end user to receive an unsafe product. Can we agree on that?

If we do then the responsibility can fall in the following respective laps....

1. The buyer can demand that the product they receive meet certain tests and standards
2. The salesperson can promote and present safe products to the buyer emphasizing the features and benefits
3. The distributor can restrict, control and promote the use of vendors whose products meet the testing standards
4. Suppliers can market and promote their lines as being safe with all testing certificates easily available for all to access and see

I would make the claim that all four of the above scenarios have to come in play for this to work. We see several suppliers placing a great deal of emphasis in this area. We also see several large distributors in the industry identifying this as a great area of concern for the future and they are clearly working towards how to incorporate this into their business model. We see few customers requesting this, mainly the larger companies. Mid size and small companies do not seem to have a grasp on this issue or how it could affect them. Last but not least we do not think most salespeople understand what is at stake here.

Let's start by talking about the actual safety and well being of the end recipient. That is at stake! How about the reputation of the customer's brand name? That, too, is at stake! The salesperson's commission is hanging in the balance if a product is found to be defective or not meeting the standards in play. A distributor's reputation and future is at risk. A large order recall or fine or lawsuit could and would force most distributors in this industry to close the doors.

Lat but certainly not least in my book is the reputation and future of the industry, what we do each and every day! If we do not all work to protect the end users and the customers, there may come a time that people say; "Shoot, I am just going to eliminate buying promo products altogether. It is too much of a risk!"

We cannot let it come to this!

Suppliers, Distributors and Salespeople have to develop their value proposition to their buyers and be able to sell the features and the benefits. It might be simplistic to say that since the manufacturing guidelines and testing requirements cost money, that a "safe" product usually costs more money than an unsafe product but I think we can make this statement. Here in lies the rub!

Salespeople, by and large, are fearful of selling or presenting a product that is higher in price than what their competition is offering. This is not anything new.! Is it? I don't think so!

Taking a Dale Carnegie Sales Course (it seems like a hundred years ago but it is still timely today) I learned that in order to overcome a higher price objection one needs to clearly sell the features of the product and how it will benefit the customer and eventually the end recipient. We NEED to do a better job in this area!

Suppliers need to do a better job selling distributors!

Distributors need to do a better job selling their salespeople!

And salespeople need to do a better job selling their buyers!

Unless all three of these things happen we are doomed to fail in this regard!

So whose responsibility is it to assure that end recipients receive a safe product at the end of the day?

Let me say that we should not be pointing fingers at anyone else because it is OUR responsibility, one that we can not take lightly. It is OUR responsibility, whether you are on the supplier side, the distributor side or the sales side. We all play a major role!

I encourage everyone to begin accepting this responsibility today. Suppliers should make sure that they are producing safe products and that their sales literature and selling techniques emphasize the product safety issues. Distributors and sales reps need to make this issue front and center with their customers. Don't wait for them to bring it up! We should bring it up and let them know that we are concerned and committed to the health and well being of the end recipients as well as the company brand, image and reputation and this is why they need to be aware!

By doing this we will all take a giant step forward to securing our future and that of the next generation in this great industry of ours!

Good luck and thanks for taking a few minutes of your valuable time to read this!

Dave

Important Questions to Ask

It seems lately that there a lot more people looking around to either sell their promotional products business or align with someone else so that they do not have to deal with the day to day administrative duties.
This may have something to do with the baby boomers beginning to hit their retirement years. That would be my best guess.
Recently I was contacted by someone asking me if I could help them develop a list of questions to ask of any prospective buyers or employers that they could utilize in their search. Of course I told them that well now that you called me, your search is over!
As soon as the laughter died down, I got back to the business of trying to help this person compile a list of questions or concerns specific to this industry that they could inquire about. I did add to each question how our company handles the specific situtations but I do not think, despite my self serving comments about what we offer, that anyone can dispute the validity of the questions below.
Please feel free to print out and save and to use as you see fit for your own personal situations.
-------------------------------------------------------------
23 questions to position yourself for the future

1. Ask to see the last two or three year financial records (Vernon will provide this)
2. If (1) is not available ask to see a current Dun and Bradstreet report showing their credit rating and financial risk assessment…this is key as you do not want to make a change and walk into a company in distress! (Vernon has a 4 A1 rating the highest that a company of our size can have)
3. What is the history/tradition of the company? How long have they been around? Are they established and well known? (Vernon is 108 years old and is run by the fourth generation of the Vernon family)
4. Do they have long term employees? What is their turnover of inside people? Of salespeople in the field? Ask to speak to some veteran reps who have been with the company 10 + years? Loyalty among the existing employees and salespeople is very important. (Vernon can and will provide references to speak with – we have reps from 1 year tenure to 50 +)
5. Ask these employees about recent changes in commission structures or compensation plans. Have things stayed the same or are there constantly changes to the rules? If so this is not a good sign because the deal you make today may be gone tomorrow.(Vernon has made no changes to the compensation plan in 10 + years)
6. Would you be an W-2 employee or a 1099 individual or corporation representing the company? This will have potential tax ramifications and not that either one is better or worse, but you just want to know how you would be set up.(Vernon offers a variety of different set up options – we would discuss with you the best fit)
7. If you would have an employee option are there benefits such as group health and dental and a 401 K plan? (Vernon offers these)? What else?
8. How do you get paid? Commission, salary, a combination? (Vernon pays a 50/50 split on profit, paid upfront when the order is written – bonuses, benefits and tech tools are all added on top of the 50 % that you would receive)
9. Are there profit guidelines? How low can you go on price and profit percentage? Who determines the price? Can you set your own? (Vernon has published plans. On good size orders you can sell at 20 % profit and still receive a 50/50 split)
10. Is there a sales contract or agreement? If so is there a non-compete provision? Are there financial penalties imposed if you try to leave and stay in the industry selling to your exisiting accounts? You must ask these questions, just in case you make a mistake as you need to have an exit strategy if things do not pan out as planned. (Vernon has no non-competes or penalties for leaving)
11. What happens if your customer does not pay the bill in 30, 60 or 90 days? What are you responsible for? The commissions, the profit, the supplier net cost? The answer here could cost you some significant money! (Vernon gives 150 days for a customer to pay their bill before there is any impact on the rep and even then we only take back the commission. If the customer pays at 165 days we reinstate the commission)
12. What if you make a mistake and the order needs to be redone? What is your responsibility? What if the supplier makes the mistake? How about if the company that you represent makes the mistake? What is your responsibility? Who pays for what? (If you make the mistake with Vernon we split the cost of the redo…If Vernon or the supplier makes the mistake, Vernon or the supplier covers the mistake)
13. Do you receive reports on your sales orders and accounts? (Vernon offers a variety of different reports sent electronically to all of our reps on a regular basis)
14. How would you enter orders? On line or in writing? (All Vernon reps have their own on line account that maintains all their data and order history)
15. What support is available? Product research? Credit and collections? Customer Service? Supplier contacts? (Vernon offers all of this – 150 employees in our home office are there for you!)
16. What is available in terms of technology tools for you to use? ESP or Sage? Affinity artwork?  Pinpointe? Personalized Website? Online Account Management System? (Vernon offers all of these and much more)
17. Does the company have sales meetings? (Vernon has a National Sales Meeting in addition to regional meetings around the country – the goal is education and training along with comaraderie)
18. 18. Is training available? (Vernon offers on line and in person training)
19. 19. Are there contests and incentives? (Vernon has a variety of different contests and incentives throughout the year. The biggie is our incentive trip. We offer destinations like Cancun, Cabo, Victoria BC, Big Sky Montana and others)
20. Can you talk to other sales reps before making a decision to join or align with the company.(We would offer you a list of 5 to 6 reps who you can call and speak with about their Vernon experience)
21. We strongly suggest that you check with several of your supplier friends to see what they know about the company or companies that you are considering?
22. What marketing tools might be available in terms of company catalogs and leave behind pieces? Will the company help you to distribute or email proactively to your accounts and prospects? (Vernon does all of this!)
23. If commission what is the percentage of profit split and when is the commission paid? Some options are when the order is written (Vernon’s way), when the order is invoiced, when the order is paid. This is important as it determines how long you need to wait after you make a sale.

Social Media Junkies are out there...literally!

Are you a junkie? I do not mean the drug addicted, strung out, on death's door kind of junkie. I am talking about being a slave to the social media movement. Quite frankly there are times when I am not sure which is worse.

It is clear that social media is not a fad! It is and will be a way of life for millions of us forever and ever. I am visualizing myself in the nursing home waking up every morning and checking my Facebook Page (or whatever it will be called when that time comes) to see what is going on with my friends who are still living independently. Or how about the tweets...

"I got the right hip done and will be getting the left hip replacement soon. I made it down the hall and back in 1 hour and 11 minutes, a new record time."

"I can't remember what I did this morning, but I remember an order that I sold in 1989"

I am sure that you can all add your own. Please feel free to send some to me and I will gladly publish. Be clean, relatively at least, or it will not get posted.

How about playing on line poker with other people in nursing homes in Slovakia and Beijing. It could happen. Actually it could be happening today but I am really curious to see what happens to my generation (53 years old) and the generation X and Y group coming along.

I think it will be fascinating!

How about You Tube? From the nursing home we can video and post on line my roommate sleeping all day long. I know there is a web site originating in Iowa where you can go to watch the corn grow in real time. This does not seem too exciting to me today but heck when I am 82 years old, it might be the best thing going on. Who knows?

Well, thank goodness I am not there yet and I do not have to contend with these issues but I am aware that they will be coming and I am doing everything in my power to keep up with the social media trends. At the Vernon Company we are utilizing Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, Linked In, Plaxo, Vimeo and other sites as a way of communicating and staying in touch with other industry professionals.

Yes it takes some work. It should be noted that if you find something in life that doesn't take any effort and is worthwhile and rewarding please let me know, as I think we could partner on it and make a lot of money together. Take the time to educate yourself about how all of these sites can relate to each other so that you do not have to maintain all of them independently and your work will be significantly reduced. Learn how to get the viral effect of these media sites working together to get your name and your products and services to your target audience. A good site to look at is called Ping.

Check out Ping here

This might give you a start. I am not an expert, not even close but I definitely know what I don't know and since I am not in a nursing home yet I believe that I must learn something new every day. The day you stop learning is the day you ________ .....well you all know the rest of this quote so I am not going there.

To follow The Vernon Company and to learn about us we encourage you to follow us by clicking on the following sites...

Facebook

Twitter

Dave's Blog

LinkedIn

YouTube

Vimeo

Vernon Website

Thanks for listening!

Mental Toughness is s-o-o-o important!

One half of sales are 90 % mental

Some long time baseball fans might remember the old New York Yankees player, Yogi Berra who was famous for his sayings that made no sense at all, yet they did, if you get what I mean. I know that I am taking some liberties with this famous Yogi-ism as his speech talked about ½ of baseball being 90 % mental…something like that but I like it so this is what I am going with today.

The fact of the matter is that your mental attitude plays a major role in determining your success or lack thereof. I do not think there is any denying this fact!

Over the past year and a half many of us have been pushed to the brink. Many people have been on the edge, literally with respect to staying in this business or not. Obviously this has been a major concern for all of us in the home office when we consider the plight of our salesperson in the field.

Although no one has been immune from these pressures, top producers have had to tough it out, in a sense because their options were limited. Jobs that pay $75 K to $100 K or more are not growing on trees in a regular economy, and certainly are not floating out there these past few years.

The salespeople in the middle to lower end of the pack are the ones that are faced with the toughest decisions. They have been making a living, but not a great one and now the tough times come at us.

This is when that mental toughness comes into play! Sure they can cash it all in and give up but the most resilient people know that there are brighter days ahead. There are! Things always come around. The question is will you be there to get a piece of the action when the time is right! Although it appears that everything has changed in this industry some of the basics remain the same from when I entered many years ago. You need to work hard. You need to work smart, perhaps smarter than you worked in the past.

You cannot be easily swayed by buyers saying no we are not buying! They have always said no more than they said yes…right? Think about it. They have always said no a heck of a lot more than they ever said yes! If this was not the case we would all be living in a better neighborhood, in a bigger house and driving a nicer car. The human memory is a very interesting thing. Sometimes it plays tricks on you only allowing you to remember the bad things.

Salespeople need to fight off the bad things. Sometimes this is done, not by denying that bad things happen but by offsetting them with the good memories or the good outcomes that have occurred in the past. Let me throw out another saying that I really like that when you think of it makes a lot of sense…

“The definition of insanity is when you do the same things over and over again yet you expect a different outcome each time.”

Has anyone ever done this? Time and time again we encourage you to try different things. Hopefully most of you have gotten this message by now! The worse that you will find is that the new effort did not produce any positive results either and then (looking on the positive side) you at least learned something!

Last but not least keep your head up. Buyers want to buy from positive people. Moping on a sales call and telling your buyer how bad things are is a sure fire way of making sure that they do not give you an order today. Be upbeat and positive and it can be contagious.

Who do you like to associate with? Faced with a choice between hanging with a bunch of positive people committed to finding a way to improve things today and tomorrow or a group of people telling you how bad things are and how they got screwed out of an order some way what would you pick?

So while we may all agree that these observations are true, staying mentally tough may be easier said than done. It takes discipline on a daily basis. It also involves some self regulation in addition to checking in with others who will tell you when your attitude stinks. These helpers need to be brutally honest with you! Do you have people like this in your lives? Are they around you enough to be able to keep you on track? This is a must!

If you answered yes that you have these types of people around you, but you only see or talk to them once per month this is not going to cut it! Having a bad or negative attitude for as much as a month without being corrected can do a lot of damage with prospects, customers and eventually your wallet or pocketbook because the sales and commission results will be affected adversely. So it is important to take an inventory of yourself. Here are a few questions to have posted in your office.

1. Do I have people around who will tell me when my attitude is not positive?
2. Do I wake up in the morning wanting to go to work?
3. Do I have a plan of action for each day?
4. Do my customers appear happy to see or hear from me?
5. Do I spend more time complaining about problems than working to solve them and move forward?
6. Do you feel that you MAKE THINGS HAPPEN or those things just happen TO YOU?

Please feel free to add your own questions. I bet you are thinking of some right now. It is essential that you maximize the amount of time that you are working with a positive attitude and eliminate (or certainly significantly reduce) the amount of time that you are working with a lousy attitude. Working on this every day will produce positive results for everyone!

Try it. If it does not work we will gladly refund your misery!

Let your voice be heard

Do you have something to say? Do you believe that PPAI (Promotional Products Association International) would benefit by hearing your perspective? If you feel that you would like to get involved and associate with other professionals in the promotional products industry you need to check out this new site...

VOLUNTEER CENTRAL

This is PPAI's new Volunteer Central Site. When visiting this site you will be asked to fill out your profile telling us about yourself. This will take about two minutes but once you do you will be "in the loop" with hundreds of other professionals who participate and volunteer in the association activities.

You will be able to learn about committees and action groups as well as task forces and projects that are ongoing at the association level.

Don't worry...filling out your profile does NOT mean that you are volunteering. All it means that you are registering to be in the database. This database where you tell us about yourself and your interests will be instrumental going forward in allowing us to determine the needs and wants of our membership.

It will allow you to learn about all the opportunities to volunteer, IF you are interested!

Volunteer Leadership is a wonderful thing. If you do it right I believe you will get back a lot more than you give.

Please consider going to this site and checking it out. Take the two minutes to plug yourself into the association and consider volunteering. There are all sorts of things you can participate in ranging from quick surveys to short projects that might involve a couple of conference calls over a few months. If you are really hungry for the involvement you can click to join some of the action groups or inquire about committee opportunities.

The key is to get yourself registered.

VOLUNTEER CENTRAL

Thank you for taking action TODAY!

Dave

Are you gambling with your time?

Are you a gambler? It seems nowadays that gambling is pervasive in our society. It certainly permeates the sporting world and it has become a major part of everyday life in many states with the influx of the lottery and all the options there.

Personally I am not much of a gambler however I believe that people should have the right to do what they want with their money as long as they are not being duped or mislead into something. How does this all affect us in the promotional products world?

Recently I have become very concerned with the number of salespeople who find themselves being dragged into bidding situations with their clients. My company has over 375 sales reps all across the country, and while we promote the fact that they are as free as any independent contractor or independent business owner to do what they want with their time, we also believe that we have an obligation to help direct them as to the best use of their time. We spend a lot of time, effort and money in the area of education and selling techniques.

This all becomes relevant when time after time salespeople tell me that they got asked to bid on a project for their client. The bid requests state that it is pretty much all about price! Yikes, this is not good! I am not sure, but I think a case could be made that awarding business based solely on price in this industry will lead the client into trouble the majority of the time. Too may things can go wrong when you take into consideration...

• artwork
• product quality
• inventory issues
• in hand dates
  

Probably more troublesome than the whole bid situation is the fact that the sales executive feels like they have no recourse. What can they do? They have to bid the project...right? They have to go through the process. Sometimes it is stated right upfront that the client is getting as many people as possible to bid on the job. What?

We talked recently to a large corporate client who told us that they had been having conference calls with distributors all over the country for more than a week alerting them to an upcoming reverse bid auction and begging with us to participate. They were very open and direct about this and thought that we would be very appreciative to be included. To be blunt about it we we were not! A reverse bid auction...you have to be kidding me!

These are ridiculous. Yeah, this is what I want to do, spend hours and hours of my valuable time trying to find a way to make less and less on an order. Does anyone else see it this way?

As far as I am concerned anyone who is spending a great deal of time bidding on projects with clients that they know, are gambling with their time. Just like the casinos in Las Vegas and Atlantic City we need to realize that there are more losers than winners. If you are spending time looking for bid opportunities or participating in bids with companies where you do not have an existing solid relationship you are playing an even higher stakes game. Your chances of winning is almost nil!

When I entered the industry over 20 years ago I used to hear the grumbling about the less than professional ad specialty rep who "gave everything away" meaning that they sold at such a low price that they ruined it for the professionals out there who needed to cover overhead and were running a legitimate business. We all said these people would be in and out of the industry before you knew it. I think this was true back then!

Today the same thing is happening, only technology is involved. Salespeople are getting involved in deals where they cannot possibly make any money. Is getting an order from a client where you do not make any money a good thing? While it might stroke the ego, it certainly does not help to pay any bills!

I am not sure how to change this trend of large and medium, and sometimes even small companies going out to bid their promotional products but I do feel strongly that just because everyone else is "jumping off the bridge" does not mean that you have to do the same! Maybe, just maybe if more people reacted this way and said....

"While we understand your process, we have respectfully chosen to not submit a bid at this time due to the fact that our time and creativity is worth more than you are offering."

From the corporate office we have done this and I have to tell you, the feeling you receive is somewhat liberating. Many times the company putting out the bid is dumbfounded that we do not WANT their business. Let me be clear, we may want their business, but not on the terms that they are proposing.

The morale of the story here is that all of us should think long and hard before we risk (gamble with) our time investing in projects that have little or no chance of succeeding and where even if we are the successful we have put ourselves in a position of making little money for the time spent. We would all be much better off investing our time in looking for new clients who value who we are and what we do, clients that do not feel that price is the determining factor on who they award their business to.

Remember there are a lot of things that can go wrong in this business and operating on razor thin profit margins, if any, is risky business! You might as well just run down to the casino and put all of your money on RED. Would any of you do this today?

If so...Good Luck! Remember the casinos were not built on your winnings!

Don't believe all the hype!

We are the biggest! We are the best! We are the only one! We do it better than anyone else ever!

If you hear these words, I suggest buyer beware!

I think the expression that "if something appears too good to be true, it probably is" is one of the most appropriate ones for this day and age that we live in.

Everyone wants a great deal. Every week we are turning down scam orders for USB Flash Drives and T-shirts and a variety of other products. The salespeople want to believe that someone just called them out of the blue and said I need 10,000 of these items and I will charge a few credit cards and we don't care about price. Incidentally I need to ship these to Nigeria or the United Kingdom.

We all want to believe that everyone is honest and that no one would ever lie or misrepresent themselves or the company that they represent. I have a news flash for these people...

WAKE UP!

If you are looking to make a career change you owe it to yourself to do a complete and honest analysis of who you are considering aligning with. If they make grandiose claims about one thing or another I would be leery, very leery. Talk to existing reps who have been there for a while and ask them pointed questions about how you would fit in. If it is a distributor that you might join, speak with leading industry suppliers and see what they think. You might ask for other companies to consider as alternate choices.

I have said it before but I will say it again, ask for some audited financials. You want to know that the company you join is going to be around tomorrow and more importantly five or ten years from now. I know there are no guarantees but getting an opportunity to view their D & B ratings and some financial documentation can go along way to helping you to make a comfortable decision.

If you are aligning with a supplier firm, talk with your distributor friend and find out about their experiences selling the product line. Do they stand behind their product?

I read all of the industry publications and I see most all of the ads, and along with that I see and hear of way too many cases of good honest people getting taken for a ride. They get sucked in. They want to believe in the good side of people and they unintentionally turn their head and fail to consider that maybe some people have ulterior motives.

Don't assume anything! Ask questions, lots of questions and do your best to get validation on the answers.

Even when we at The Vernon Company are looking to add good quality people to our team we understand that we need to ask lots of questions. Getting someone to join by misleading them or hiding some aspect of our process that we know will not fit with them makes no sense!

Sure the press release that says "ABC Company aligns with The Vernon Company" might look great but if sixty days down the road the new team members are miserable and you think they are a big pain in the neck because they do not fit in, who really gained anything.

Our approach is to be 100 % open and honest because at the end of the day we know that we presented what we had to offer and how we would handle situations in an honest and straight forward manner. Unfortunately not everyone learned the lessons that my family taught me when I was young....

Liar, Liar...pants on fire!

The Right Tools for The Job

Have you ever tried to do a job when you did not have the correct tools? I bet a lot of heads are nodding out there. Do I need to ask how the job turned out when you did this?

I am reminded of the old movies that they used to show back in high school "shop" class. I am probably showing my age as many of you are probably saying what is "shop" class? It is not the Home Shopping Network but rather it was a class where students would learn how to make things like tables and chairs. It was all about learning a craft and how to use tools to get the job done.

They had several humorous characters who would try to build things without the proper tools for the job. They would always fail miserably and it usually ended up with a trip to the hospital emergency room because in their effort to take some shortcuts they would get injured.

If you take a moment to think about the parallel with selling in the promotional products industry I see many, many salespeople today who are getting hurt every day and they do not even realize it! They just do not have the right tools for the jobs that they are trying to do.

Again, the sad fact is that they don't even know it. There is help on the horizon with many companies in the industry. Companies like Vernon offer a suite of tools that make the job easier and as a result they greatly improve the chances of success! For years Vernon has been offering a wide variety of marketing and technology tools to their 400 + member sales force however it has been a well kept secret! Well the cat is out of the bag!

To learn more you need to sit in on Vernon's Informative Webinar scheduled for May 27th at 2 PM Central Time....

Click here to REGISTER NOW!

Vernon's newly introduced Customer Connect Program will provide you with all the right tools for the job!

If you feel that you need the help of a professional, then you owe it to yourself to click on the link and learn more. You can also call for more details at:

1-800-743-7545 ext. 8303

Look Closely Under the Hood

Whether you are buying a car or looking to make a change to a new company, it is essential that one does their homework. You have to look under the hood because at the end of the day that is going to tell the story as to whether or not one is successful.


Here are some questions that must be asked if you are considering making a job change in the promotional products industry:


1. Can I please see either a current Dun and Bradstreet Credit report or a few years of audited financial statements? Does this make you uncomfortable to ask this? So what, it is a legitimate question! Employers think nothing of doing background checks on prospective candidates so asking some hard questions of the employer that you are considering shedding your blood, sweat and tears for is well within reason.


2. Ask to speak with three or four reps who are in the same category as you regarding sales volume, specifically some that have been hired in within the last eighteen months. Talk to them about their transition, specifically checking for any surprises that they may have not seen coming when they signed on.


3. We suggest checking with YOUR top suppliers as to what their thought are regarding the prospective distributor that you are considering. Suppliers have a vested interest in you going to a place where you can be successful and where they have a solid relationships. Many times suppliers are also the first ones to see financial troubles brewing on the horizon.


These are only three of the questions that we suggest! We also feel that a visit to the corporate offices of the company or company(s) that you are considering is a MUST.


Some companies will pay your way for a visit. At The Vernon Company we are conduct some exciting open house dates in June and July where you can combine a one day information and Learning session with a day at the race track. Many of you may not know but Newton, Iowa is home to one of the finest new race track facilities in the country. It will be home to the two races listed below...

Iowa Corn Indy 250 - Sunday June 20, 2010


Nascar Nationwide Series- Saturday July 31, 2010

For details click http://vsales.vernoncompany.com/fast-track

This will provide a great opportunity for you to combine a visit to Iowa with a day at the track along with an opportunity to meet Vernon's Management Team and see their operations in action.


Please visit the site or give us a call to find out more details about this opportunity to "Look Closely Under the Hood" of The Vernon Company. We know that you will like what you see!

1-800-743-7545 ext. 8303

Supplier Choices can Make a BIG Difference

The article below was published in one of our company newsletters and although I could have taken out our company name I decided to leave it in. Please feel free to insert your company or organization name because I feel strongly that this message is universally applicable.
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OK we all know the economy has been tough! We continue to promote to you that The Vernon Company has weathered the financial storm very well and this in fact, very true!

What is evident though is that many suppliers have not been so fortunate in this regard. There is news every day about mergers and acquisitions taking place. It is our belief that there are many, many more suppliers, some that you are not reading about, that are suffering terribly and just trying to make ends meet. Our fear here is that many of you may be using some of these suppliers on your orders!

I need to say that way too many salespeople, in an effort to save a few bucks, are going way outside of the normal supplier lists and submitting orders with people that we do not know. This is fine if things work out but it creates BIG problems when there are issues with the order and let me tell you there have been a lot of ISSUES with these orders. One sales rep told me recently that the supplier was absolutely phenomenal UNTIL we gave them the order and then it quickly turned into one of the worst experiences of this reps life in the promotional product's business. Of course when we look up the supplier we see that we have no track record with them, no orders in house and really no experience at all. This means that we have no LEVERAGE either in helping to get something corrected or an order expedited.

I am urging everyone to try and use preferred suppliers when you can. I am not saying that they are perfect or that they do not make mistakes. Believe me they do and and I will say that anyone who has been in this industry for a while will readily admit that they do but what happens when they make the mistake is where most of them earn their money. Do they back up their product? Do they jump when Vernon calls? Do we know their top management personnel so we can help you in a jam? These are the key components of what makes the best suppliers really good.

Saving a dime here and there for your customer is important. I certainly recognize that but a large part of your job should also be using and recommending products from reliable and trustworthy vendors. If you save $100 on a vendor that you have not used before, one that Vernon really does not know, and they do not deliver the product...how much have you really saved at the end of the day?

Think about it! I can think of about a dozen cases like this in the last month or so where the rep thought they were doing the right thing to save money for the buyer however when all was said and done and because they chose an unknown vendor everyone ended up losing....the customer, the salesperson and the Vernon Company. If you are lucky in these situations you might live to get another order from the buyer but this is not a given! Too many times the supplier has trusted in you that you will steer them in the right direction for products and manufacturers who you know and trust! If you don't know a supplier of a product that your customer is asking about I think you need to let them know that and offer up some alternatives where you feel confident about the product and the delivery.

Aren't your customers too valuable to be playing "Russian roulette" with their orders? I think so!

Selling exclusive Vernon and Preferred Supplier products...that is the way to go! Yes, points are involved for Vernon's incentive programs such as the trip and the national sales meeting but much more important than all of that is your relationship with your customers!

Good Suppliers...PRICELESS!!!

These past few days our company has been having our national sales meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona. We picked a great facility, great location and we have about 125 of our best reps in attendance.

I made sure to order up some great weather, about 80 degrees each day that we have been here but the highlight of the meeting, other than having the chance to recognize the accomplishments of our valued reps has been the interaction with over 70 suppliers.

I am always gratified to view the interaction between the suppliers that we have here, our key supplier partners. We have under 100 key supplier partners so it is a rather select group!

We consider it a true partnership that involves more, much more than special pricing. It involves promotions and marketing programs and meetings and exposure to our salespeople.

Having good suppliers that you can rely on in these times has been especially important.

We consider our good suppliers as PRICELESS!

Selling yourself…How much are your services worth?

Have you ever been asked how much are you worth? Maybe not directly but it is my opinion that in a strange sort of way your clients are asking you to prove your worth on every sales call and presentation that you make. I think most salespeople would say “I am worth a lot…I deserve to get paid $50 an hour for my services!” Oh yeah….WHY?

I think I can hear some stuttering and stammering from most of you right now saying what do you mean, why? I ask this follow up question because you had better be able to answer this and articulate the reasons to your customers or else your message is falling on deaf ears. Because you say your services are worth more than the competition is not good enough in my book.

What do you bring to the table that is of value to your customers and prospects? Can you answer this question? What separates you from the others that call on your buyers? There has to be some reasons. If you are not 100 % sure of the answers you may have a chat with some of your best customers, ones that you feel very comfortable with, and ask them to help you. Please be careful here as if you pose the question in the wrong manner it could cause trouble.

For example if you said…”you know I was thinking the other day and I realized that I have no idea why you buy from me…why do you use me for your promotional products?’

A better approach might be to say to them, “I consider you to be one of my most valuable customers and I value your opinion immensely. I am working on several new opportunities and I was wondering if you might write a reference letter for me detailing how we work together and what I do to meet your needs”.

Does this sound better? I think so! I think the types of comments that you would be looking for would be:

· Creative

· Organized

· Responsive

· Service Oriented

These are the areas where I think a good salesperson and a mediocre salesperson part ways. Let me give some examples.

Creativity…

Mediocre salesperson: let me know what you need and I will go and find it. If someone else shows you something you like, let me know because I can beat anyone’s prices.

Good salesperson: this individual is presenting several ideas and presentations including spec samples and virtual spec samples and customized flyers featuring products that meet the customer’s needs all throughout the year.

Organization…

Mediocre salesperson: on a sales call they say I can’t remember if you folks do a trade shows. Do you? Also just let me know if anything comes up.

Good salesperson: I know when we met in December you told me that you had a big trade show in May so I wanted to present some ideas to you now so that we have plenty of time to get what we want. Also I want to review what promotional product needs that you have coming up between now and the end of the year. Do you mind if I ask a few questions?

Responsiveness…

Mediocre salesperson: the customer has to call to see if the rep is interested in suggesting products for an upcoming event. The rep calls back three days later and gives them a product description and a price.

Good salesperson: this rep knows that they have an event, suggests ideas before they are due with pricing that fits their budget range and at the very least provides an ESP Centerstage Presentation or a virtual or actual product spec sample.

Service Oriented…

Mediocre salesperson: when told that there is a problem with an incorrect imprint they let the customer know that they will get back to them after they talk to the home office and/or the manufacturer. Several days go by as they attempt to find out who is to blame for the error.

Good salesperson: in the same scenario this rep says, OK we will rectify the situation. Let me ask what we can do to make the situation better. Can we redo the job in time for your event? Will a discount on the price be acceptable if we do not have adequate time to rerun the order? Another common practice with the good rep is to pick up the goods and get them away from the customer. Finding who to blame is last on the list of priorities!

Do you see the difference? Do you find yourself being described in any of these scenarios? If so I hope that it is under the good salesperson description of how they would approach a scenario.

You need to be able to let your customers and prospects know what makes you valuable to them. How are you going to help them do their job? How are you going to make them look better? We have all heard about the two minute elevator speech where we describe what we do to other people who are not familiar with our industry.

I recommend that everyone have a two minute speech that they can give to prospects and existing customers that details who you work for them and what you bring to the table. Why should they do business with you? Again, because you are a good man or woman, carries no weight. You need to put yourself in the shoes of the buyer and thinking about what you can do to make their jobs easier. What is important to them? You probably should have this in your two minute opening with clients to ask them this because I know different buyers will have different hot buttons and most of them will tell you up front.

The ability of a rep in this industry to match up their services with the buyers is critical if you are going to get the accounts and keep the accounts. Failing to meet their needs, whether it is because you didn’t know what was important to them or because you failed to perform, is irrelevant. In either scenario you have lost the account!

So as do so many things in this great industry of ours, it all comes down to you! You will need to sell yourself, not just on that opening or first sales call, but rather on every call that you make. Your buyers, just like you at the grocery store looking at items on their shelf, will make decisions on whether you are worth what you are asking. The smart rep will have already asked them self this question, and will be able to answer with a resounding, YES, I am worth every penny and this is why!