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!