Gold Mining

The number one resource for new accounts is . . . drum roll please . . . folks you've done business with before. I might be different than you, but I'm always on the hunt for new business. Where can I go? What new avenue can I pursue? About every 60 days, I wake up in the middle of the afternoon and WHAM! It hits me. Again! Who bought something about this time last year and the year before and the year before that. It seems so obvious, and yet, I know from talking to new and seasoned veterans in the advertising specialty game, that most don't think to go back and look at this information.

Sure, maybe that small retailer or restaurant only bought $79 worth of pens last year, but a quick call to see how the supply is, and how their business is doing could turn into some real nice business. But there's more to this gold mining business.

What about the customers that were buying from Good Ol' Jim. You know the guy who used to work for your company. Whether this guy or gal flamed out after 10 months or 10 years, they left some orphans. And guess what. It is the rare company that is effectively mining that list.

Most mining operations have levels of difficulty. Some ore you can almost scoop off the ground. Some requires panning in a cold stream for hours to make $100. In addition to the two pretty easy suggestions above, it is also possible to make sure even the prospect lists of ex-salespeople is available to work. Maybe some of those prospects were right on the verge of switching to your company, and you can seal the deal. There are more gold mining techniques, but they will have to wait for another day.

Promotional Products Distributors and Salespeople

If you sell advertising specialty products, premiums, and other swag, I have a deal for you.
1. If you are a current customer of California Springs Line ASI #30111, but you are not on our email list to receive specials, updates, etc., and/or
2. If you are a current customer and you need catalogs or free samples, and/or
3. You are not a current customer, but you would like catalogs, samples, or to be on our email list
Send a request by email to Randy_Kirk@CaliforniaSprings.com or by fax to 562-903-0606. If you need a quote or to ask questions about a possible opportunity, Call me at 800-245-3737 ext 223.

To see our complete line click on the link to the right.

Best Books on Selling

Want to increase your sales? Read books on sales, motivation, goal setting, and leadership. From time to time I will do book reviews of the best books in these categories. For today, I'm going to list some classics. All of these were written many years ago, but have stood the test of time. Let me know your personal favorites, both classics and soon-to-be classics.

The Greatest Salesman in the World - Og Mandino
Think and Grow Rich - Napolean Hill
How I Raised Myself from Failure to Success in Selling - Frank Bettger
A View From the Top - Zig Zigler
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - Steven Covey

Start with these five. Some you may want to read twice. Try to read one per week. I'd love to hear from you as to how they change your sales in a very short time.

What a Jerk

I just was less than polite to a telephone solicitor. Sometimes I listen for quite a while and engage the caller. Sometimes, I'm busy, and I don't want to be charming to a complete stranger. Sometimes it is the third call in an hour and I'm not very pleasant. That is an admission from a guy who has made his living at sales for over 30 years, and who made a pretty good amount of change at selling from age 5 to 20 before the professional career started. I have called door-to-door and done cold calls by phone. I have had folks be very, very rude to me.

Why this revelation. Two things. First, if you are making any kind of cold call, you need to shake off the rejection. I had a salesman working for me once who would call me at 10:00 in the morning from Dunkin Doughnuts. He'd had two "no's" that day already, and he needed to have his ego rebuilt. On the other hand, another salesperson told me this after a really big "no." She said: "He was an idiot." We may not want to view our potential customers as idiots, but better to put the burden on them than on ourselves when they don't go for the program.

Second, we do need to have a compelling story. I am far more likely to stay on the line with someone who is amusing and has an opening I have heard before. If I'm going door-to-door, there's going to be some kind of tchotchke in my hand to get me in the door. If I'm making phone calls I want to refer to something I actually sent them in the mail or email (and it better be memorable.) Or I want to get right to the point: "I sell promotional products, premium, and gift items. Are you working on any events, trade shows, or promotions that I could help you with?" Before I let the customer off the line: "Is there anyone else in your organization I should be talking to?"

Conclusion: 1. Get over yourself. 2. Be compelling.

Networking, Schmoozing, Alliances

Most of your life sustaining work is going to come from your local community. Depending on where you are, you may have some very substantial accounts in the area or at least close enough to try you luck. However, it will be the 100's of $200, $500, and $1000 orders that will keep your mortgage check from bouncing.

These kinds of orders are going to come from the local schools, churches, small businesses, government agencies, non-profits, and organizations. The owners, managers, and other leadership of these groups all tend to be joiners. You need to be a joiner, also.

In many communities, the first best thing to join is the Chamber of Commerce. This isn't always true as some chambers are poorly organized and do little. In suburban areas there may be several chambers in your "territory." Find the strongest chamber and join.

There are also service clubs and fraternal (do they still call them that) organizations in every community. Rotary, Optimists, Moose, Elks, and Kiwanis to name a few. Check with your chamber or the phone book to see where these groups meet. Join one.

Do you have a special interest like bicycling, tennis, or little league? Do you have a passion for a specific charity or political idea? Join a group that will give expression to your ideas or your hobbies.

Then actually attend meetings, accept offers to head committees and move into leadership roles. Go to the parties, the mixers, and the socials. From these activities, you will gain in at least three ways: You will be making a contribution back into the community from which you derive your livelihood, raise your children, and enjoy the services. You will gain in skills such as organization, leadership, and planning. You will meet and become friends and associates with decision makers at all of the kinds of places you want to be selling. Oh, and as an added bonus, you'll probably make life-long friends.

Competition? What Competition?

The "cost of entry" into the promotional products business is pretty low. To be an independent rep you basically need a phone and some time. To buy and sell, you need a very few dollars in the bank. Even barber shops need more up front capital, education, equipment and licensing than is required in our industry.

When you have a minimal cost of entry, you tend to have much more competition. And even if much of that competition is lightweight, it can still effect your business. Anyone who has been in this business more than a week has had some beginner undercut their bid because they didn't know what they were doing, or because they only needed to make a few dollars on the deal for extra spending money.

Even the professionals can act pretty amateurish from time-to-time, creating real problems with your established relationships. Then, of course, there is buyer rotation. The buyer you've been romancing for two years goes on to another job, and the new guy is trying to prove what a great cost-cutter he is. So he buys 10,000 pieces of swag from your competitor to save $200.

How do you stay one step ahead of the amateurs and the sharp shooters? By being intimately involved in solving the needs of your customer. Lets leave this post at that for now. Use the comment section to suggest methods you use to become so close to your major customers that they would never leave you or forsake you.

Later, in another post, I'll fill in any blanks with my ideas.

Get Out of Bed

A very close personal friend of mine approached me the other day. He had just started a career in the insurance sales business (he calls it financial consulting, but we all know what it is), and he was struggling. He knew that I had some background in motivational writing and speaking and wondered what he needed to do to bring up his sales. Actually, he wanted to know how he could get more prospects. He was pretty sure that he could land business if he could get in front of more folks.

So I checked with a couple of my friends in the insurance business. By happenstance, two of my closest friends over the years were top producers for top companies. There were no surprises in their responses to my question: "How does my friend get more prospects?" Answer: "Make lots and lots of cold calls!"

Nobody in sales wants to hear that (Oh sure, there's the odd 3% or so of salesfolks who love making cold calls), but there is just no way around it. 80% of the people who start out in the advertising specialty sales game this year will give up within 5 years. There is no doubt in my mind that those will be the ones who thought they could make a living calling their friends and associates and network their way to success. That will keep you busy for the first week.

So, get up early, hit the streets or the phones. Call until the sun goes down. Repeat daily for 2-3 years. You will be successful.

About Me

That's me on the right. The beautiful woman on my far right is the mother of my four kids, Pam. Only two are pictured, because the other two have left the nest and presented us with 3 grandkids. Yes, we spaced them out!

Since I know a lot about me, I could bore you to tears with a bunch of stuff you don't care about. Even the short version may be too much.

I started selling door-to-door at age five. Personalized greeting cards for Christmas and all occassions. Never did I dream I would end up spending most of my adult life selling personalized bottles for Christmas and all occassions.

I really liked selling, but I liked many, many, many things. So at age 12 I decided I wanted to be the Man For All Seasons. Thus I have become adequate at many things, but the master of very little. Hopefully my 50 years of selling and 35 years of marketing qualify me to create this blog. You'll know by whether it helps you or not.

Along the way I have written 3 books for the bicycle industry on how to run a bike shop, a general business book titled "When Friday Isn't Payday," and a book for the Christian market. February will see the release of Running a Twentieth Century Small Business under the Warner Books Label.

To confuse matters I have earned degrees in Pschology and Law at UCLA. I determined very early that I couldn't handle being a shrink and that lawyers were not very nice people. So, making and selling bicycle bottles seemed like a better deal.

I have spent 25 years running American Quality Producst with my partner Terry Brown. We look forward to serving you as needed.