Stretching your trade show dollar — Drayage.

So I was filling my car this weekend and it hit me, kind of like a frog who realizes he’s being boiled alive. $52.70 worth of ouch. Now, I know that prices have been going up and the American dollar is about as a strong as a wet noodle, but this weekend at the pump I finally felt it.

So, with financial ruin looming, what do we do? At work, how do we stretch our tradeshow dollar and in the process keep our heads off the corporate chopping block? Let’s begin with a concept called drayage.

For those who don’t know, ‘drayage’ is a service for moving your display from the truck to the show floor, and back again after the show. Drayage  also includes removing and storing your empty cases. It can cost anywhere from fifty cents to over a dollar per pound. So for every hundred pounds, that means you're paying $50 to $100 so someone else can transport your display.

Here are a few things that most people don’t know… Read the full article...

Tags: trade show, tips, sales, ken pettit

As with anything worth doing, constant improvement is the only way to success. As the 2007 tradeshow season comes to a close, I felt it would be wise to discuss a few methods you can employ to help make 2008 an even more effective trade show season. Serious reflection on your company’s performance this year will allow you to improve next year. You can trim the fat. Turn your weaknesses into strengths. Turn your strengths into industry-dominating forces… Read the full article...

Tags: trade show, sales, business, ken pettit

I’m sure you’ve all noticed the floor graphics sprinkled throughout your local grocery store. These highly effective and affordable large-format images have proven to increase sales by up to 20–30%. In fact, floor graphics have become part of the standard marketing package at many larger stores and retail chains. The market for printing these floor advertisements is projected to grow to $2 billion in the next 5 years. If your competition is not already marketing with it, they will be.

Benefits of floor graphics

With a price of $13.75/sqft the advertising opportunity is very cost-effective compared to radio, newspaper, and other more traditional methods. Floor graphics are inexpensive enough to use as short-term signage, and durable enough to use as long-term signage…
Read the full article...

Tags: printing, products, jon beebe, media, sales, solutions

There seems to be a litany of sales/sports analogies out there. You know what I mean. They’re the stories of the greatest salesmen in history and how they compare to the Schumachers, Mannings and Woods of the world. So, in the shadows of the latest Super Bowl, I’m going to add one, or a litany + 1, if you will.
 
Everyone knows that sales is about money, where each sale equals so many dollars. What is professional sports about? If you said winning, well you’re partially right. From my point of view, it’s about the team consistently delivering results sponsors are willing to pay for.
 
So answer me this: Did Peyton Manning win the Super Bowl or did the team? Who is the ‘team’? Does this term only apply to those who grace the field? If you were benched the entire game, are you part of the team? How about the support staff, therapists, masseuse, logistics and administration? Don't they also count as the ‘team’?

The reality of the matter is that the Colts could never have delivered the results without the entire team. The team is comprised of everyone needed to deliver results.

Sales is the same. A sales person might be the one to play on the field, but the entire team delivers results. I hear of many companies who shove their sales people out the door without any support or, even worse, the company doesn't deliver what the sales person sold. Customers are like team sponsors; they want results in one form or another and results is what they pay for.

Last month’s questions were aimed at you. This month let’s focus on the team.

• Are you a team player?
• Be honest: is your company really a team? Is everyone committed to the goal of getting results?
• What can your team do better?

Remember, no one wants to sponsor a losing team. Conversely, when your team consistently delivers great results, people will talk and customers will seek you out. It's the nature of the business.

"A sale is not something you pursue, it’s what happens to you while you are immersed in serving your customer." ~ Source Unknown

Tags: sales, tips, ken pettit

Everyone affects sales

Sales is the life blood of every business and as such should be on the minds of everyone in the company. I’m not saying that all involved in your company need to be proficient sales people, just that every employee needs to be cognizant of how they affect the company’s sales directly. From CEO to custodian…each person’s contributions have an impact on sales and the net value of the company.

I am amazed at how many people I have observed who are oblivious or just don’t care about their effect on their company’s bottom line. Let me illustrate:

We ordered some typical supplies from one of our vendors the other day. We’ll call them vendor A. These are supplies that we rely on for the core of our business and without them we cannot print, and our vendor knows this. The next morning we called the vendor to get the tracking number and they confirmed that the order had shipped. Hours later, like clockwork, UPS arrived with our order — minus two items on backorder.

A couple of things went wrong here. First when we placed the order, the sales person never let us know our product was not in stock. Then the person who told us the order had shipped failed to mention two items were on backorder.

In contrast, we have another vendor, vendor B, that confirms the order while we are on the phone, then follows that with a faxed confirmation. Should there be any issues, they call us immediately.

The end result? Through consistently unreliable business communications with the first vendor we have moved the majority of our purchasing to the second vendor. Poor performance of individuals within their company caused vendor A to loose us as a customer. Each one of these people contributed negatively to vendor A’s bottom line.

Some might say “So what?... it’s not my job.” To those I say don’t apply here, and to their executives and managers, I say get rid of them. If you don’t, you aren’t doing your job. No good can come from someone who has no concern for the customer. Think I’m kidding? The people at company ‘A’ didn't lose a sale, they lost a customer. Because of this and other incidents, company ‘A’ will lose $80,000.00 this next year and company ‘B’ will gain $80,000.00 in sales. Why? Customer service. No other reason. Company ‘A’ had a great product and great price. They didn’t have people who cared about the customer.

So here’s the lesson — Always ask yourself:

• How will a customer perceive my actions?
• Are my actions enhancing the customer’s experience?
• Can I do better? (Hint, the answer to this one is always yes.)

Notice these questions are about you. Not your boss, not your co-worker, not your employee, they are asking you about you. By taking leadership of your own actions you are taking the first step towards exhibiting relentless customer service.

Consider this quote from Sam Walton, the founder of Wall Mart:

There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else. —Sam Walton

Next month I'll discuss the sales team.

Tags: sales, tips, ken pettit

Every December, the “big boxes” and national chain stores suck away precious customers from small business. To whom can small business turn to remain competitive amidst the holiday season’s multi-million-dollar marketing frenzy?

Look no further than BIG Images! This December you need to maximize your sales. The most effective and inexpensive way is to breathe new life into your storefront — capture customers’ attention and pull them in.

Thousands of potential customers may pass by your storefront everyday on their shopping quests. With BIG Images as your ally you can reach out to those customers by utilizing your store front effectively. Convince them that you provide what they’re looking for. Make your message too large to ignore. Turn foot traffic into dollars.

BIG Images will help you accomplish this with the following effective products… Read the full article...

Tags: sales, planning, team, ken pettit