What Your Clients Really Want From You
Cliff Quicksell, Jr., MAS+, both a consultant and acting director of marketing for distributor iPROMOTEu, wrote a column in July’s PPB, “What Clients Really Want,” that examined factors more important to clients than price in determining whether to do business with your company.

This is an awesome article. I hate the “how low can you go” game. These are all excellent differentiation strategies. This is great information and thank you for sharing.

JIM RISTUCCIA
Chief Operating Officer
A+ Wine Designs
San Diego, California
PPAI 173549

 

The Industry Client’s Perspective
In the July issue of PPB, Chuck Fandos , CEO of FacilisGroup, in his article “What If It Was Simple? A Promotional Product Industry Client’s Perspective,” shared a fictional request from a project coordinator at a large tech company centered on what a buyer is likely looking for in working with a promotional products distributor. 

I really like point No. 3 [“The Salesperson: I don’t need a salesperson; I need a project manager or team of them to help me with my projects.”]. As a supplier, I read this and gain insight into what I really need to provide, which isn’t always product but, rather, process.

Sure, we all sell “stuff” to imprint or convey a message, but to many suppliers that is the end of the relationship. We should be asking ourselves, did the experience we provided the distributor aid them in their efforts to get superstar status with the buyer and elevate them among the competition. If not, why not?
STEVEN MEYER, MAS
Vice President of Sales
RiteLine
Dallas, Texas
PPAI 198224

 

Correction: Two sets of percentages for market share by distributor size (figure 2) were transposed in the feature Strong And Steady: 2016 Distributor Sales Volume Estimate (July 2017). The correct percentages are as follows: 2015, distributors over $2.5 million 55%, under $2.5 million 45%; 2016, distributors over $2.5 million 54%, under $2.5 million 46%. PPB regrets the error.