Using Incentives to Increase Sales
I love trade shows. I’ve never gone to a trade show where I didn’t have a great time. And, at least it’s a day out of the office. You know what they say: a lousy day on the golf course is better than a good day in the office. Hummm – I wonder if the florescent lighting has anything to do with my ADHD? I just got a new game on my computer and it’s… hey, nice shirt you’re wearing, where’d you get it?
A few of the best trade shows of the entire year are in the incentive industry, also called the rewards and motivation industry. These are the shows that cross all industry boundaries; manufacturers of all types offer their products as business gifts to reward salespeople, dealers, distributors, and customers. Let’s see… did I leave anybody out? No, guess not.
One east coast tradition is the Incentive Show (www.theincentiveshow.com), held every spring at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York. This year was May 3rd and 4th. Over 200 booths of incentive merchandise and travel. Sign up for free at their website until April 5; after that you’ll have to call them and sweet talk them out of the $30 registration fee. Each exhibitor usually gets tons of free passes so if you’re late for registration you might try hocking one of these firms.
Even more popular – and larger – is the Motivation Show (www.motivationshow.com) in the fall – usually in late September or early October, in Chicago. This year it’s September 26 – 28th, at McCormick place. Over 2100 exhibitors and over 267,640 square feet of exhibit space – this show is huge. I love walking this show – it’s endless. Premiums, ad specialties, incentive travel and a whole section of foreign countries incentives and travel.
The reason these shows are so much fun is the merchandise mix they showcase spans dozens of different industries.
Sure, you can go to an electronics show and see TVs and stereos. You can go to an auto show and see the newest cars. You can go the the adult show and see, well, if your wife doesn’t catch you, you can see most anything a man, a woman, a midget, another woman, two sheep, and a duck can do in the privacy of your own hotel room. Just don’t get caught walking the sheep through the lobby like I did, er… I mean a friend of mine did. Yea, then try explaining that to the hotel manager. Or to your wife. Or, as we now say, ex-wife. The words, “I can explain.” only go so far. Then you have to come up with the explanation. If you just keep repeating that phrase it doesn’t really count. In court.
Most trade shows are narrowly focused in one or two primary industries. But the motivational and incentive shows have thousands of products from TV’s to automobiles, to camping equipment to cheap imprinted items, er… “promotional products” as we now call them, to expensive pens to trips to luggage to clocks to… well you name it.
Here’s how the incentive industry works. If you want a TV, hey, buy it at a retail store. But if you have 100 sales people out on the road and want them to sell, sell, sell, more more more… you offer them an incentive. This may be a new TV, a trip, a car, a lap dance with your ex-wife… what ever. You thought I didn’t know. Hey, you’re the one that told her to get a job.
So you say to your sales team, “The first 10 people who make this quota next month get a new 56” Sony TV!” Your sales people will gripe about how it ain’t possible, the goal is too high, the market is down; but the few at the top will get the message and go to work: they’ll sandbag. It’s amazing how imaginative you can get if you need to turn in this months sales figures in next months quota.
Here’s where the show comes in: you don’t buy these 10 TVs from a retailer – you go directly to Sony’s Premium Division booth at the show. Tell them you’d like to offer TVs to each of your 100 sales people as an incentive… and their premium division guys – with their eyes wide open – will quote you an amazingly low wholesale price for 100, 56-inch TVs. Then you tell them nah, it’s too much $$$. But now that you know what their bottom line is on 56-inch TVs, tell them you’ll buy ten at that price. They’ll reluctantly agree. Then they’ll go in the back room and celebrate, too. Hey – a $25,000 sale is a $25,000 sale.
And frankly, it’s a nice way for them to skirt their retail distribution methods without the guys at Best Buy and Circuit City getting mad at them. It’s through their premium division that they don’t get in trouble with their retailers for selling directly to a customer at a huge discounted price. Yet, they still get the direct sale. You get a better price. Everybody happy. You’re happy. Your sales team happy. Sony people happy. Everybody jammin’. I’m jammin’ too.
Upscale incentives like TVs, phones, cameras, stereos, and leather make great dealer incentives. A client of mine offers FREE Land’s End Sweaters to all purchasers who spend over $2,000 in October. In the summer they offer free lawn chairs, rafts and floats. Seasonal offerings keep dealers talking and the costs are more than offset by the larger purchases.
Promotional products include all kinds of luggage and leather goods, china and silverware, food gifts, clocks and watches, gift cards (very hot right now), clothes and incentive travel. Travel incentives are very common in lots of industries – just ask your insurance agent about all their junkets, perks and free trips for going over their quota. The free trip almost makes it worth it to sell insurance. Of course there’s a down side: you go away with 500 other insurance salespeople. Ugh.
We use Cross Pens as business gifts here at our own offices. It’s our policy that when someone refers a client to us, I have a Cross pen engraved with their name on it and send it to them with a nice letter of “Thanks for the referral.” I figure if I send a Cross pen with my name on it it goes in a drawer – I’m the only person who wants that. With their name engraved on it, it goes in their shirt pocket or in their pocketbook. It’s a nice gift. I buy a couple of dozen Cross pens each year and hope one day I’ll get a referral. Sigh…
Find Promotional Products at trade shows
So walk around the incentive shows. Lots of giveaways at these shows: this is where manufacturers of giveaways and traffic builders display their products. You know, the cheap stuff that you gave away at the trade shows where you exhibited last year.
Oh, excuse me… the term is now “promotional products,” to dress them up so people don’t call them “the cheap stuff that you gave away.” They’re low-cost, but they’re incentives just the same. I call them souvenirs. My kids call them “presents”. I tell my kids I bought “Dad’s special presents!” for them. Shhh. They still believe in Santa and the tooth fairy, too. College kids today just aren’t as smart as when we went. Hey, wait a minute. You don’t think they’re just telling me that to get the presents, do you?
So if you have kids and are looking for these “gifts”, then first look for the booth that is giving away the nicest shopping bags and get several. If you are a collector of tsakstsakas, bring a comfortable backpack, too. The serious collectors bring duffel bags.
The ASI Show of the Advertising Specialty Institute, Langhorn, PA (www.ASIShow.com) has more tsakstsakas than anyone (yea, I know it isn’t spelled correctly… you try looking it up in a dictionary!). The ASI is the original 8,000 pound gorilla of the ad specialty market. They rule roost of the low end, privately labeled promotional industry items with a firm hand – making money from both sides of the fence: manufacturers and distributors. They have shows throughout the year but the larger ones are at McCormick place July 11 to 13 this year, and in Philadelphia May 23 – 25th.
The ASI shows are harder to get into unless you are clever, or pay them, or both. But surely you can pick up more cheap pens here than at any other show. You can also pick up thousands of things for the kids, and your office staff, who seem to like the same stuff as the kids and are generally more thankful for being remembered although usually more miffed that you didn’t take them.
You just missed one of the best shows but if you register now you’ll be very early for it next January 4 – 6 in Las Vegas 2007. It’s the PPAI, Promotional Products Association International (www.PPA.Org) show. Each year over 1,600 suppliers exhibit in over 3,700 booths. Lots of giveaways here, too. Remember? “Promotional products.” “Advertising specialties.” “Cheap stuff you give away.” Are they really just synonymous? Wow, nice word, isn’t it. Yea, that’s right – I know some big words. Don’t get smart with me or I’ll defenistrate you. Attendance? 23,000.
OK, you’re still in luck – the next PPAI trade show, although smaller, is in Atlantic City June 5, 6 & 7 at the conventions center. The PPAI is a non-profit governing association of the promotional products industry. 825 Companies, 1200 booths, with 5,000 distributor attendees. Call them at 888-426-7724 for a list of their services and show information. (It’s trade only, so you’ll need the know the secret handshake which is, er… ten dollars).
Amongst the highlights of products at any of these shows are flashlights (my personal favorites), key fobs, and the absolute best product is a funny sign flip-book like the one found on my website www.dobkin.com with over 100 funny signs that stands up on your desk and says things like, “I didn’t say it was your fault, I said I was going to blame you…”! Oh, did I mention you can buy one for $ 12.95 + $4 Shipping. OK, so I plugged my new book. So? Call 610-642-1000 to order – I need the money.
While you’re calling associations, don’t forget the IMA, the Incentive Marketing Association (www.incentivemarketing.org) in beautiful downtown Naperville, IL. Population 128,358. Y’all can phone them up at 630-369-7880. (I don’t think they get 800 phone service down there yet.) It’s the main association of the premium industry.
Besides the shows, there are also a few trade magazines that go to the incentive industry. The oldest is Incentive Marketing; man, this publication was around when I was a kid. You remember those days – we still had records, 33-1/3s, 45s and some were even 78s; cars were all American made… and so was everything else, and there was no Internet. Wow am I really that old? You remember 78s? Wow, you are too.
Incentive Marketing (www.Incentivemag.com) is digest size, glossy, thick and perfect bound. It contains a range of ads from tiny personalized items to full incentive companies that will come in and set up your whole program for you for free just to get the merchandise orders.
Well established and well accepted as one of only two or three magazines that underserves this huge market, the dominance of articles explain how successful incentive programs are run by companies, with a little bit of industry gossip to keep the industry buzzing.
Incentive Marketing magazine, as most trade magazines, is easy to get for free if you know how to pitch them. Their number is 646-654-7654. If you don’t know how to get free subscriptions to magazines just request my free article, “Getting Free Trade Magazines.” Simply jot your name and address on the back of a twenty dollar bill and send to Jeff Dobkin, P.O. Box 100, Merion Station, PA 19066. OK, a fiver will do, too. Might as well order my marketing books while you’re at it.
Still interested in reading up? Another glossy magazine, Potentials in Marketing, now simply called Potentials, (phone 646-654-5000, www.potentialsmag.com) is tabloid-sized and strictly product oriented. It’s a fast-read and fun if you like press releases and product shots. Hey remember comic books? You really are old, aren’t you?
Not to be outdone, Promo magazine (www.promomagazine.com) 203-358-9900, has their own show at the Chicago Navy Pier Sept. 30 – Oct. 2nd, in case you didn’t get enough free pens from the going to the other shows.
And finally, if you haven’t found it in the rest of the magazines, try Promotional Marketing (www.promotionalmkt.com) 215-238-5300. OK, gotta go. Anybody seen a duck around here? Let’s see, he was about a foot tall, and he had this kinda waddle when he walked…
Bio: Jeff Dobkin is a funny speaker yet information-rich. He’s written four books on direct marketing, and one on humor. His motivational speeches are usually on effective direct marketing methods, acquiring maximum sales leads, and innovation but he also writes presentations to client’s specifications. Visit him at www.dobkin.com. 610-642-1000 rings on his desk.