Creative Sales Promotions Can Break Down Customer Resistance

The Specialty Advertising Association of Chicago, a trade organization that represents 535 suppliers and distributors of imprinted promotional and advertising products, has some whiz-bang ideas to help you get your foot in the door. You can turn those dreaded cold calls into hot sales through the use of a medium sales companies often overlook – specialty advertising.

Specialty advertising programs offer useful or decorative items imprinted with a company’s logo or message. A company may give these away free to a target audience or to existing customers.

For example, a publishing company wanted to generate interest from 1,800 magazine advertising space buyers for its publication, Assembly Engineering. They used the theme, “Assembly Engineering puts it all together.” First, the buyers received a ceramic coaster with the theme copy, accompanied by a reply card stating: “The coaster is great. But it’s lonely without the coffee mug. Please have a representative call.” Salespeople answering the summons then delivered a ceramic mug imprinted with the theme copy and discussed the benefits of advertising in the magazine. As a result, the magazine reported all-time highs in advertising sales for the year.

In another example, a petroleum company targeted 50 major accounts and presented each customer with an imprinted butane lighter with copy reading: “Technical Propellants.” They also left the customers an interesting desk item – a toy tanker truck resembling equipment from the company’s fleet. The toy, mounted on a wood base, also included the company’s logo and phone number. The toy truck was actually a butane container for refueling the lighter. Each time a salesperson made a return call, they presented customers with a refill container for the toy truck. The campaign spurred enough orders from the target group that the promotion paid for itself.

In a third case, an ad agency targeted senior executives of 75 companies that had recently been added to Inc. magazine’s list of top 500 companies. The agency’s theme, “Welcome to the big leagues,” was printed on the outside of a large mailing tube. A regulation-size baseball bat with the agency’s logo was inside the tube, along with a scorecard that read: “We’d like to take a swing at your advertising.” The agency picked up a $1.7 million account as a direct result of the campaign.

In selling, getting a foot in the door can be half the battle. Ideas like these can grab your customer’s attention and open doors for you.