What's The Difference?

Recently I have spent a fair bit of my time working with newcomers to the Promotional Products Industry.  It is really interesting to view our industry through the eyes of a newbie as it can provide brand new perspective.

Last week I attended the same mini industry trade show in two different cities.  In the first city  I walked the show floor on my own, in the second city I walked the show with a salesperson who has been in the industry for a week.  My experiences were drastically different.

When I walked the first show, my conversations with the various suppliers at each booth were reminiscent of how you would greet an old  friend you ran into at the supermarket.  "How is your family?", "How is business?", "Any plans for spring break?"  These are relationships that in many cases have endured for nearly 20 years and have really transcended the traditional business relationship.   We didn't talk about the latest products in the lineup, nor did I collect a single catalogue or sample.  Now to be fair, in my current role I am doing very little client sales so I tend to be more interested in trends then specific products.

In the second city I met our new sales rep in the morning 10 minutes before the show doors opened.  This particular rep has many years of sales experience in another industry and has attended plenty of trade shows in the past.  We signed in, got our badges and collected our complimentary show bag. "Would it be okay if I asked for an extra bag?" the rep asked me.  I happily gave him mine and we strode through the entrance way.

The look in the rep's eyes brought me back to my first industry show and reminded me of how exciting the Promotional Products Industry can be.  As we stopped at each booth to speak with the same suppliers I had seen two days earlier, the experience was very different.  When I introduced our new rep and explained that they were new to the industry the first comment was something like,  "You are really going to love this industry, it is a lot of fun", or "The people in this business are great, you are going to enjoy it". 

Following the pleasantries,  I asked each supplier to explain to our newbie what their company did and where we should use them.  The pitches varied from a complete walk through of their product line, to case history and industry specific examples. By the end of day the new rep was both exhilarated and exhausted.  We each were carrying two tote bags overflowing with catalogues and samples and I could tell that the rep's brain was about to explode.

When we debriefed, I suggested that he go home and sit and review each of the catalogues and become familiar with the various product lines and categories.  I explained that when I first started, I spent a whole week going through catalogues and reviewing the different categories as this was the best way to learn. 

The new rep shot two questions at me: "Why do we need all of these catalogues, don't they have websites?" and more interestingly "What do you mean by categories?"  To which I replied "We use certain suppliers for bags, others for drink wear, some for electronics".   "But don't they all sell all of those things, how do we know who to work with?".

This second question really struck a chord. With all of the industry mergers, acquisitions  and supplier category creep it has become increasingly difficult to differentiate.  Aside from similar product offerings, everybody seems to have the latest greatest imprint technique, lightening fast service, super virtual samples, etc..

So....What's the difference? In my opinion it is the people.   All things being equal we will work with  somebody that we trust and have a history with who treats us with respect.  As our fragmented industry continues to mature and assimilate, I believe that the human element will ultimately be just as important to the success of all distributors and suppliers as the non human elements.