Sales Tips From the Professionals

October 29, 2020

When things get weird, the pros get creative. And things don’t get much weirder than they have this year.

At SanMar, getting creative means exploring new ways to communicate with colleagues, and to helping our customers solve their own set of challenges. Our salespeople have a few tips to share when it comes to engaging your customers.

Boxes Made to Be Unboxed

Dave Behanna has a slightly different take on the trend of unboxing videos, and wants you to know how to put together a package worth unwrapping. Simple additions like a branded box, tissue paper inside for wrapping, and a personalized thank-you note for your customer all help to make even a single product shine. Watch Dave’s video for the full experience of boxing samples that make an impression.

Showing Samples to Customers

Anna Tucker comes to you from North Carolina with a few tips on how to present samples in the best light, whether meeting in person or virtually.

Ordering grommeted samples gives you an opportunity to quickly reference color options and product details, showing a sample that is already decorated will help get the wheels turning for how their logo will look, and steaming your samples before you show them makes sure that they look their best and will inspire more sales. Watch Anna’s full video to see how she uses her samples to make an impact.

Keeping It Real

SanMar’s salespeople always keep their fingers on the pulse of the promotional products industry. SanMar Radio recently spoke with four of them – Matt Foley, Chris Smith, Ben Prasad and Alisha Proffit – and they had plenty to say on where we are and how we’re doing.

Matt comments on the resilience of the industry. “This pandemic emphasized the ability of our customers to become marketers,” says Matt. “They’re really tasked with digging deeper, getting creative…really able to show their talents, which we love to see in this industry.”

The conversation turned to different markets and how they’ve responded to changed circumstances. Ben speaks about what’s changed for the education market. “Now we have virtual field days where customers are shipping all these t-shirts out to kids at home. That’s how that business is coming back, it just looks a lot different.”

Alisha has some advice for everyone preparing to close out this year and making plans for the new one. “Just make it realistic. Now is the perfect time to take a step back, to make a plan, to build a support network around you…and then to move forward with clarity and purpose. We’re all just trying to get through this together.”

Want to hear more? Listen to the full episode on SanMar U or your favorite podcast app.

What sales techniques have you depended on to get you through? Share your ideas and join the conversation with us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter.