Promotional product professionals primarily fall into two categories:
- Promotional Product Purveyors (order takers)
- Promotional Product Advisors (opportunity makers)
I purposely avoid the word "consultant" because it is ubiquitous in the business world and has become cliched. An advisor is one who is an expert in a particular field; (I have often used the phrase "trusted advisor" to describe this person, but the two words are, in most cases, redundant).
The recession we are experiencing is, no doubt, significant to many industries and the promotional products business is hardly immune, (to say the least). It probably goes without saying but a recession is a purifying flame: order takers (purveyors) will not survive, order makers (advisors) will not merely survive, they will thrive:
- Promotional products advisors always live with "ROI" and "bottom line" as the subtle force behind all of their activities, it is the baseline from where their selling actions occur.
- An advisor doesn't wait for calls from their clients. (An advisor didn't wait for requests during the Christmas season, they presented solutions for business gift giving long before the client even thought about it).
- In the 3rd QTR of 2008, while the purveyors were still selling for fall golf tournaments and tradeshows, advisors were presenting ideas 3-4 months in advance; more importantly, they were presenting ideas that would achieve highly effective results for their clients.
- Advisors are already reviewing their client list and potential event triggers for the 2nd and 3rd QTR.
- While purveyors are hoping their clients will still be buying this year, promotional products advisors are accepting no alternatives. If their clients halt spending or cut budgets, advisors are not easily shaken: their prospecting efforts are so extreme compared to the purveyors, they don't have time to fear, they not only live and breath as reliable consultants to their clients, they (as professional salespeople) never have a dried up pipeline.
- Purveyors claim no one is buying right now. Advisors, the experts in the field of brand management products, realize there are always businesses that thrive in a recession and more importantly, rebuff refusals from clients: with a product that boasts an 84% ROI, they sell confidently to all.
Don't get me wrong: I'll take your order from our catalog or website, but the relationship is merely an open door to a more consultative opportunity (even your request might prompt me to recommend a better idea for your project). The bottom line is, in a recession, purveyors will become marginalized while advisors will remain as the dependable, reliable partners their clients have learned to respect.
In case of any armchair grammarian outbursts: advisor and adviser are both acceptable in the U.S. and Great Britain. (Just had to get that out of the way to avoid one more email in my inbox). :-)
