Touring the expo hall at last week’s National Safety Congress it seemed at first like the economy was causing exhibitors to do whatever promotions were necessary to survive. It was interesting looking at my notes from this year and comparing them to the first national safety show I attended back in 1994. Despite seeing a decrease in attendance over recent years, it was interesting to gauge the ebb and flow of supplier promotional activity this year. Compared to previous years, promotions were more focused on service and quality; as a result I believe the industrial safety distribution network will be more active in the next few months.
Extreme marketing and promotions of product and price do not have to be shrewd or tactical. I admire the scope and sheer precision of McDonald’s staging a full-frontal assault on Starbucks. The company’s thoughtful and well-funded McCoffee “McBlitz” is doing its job - freaking out Starbucks while scraping away at market share.
How can that analogy translate to hard hats, vests and fall protection harnesses? No matter what the product or service you offer, freebies and promotions have to be done with precision and ample focus to ensure success without hemorrhaging profits. Supposedly, two million people took advantage of Denny’s free “Grand Slam Breakfast” which followed shortly after being promoted during the Super Bowl. Will that, beyond the obvious short-term public relations frenzy, actually deliver substantive, long-term results to the company? You may have 1,000 workers come through your on-site turnaround trailer or shoe mobile because you gave out donuts but foot traffic doesn’t necessarily equal profit when freebies are involved, and they need to be planned out or they will backfire. Getting people in the door is one thing. Getting them in the door again, with the intent of spending is something quite different.
Here are few ideas for marketing directors of industrial safety and fire equipment distributors:
1) “BE PREPARED” – Follow the Boy Scout motto when activating any promotion that is going to pull product, service, or some combination of the two. An inability to deliver on your promise can cause more harm than good and actually have a detrimental effect on your promotion. Running out of the product or having service issues that anger customers are two obvious unwanted results.
2) Listen to your supplier partners and know what is being given away. If it’s going to be free, it needs to be both memorable and core to your mission; a signature offering for which people will return. Don’t get people excited about something they will never see again, don’t go cheap to save a few dollars and don’t change something for the promo that will take away from your core concept. It doesn’t matter whether it’s an eyewear case, safety lanyards or elbow pads. You can bundle several products into the price of one that someone pays for, creating the illusion that it’s “free.”
3) Get them to come back. Any promo that doesn’t have a bounce-back effect is self-defeating. Years ago, when I worked for an industrial distributor, I followed this principle during a prescription safety eyewear promotion. When a client received a new pair of glasses, they were given a sample of our private-label lens cleaning towelette and discount certificate for a future purchase of a lens cleaning station from one of our regional distribution centers. This motivated the client to return and “shop” for more. It also gave the regional locations opportunities to up-sell and increase referrals of new customers. Within a year, the lens cleaning products ranked third in most products sold with an average profit margin of 35%. A freebie with no call to action is a freebie without legs and doesn’t generate profit.
4) Collect data on your new customers. When they call or come in, identify them and enter them into your database for future promotions and opportunities. There are many ways to do this, a fish bowl placed on a will-call counter for a gift certificate drawn at the end of the month or a complimentary respirator fit-testing on their service anniversary are two examples.
5) Pulse the promotions. The first time may well be “free” and makes the customer feel good, but when offered too often, they lose their effect and the customer begins to expect it. Use timing (e.g., monthly, quarterly, seasonally) as a guide, and experiment to see what works. Remember, promotions that recur too frequently create the negative result of conditioning customers to hold out for the promotion and never pay full price again.
6) Finally, figure out ways to make your generosity pay for itself. If there’s an inexpensive way to drive traffic and exposure, go for it. This could mean promoting internally through e-mail campaigns, brochures, direct mail postcards, a banner on your website, etc. Maybe for one month, your customer service or inside sales team mentions a new product or service being offered during each phone call. You could foster charitable partnerships that make use of customer, supplier and distributor relationships for mutual benefit or giving a percentage of added proceeds to a local charity to get people spending a few extra dollars and feeling good about the sale. From experience, I found this works better for the bottom line with sales from high-end or premium products.
Giving things away can be good or bad depending on your approach; if done right, promotions can be invigorating and profitable. So get excited, design one that works for you, fire away and review any feedback and track your results.
Todd Guenther, SMS Product Manager
November 6, 2009
Todd Guenther is a 15-year veteran of the safety and fire equipment industry and works with small to mid-size industrial distributors to develop custom marketing and business development projects such as print catalog, eCommerce websites and trade show materials.
For more information about SMS, visit http://www.growwithsms.com/ or email info@growwithsms.com
Extreme marketing and promotions of product and price do not have to be shrewd or tactical. I admire the scope and sheer precision of McDonald’s staging a full-frontal assault on Starbucks. The company’s thoughtful and well-funded McCoffee “McBlitz” is doing its job - freaking out Starbucks while scraping away at market share.
How can that analogy translate to hard hats, vests and fall protection harnesses? No matter what the product or service you offer, freebies and promotions have to be done with precision and ample focus to ensure success without hemorrhaging profits. Supposedly, two million people took advantage of Denny’s free “Grand Slam Breakfast” which followed shortly after being promoted during the Super Bowl. Will that, beyond the obvious short-term public relations frenzy, actually deliver substantive, long-term results to the company? You may have 1,000 workers come through your on-site turnaround trailer or shoe mobile because you gave out donuts but foot traffic doesn’t necessarily equal profit when freebies are involved, and they need to be planned out or they will backfire. Getting people in the door is one thing. Getting them in the door again, with the intent of spending is something quite different.
Here are few ideas for marketing directors of industrial safety and fire equipment distributors:
1) “BE PREPARED” – Follow the Boy Scout motto when activating any promotion that is going to pull product, service, or some combination of the two. An inability to deliver on your promise can cause more harm than good and actually have a detrimental effect on your promotion. Running out of the product or having service issues that anger customers are two obvious unwanted results.
2) Listen to your supplier partners and know what is being given away. If it’s going to be free, it needs to be both memorable and core to your mission; a signature offering for which people will return. Don’t get people excited about something they will never see again, don’t go cheap to save a few dollars and don’t change something for the promo that will take away from your core concept. It doesn’t matter whether it’s an eyewear case, safety lanyards or elbow pads. You can bundle several products into the price of one that someone pays for, creating the illusion that it’s “free.”
3) Get them to come back. Any promo that doesn’t have a bounce-back effect is self-defeating. Years ago, when I worked for an industrial distributor, I followed this principle during a prescription safety eyewear promotion. When a client received a new pair of glasses, they were given a sample of our private-label lens cleaning towelette and discount certificate for a future purchase of a lens cleaning station from one of our regional distribution centers. This motivated the client to return and “shop” for more. It also gave the regional locations opportunities to up-sell and increase referrals of new customers. Within a year, the lens cleaning products ranked third in most products sold with an average profit margin of 35%. A freebie with no call to action is a freebie without legs and doesn’t generate profit.
4) Collect data on your new customers. When they call or come in, identify them and enter them into your database for future promotions and opportunities. There are many ways to do this, a fish bowl placed on a will-call counter for a gift certificate drawn at the end of the month or a complimentary respirator fit-testing on their service anniversary are two examples.
5) Pulse the promotions. The first time may well be “free” and makes the customer feel good, but when offered too often, they lose their effect and the customer begins to expect it. Use timing (e.g., monthly, quarterly, seasonally) as a guide, and experiment to see what works. Remember, promotions that recur too frequently create the negative result of conditioning customers to hold out for the promotion and never pay full price again.
6) Finally, figure out ways to make your generosity pay for itself. If there’s an inexpensive way to drive traffic and exposure, go for it. This could mean promoting internally through e-mail campaigns, brochures, direct mail postcards, a banner on your website, etc. Maybe for one month, your customer service or inside sales team mentions a new product or service being offered during each phone call. You could foster charitable partnerships that make use of customer, supplier and distributor relationships for mutual benefit or giving a percentage of added proceeds to a local charity to get people spending a few extra dollars and feeling good about the sale. From experience, I found this works better for the bottom line with sales from high-end or premium products.
Giving things away can be good or bad depending on your approach; if done right, promotions can be invigorating and profitable. So get excited, design one that works for you, fire away and review any feedback and track your results.
Todd Guenther, SMS Product Manager
November 6, 2009
Todd Guenther is a 15-year veteran of the safety and fire equipment industry and works with small to mid-size industrial distributors to develop custom marketing and business development projects such as print catalog, eCommerce websites and trade show materials.
For more information about SMS, visit http://www.growwithsms.com/ or email info@growwithsms.com
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