Examining PromoEQP’s Strategic Initiative.

For the record, I am thrilled with the engagement and excitement that has come with the Strategic Supplier Initiative!

In just the first month, we have seen more interest AND participation in the WEDNESDAY WEBINAR SERIES, increased benefits from a multitude of suppliers, and deeper strategic engagement from the Initiative Suppliers!... As I said, I’m kinda thrilled about this!

The major issue that I failed to address previously was to detail out WHO these new Strategic Suppliers are and WHAT they are offering within this new initiative… So let’s fix that now.

Meet the Strategic Suppliers

A whole new webpage has been created to detail these Strategic Partners and their offering. That page is available at www.promoeqp.com/news …Key things to know about the breakdown of the page:

Suppliers organized by BENEFIT OFFERINGS
- Suppliers offering Direct-to-Distributor Incentives are placed together… as are those who are expanding to include a single National Contact.
- Taking this step meant highlighting Distributor Benefits over perceived program preferences.

Brief descriptions of BENEFIT OFFERINGS
- The Offering Details will be housed within SAGE and the new PromoEQP Distributor Login Page.
The Page will be regularly updated with ALL Supplier Policy Enhancements
- Scrolling to the bottom of the page will bring you to a carousel of Suppliers who have made enhancements to their distributor benefits.

Finally, at the bottom of the Strategic Supplier page is a field to generate feedback from distributors. Please remember that the entire idea of this initiative is to be “DOING BETTER” by YOU. This will only be accomplished by hearing from you, seeing you at the Wednesday Webinars, expanding PromoEQP based on your feedback, and developing resources based on your challenges and ideas.

I have a vision of PromoEQP becoming the industry’s elite model of distributor resources… For that to be true, though, I depend on YOU to guide PromoEQP into what “elite” actually looks like.

Thanks again…

Jeremy Chacon

PromoEQP

312-392-1064

jeremy@promoeqp.com

Insider Information

PromoEQP Strategic Partnership

Market focused Content from Strategic partner Logomark.

“Doing Better” isn’t only about sales.

What is SHELTER TO SOLDIER

Shelter to Soldier is a 501c3 nonprofit organization that adopts dogs from local rescues and shelters and trains them to become psychiatric service dogs for post-9/11 veterans suffering from Post Traumatic Stress (PTS), Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and/or Military Sexual Trauma (MST). The program also places emotional support animals (ESAs) with active-duty military, veterans, and first responders in need and deploys the Shelter to Soldier Canine Ambassadors, a team of therapy dogs, to provide visits of love and comfort to local military personnel, veterans, and their families.

On average, 17 US veterans commit suicide every day (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs)

More than 500,000 servicemen and women are living with invisible wounds, from depression to post-traumatic stress disorder, and 320,000 are experiencing debilitating brain trauma (Wounded Warrior Project).

Every Day, approximately 1,800 dogs are euthanized nationwide (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals)

Each year, America sees approximately 3.3 million dogs enter U.S. animal shelters nationwide. Shelter to Soldier provides them a future with a purpose and a life that is fulfilled by their bond with a veteran in need.

Logomark has partnered with Shelter to Soldier to bring veterans together with trained rescue dogs, helping both recover and move forward. A lifesaving organization that rescues dogs from kill shelters and trains them to be service dogs for U.S. Veterans in need. Saving lives, two at a time!

Each service dog/veteran costs an average of $18,000 from adoption to graduation. This includes the adoption, housing, medical care, grooming, food, treats, training, training equipment, bedding, toys, testing, handling training, service dog equipment and documents, graduation, and materials for the veteran recipient and service dog pair. STS dogs are trained over 12-18 months to be highly obedient and handler-focused in all environments, to ignore distractions, and to mitigate symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression through task-related work. We have helped rescue & train 10 dogs (including 2 ambassador dogs) with 3 more committed with our partnership so far.

A portion of all proceeds from the Perka®, WORK®, and iCOOL® collections is donated to Shelter to Soldier.

All Perka products come in a high-end retail box with a Shelter to Solder sticker as a reminder of the support your purchase provides. Work, and iCool Items come with a sticker or hand tag to show off as well.

AMAZING QUALITY, SELECTION, AND CAUSE!

Great quality & design.

Who doesn't love rescuing dogs and supporting U.S. veterans who fought for our country?

They sacrificed everything to protect our freedom, and it’s our turn to give back to them.

WIN-WIN all around!

Thanks so much for reading and for your support! We appreciate you!

Learn about our Logomark Cares Give Back Programs and get inspired to do your part to contribute to your community.

And, furthermore...

Upcoming Wednesday Webinars

And now for something new

Short Story, Big Picture:

(NOT) An “OH $h!t” Industry

This isn’t “breaking news” to anyone with any experience in the industry. But, the hard truth is that promotional products are, very often, a last-minute thought for buyers.

Inevitably, once the whole event has been planned, someone will say,

“Oh $h!t! We didn’t get something to hand out!”

Now, with a limited budget and tight timeframe, our suppliers and distributors are tasked with creating top-of-the-line results that fall within budget requirements. Last-minute orders lead to RUSH ORDERS. Rush orders lead to increased cost, increased risk, and product variations due to inventory limitations.

Today’s Short Story is a piece to help you achieve your long-term goals, aka the Big Picture.

Now that we know the event planning issue, how do we change our buyer’s perception of promo? If we don’t want to be compared to Amazon, we need to stop acting like it!

Here are three things to keep in mind when planning your communication with clients:

CRM (Automation) Setup

Know your buyer’s cycles and when their next year’s events are coming up…before they do! In most CRMs or Business management software, you can pull reports for purchases that happened last year and plan emails or calls with those clients a month or two in advance of this year’s event. Trust me on this one, your client will be genuinely excited to have this conversation with you!

Talk (ASK) about the Future

Actively Seeking Knowledge. That is what it means to ASK. When you are talking to your buyer, always be asking questions about what is coming next. Two things will happen; one, you will show the buyer that you are actively engaged in their business, two, you will now have enough time to plan and build an amazing event with product that means something, not a product that just fits in time.

Embrace the Inevitable

Procrastination and laziness are still going to happen. There will always be clients who, even after all the calls and reminder emails, will still wait until the last minute possible, so just be ready. Develop a group of suppliers that are reliable and have a wide range of products that can be produced in a short time frame. How you handle your client in their time of need will give them the confidence to hopefully give you more time for the next order.

_____________________________

Let’s take the steps to educate and inform our buyers on what they can do if they just give you 2 more weeks. They will appreciate the wider range of products that are available and will change their opinion of the promo industry to being more than just trinkets and giveaways.

Believe me… You got this!