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Are lower prices more important than good quality?
If you take a student’s view of what immediately precedes a company’s filing for bankruptcy, you will find that three…
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Education
Rebranding Your Company Under a New Name
I’m a proponent of helping your prospective customers find you in the easiest possible way, so if that means ending…
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Make It Your Business: Trust Me?
Is workplace trust an issue? Imagine yourself in the following three situations and consider what you would do or how…
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Utilize Shop Downtime to Conduct Voice-of-the-Customer Surveys
Summertime is a great time to conduct a “Voice of the Customer” survey. This is a valuable practice for when…
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Help Clients Integrate Promotional Products into Their Marketing Plan
No matter what you call them, promotional products and ad specialties have one thing in common: the proven effect of…
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Education
Make It Your Business: The Beauty of Mapping Your Sales Process
Consider, for a moment, the dilemma of a particular sign and digital graphics business. When the company was established, it…
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Caution: Avoid insincere apologies to customers
I cringe when I hear any company with whom I do business with mindlessly utter, I’m sorry you feel that way,…
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Education
Positioning Promotional Products: The restaurateur’s approach
Promotional products are often seen as either appetizers or desserts, not the main course or signature entrée. Let’s assume for…
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Play Nice: How to Communicate About Competitors
Business is sometimes cut-throat and always competitive. When the pressure is on, one can be seduced into trying to create…
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My sales team is on an incentivized pay system. Should I offer the same commission rate for every type of product?
If there is a significant difference in the profitability of your core bread-and-butter offerings and that of smaller markets like…
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Are promotional products buoys or anchors?
It is important to know what your shop’s overall gross profit margin is. Grab your most recent consolidated income statement…
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Education
Call Your Own Company
Call your own company – either the main business number or your direct line, and imagine you are calling for…
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What are some spring-cleaning activities shops often forget about?
Something that I typically advise people to do throughout the year is to take the time for “spring-cleaning” of their…
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How can shops get involved with their community and gain local business?
Springtime is a perfect time for shops to host customer appreciation days and open houses to engage their community. Usually,…
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Should I let my sales team set prices?
It’s been said a happy sales force is a productive sales force, but properly pricing your products and services is…
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How often should an awards and engraving business market to an audience?
Approach every key client and target prospect and ask them directly how often and by what medium they prefer to…
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