Show notes
There’s things we forget. And it’s good to have a plan. It’s good to be reminded of very key things that are specific, even to this industry, and just knowing the way to spot people who are actually capable of purchasing. Versus those who may love you and just aren’t capable. Or those who will just string you along. Or those who use you, just so they always have another price to show, to use the person they’re using already and that sort of thing.
So I think finding clients, developing clients, all of that, everyone could use a reminder there. And if you’re not from a sales background then you absolutely… this is like the most direct sales class you could possibly take for this industry. And just be able to really get your business moving quicker.
David: Hi. Welcome to the podcast. I am here today with Tracie Domino from Event Outfitters in St. Petersburg, Florida. Tracy, it's so good to have you with me.
Tracie: Thank you so much, David. It's a pleasure to be here with you.
David: You know, you and I met through the promotional products industry, but you do a lot besides just promotional products. So let's start, just fill us in on what you do and how you do it.
Tracie: Well, I actually spent years and years, almost 20 years in the events industry. And started a promotional products business because of my need for so many promotional products for our own events. And my OCD personality took over and I wanted total control of the operation.
So that's how we got started.
David: Ok. And so now you're doing both?
Tracie: Yes, still for a little while. But mostly promotional products at this point. Years ago, I worked for Tiffany and Company, the one with the blue box that everyone is very familiar with. And I did their events, but I also did corporate sales for them.
And when I worked for Tiffany, it was promotional product sales. It was putting your logo on a Tiffany ice bucket or engraving it on a piece of silver jewelry and commemorating events. So those two things together kind of transitioned into all of this.
David: Right. Okay. And so what type of clients do you like to work with? What type of people do you like to target? I mean, some people will take anyone who can fog a mirror, anyone with a pulse. But you've been a little more selective in terms of your clientele, is that correct?
Tracie: For sure. And I mean, I'll work with anyone who wants to work with us, of course. But we have really been very lucky or fortunate, I guess I could say. Since I did work in events for so long, there are a ton of event people who we just know, across the country, who do all sorts of jobs in this industry.
And by doing that, we've been able to branch out into all sorts of different events. Events that we never used to even work on. But work with our clients who plan them which has been great. And a lot of them are sports franchise owners, people doing all sorts of really kind of fun, different, interesting things.
So we're really just blessed by our friends. In a lot of cases who would become our clients.
David: Right. So, just a couple of niche industries. in addition to just sort of a wide variety?
Tracie: Right, the people who work in the events business, are our clients, but our end clients are everywhere, and in all sorts of different industries. And yeah, it's really, it's just kind of everything now.
David: Okay. So where do most of your clients initially hear from you?
Tracie: Most clients now, thank goodness, are coming word of mouth, in most cases. And I think that's because we were picky at the beginning and really try to focus on customer service. You can't work for Tiffany and Company and not put a big value on customer service.
And to me, whether someone's buying a high-end luxury executive gift or a trade show giveaway, the service is the same. And it's really important that our clients think they're one of our only clients and they get their issues accommodated and see proposals just as quickly as they could. You know, if they were trying to do some stuff themselves online.
David: Right. Okay. And so if someone is not a referral, what's the first contact that they're likely to have with you.
Tracie: It's funny. I was actually training for a hike. I did this crazy big hike a couple of weeks ago. And some of the training for that, since Florida is so flat, I went up to Atlanta to do a 12 hour training hike.
David: Wow.
Tracie: And there was a group of us about 10 of us who did that. And on 12 hours you talk about a lot of things and it came up that I'm in this industry. And four different people from that hike reached out to me and were like, "oh, I need shirts." Or, "oh, I really need..." You know, something that they needed which was kind of fun and crazy.
But what's so great about our industry is that almost everyone needs what we provide.
David: Right.
Tracie: And people want to work with people they like or have common interests with or something like that. And the ability to meet people in all sorts of fun things that you do. And just talk a little bit, not even in a sales way, just kind of what you do is interesting to people. And they're like, "oh, I order that. I could order it from you." So...
David: So you're just living life and people are hearing what you do and....
Tracie: Kind of. Yeah. Exactly.
Because, we've realized, I think, during COVID that it used to be a lot easier. And I say cold call, not even cold call but where we used to send things to people. We don't know where they are half the time now. and We can send something to their office and they may not see it for months. So using the people we know as an intro into new people is probably the best way for me, currently.
David: Okay. So really, what we would call proactive referrals then where you have contacts with people and you're either asking them, "Hey, who do you know? Who is similar to yourself in terms of maybe a similar type of account? Or somebody who can use your help?
Tracie: Exactly.
David: Okay. All right. Cool. So how would you say you differentiate yourself from other people in your market?
Because obviously there are a lot of people who do it. So how do you say, "okay, this is us versus other options?"
Tracie: Well, we just try to really make our client's lives easier. Because we all compete against the internet. Right? And I'm not a person who believes in cutting costs. I mean, keeping within the budget, of course, but not cutting profit, I guess is really what I think. And, I've come to realize most people don't really want the cheapest thing. They want the best value. And we can provide so much more value by just answering their questions, making them not have to search for items on the internet, letting them know what's available to them.
When we see a good idea that may work for someone who's not even necessarily interested in purchasing, or think they're interested in purchasing at the moment, just saying, "Hey, when you're ready to do something, this could be cool." And sometimes they're like, "let's order it! So..."
David: Love it when that happens.
Tracie: Right. Exactly.
Very cool. So at this point, what would you say are the primary reasons that people give you for working with you?
I know I keep repeating myself, but I really think it's service. And I think it's knowing that they have a person that they could call or text who is, in some cases local to them, but in some cases not. And also, we have been very lucky with our suppliers and some of our largest suppliers who have bent over backwards on rush orders. Specifically in the events space.
I always say, you know, The day after the bat mitzvah, we don't need it anymore, so...
David: Exactly. Right. Yeah.
Tracie: And a lot of times their end client added something right at the last second, I had a client, a client who's an event planner in Alabama, doing a wedding in Big Sky, Montana who needed some things. Some cups, you know, like some not too crazy stuff, but, I always say, "if you're in a pinch, give me a call. Even if you have someone else you work with, if you're in a pinch, give me a call, let's see if we can make a miracle occur for you." And we've had suppliers help us jump through hoops and get stuff there. And that may have been a $200 cup order. But then they suddenly call you back for a $10,000 order because they know you're going to deliver on it.
So I think that's the difference . So I say making miracles happen, but it's just really knowing when something really has to be urgent and telling them when it can't happen.
David: Yeah. You know, it's interesting when I do training sessions, like live training sessions, it's been awhile cause everybody has been isolating, but in live training sessions, I'll often ask an audience of distributors: "what is it that sets you apart? How many of you say service?" And probably 50 to 60% of the room will raise their hands. And then I'll say, "okay, now look around. Okay. if you think your service differentiates you and you think your service differentiates you, can you all be right?" And you can, when you're able to do what you've done, like even in your answer where you're able to specifically talk about the points that set you apart. The way that you do things that's different that allows your service to stand out and really differentiate you from your competition.
Tracie: And David, I'll give you another example that I went and met with a school, a private school here in town. And they do a lot of ordering. And they had said, "Hey, we have three companies we work with. We're really good." And I said that exact same thing. I said, "if you're ever in a pinch, let me know." And the next day they called me and said, "the supplier we thought who was going to do custom boxes for this virtual gala we were going to be planning, can't get them to us in time.