Industry veteran David Blaise, co-founder of TopSecrets.com and president of Blaise Drake & Company, Inc., shared a timely action plan during “7 Critical Steps to Sell Promotional Products in ‘The New Normal’” with PPAI Expo Direct-2-You attendees hoping to re-engage with clients, adapt their messaging, initiate more conversations and sell more promo. “When I talk about the idea of seven critical steps, I really believe that these are the most important things you can do right now to continue to sell promotional products effectively,” says Blaise. “Not just from the standpoint of selling products, but really helping your clients … accomplish their objectives.”
In this introspective 48-minute virtual session, Blaise encourages attendees to perform a “self-diagnostic” after each critical step to determine exactly where and how they can improve. “When things are different in the world, people don’t respond to the same things. The typical sales approach of ‘would you like to buy some mugs’ is far less effective than it was in normal times,” says Blaise. “So, when we talk about the ‘new normal,’ that’s really what we are addressing: the fact that people are thinking about things differently and the fact that the world is operating differently. What can we do, not just to make a difference for ourselves but, to make a difference for our clients as well?”
Blaise launches into the session with Step Zero: Adjust Your Mindset, surprising attendees with one extra critical step. “The reason I am not really counting this is because I feel like mindset is so often talked about that it almost loses its power and its effect,” says Blaise. “But, I believe, that given what we are dealing with, it’s more critical than ever.” To adjust your mindset, Blaise first suggests eliminating the idea that people are not buying right now. “Regardless of what’s going on in the world or the industry, there are always people who are buying,” he says. “Our job is always to find the buyer.”
Each step further emphasized the importance of continually evaluating and improving the sales process, messaging and clientele. The remaining steps are Step One: Reengage Your Clients, Step Two: Disconnect the Disqualified, Step Three: Adjust Your Messaging, Step Four: Adapt to Objections, Step Five: Change Your Approach, Step Six: Initiate More Conversations, and Step Seven: Make Inbound Flawless. “That’s really what all of this is about—it’s about changing our approach,” says Blaise. “It’s about changing our communication and it’s about changing our mindset.”
This session and others presented during PPAI Expo Direct-2-You will be available on-demand soon.
