Are you in Business for the Sale or the Relationship?

Are you in Business for the Sale or the Relationship?

This past week I was meeting with a new customer to discuss chef wear and some unique coffee mugs they could sell for the holidays.  We had a good meeting, discussed options and agreed on samples she would like to see.  The meeting seemed to be going well.  Toward the end of the meeting, she said something I hope none of my customers will ever say:

“Do you do decals too?  

We are getting low and we don’t really care about the company where we get them.” 

 Wow, a simple phrase that says so much!  From the moment we built our company, it has always been about relationships, helping people accomplish their goals, brand their business, thank customers and reward employees. 

We are fortunate that in the promotional product industry, we sell over a million products – seriously, a million products!  I can’t think of a business that doesn't need what we sell – even if its just business cards.  For us - its not about "the product" but what the product can do for you.  So many companies of all types today think they just need a web site to be in business, to sell their products.  It’s a start; it seems easy, it reaches a lot of people but are you using it to sell product or build a lasting relationship?  Can it build a personal connection that turns sales into customers who want to stay with you?  It can be done but building a person to person relationship in addition to on line sales builds trust.

When you don’t take the time to build the relationship, then it’s just a sale.  It’s not a customer, you don’t have a brand – you just sell products.  Long lasting successful companies put building a life long customer ahead of “just the sale.”  We want customers who will stay with us for years.  We want them to count on us, depend on us.  We want to be their partner, make them look good, help them accomplish their goals.

Stowebridge Promotion Group has grown primarily through referrals.  Our customers refer us to their friends and colleagues.   When they leave, they take us with them to their next company.  We actually work all over the US, Canada and in many other countries.  Building relationships does not have to be a face to face experience.  Our consultative, non-pushy approach makes our customers comfortable with us.  And for us its about more than just being nice - we have invested in the equipment and people to deliver what you need from our outstanding art department to our full scale production facility.  Creating a company that cares about its customers, puts the long term relationship ahead of the sale today takes hard work and a great team – but we feel it’s worth it.  It is who we are as a company and much more personally rewarding than just getting the sale.

We would love the opportunity to build a relationship with you.  Just let us know how we can make you look great – 888-340-8006.

What sparks your Creativity? (And an invitation for you!)

What sparks your creativity?  (And an invitation for you!)

You certainly can’t command it to come.  You can’t schedule it.  Creativity often evades you just when you need it the most.  And it often surprises you when you least expect it – like that great idea you got in the shower this morning.  Creativity is in all of us – we just need to free our minds to allow it to happen.

What is creativity?

Here are some of my favorite definitions.

“Creativity is the process of bringing something new into being. Creativity requires passion and commitment. It brings to our awareness what was previously hidden and points to new life. The experience is one of heightened consciousness: ecstasy.” – Rollo May, The Courage to Create

"Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn't really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while."  Steve Jobs

How do we allow creativity to happen?

Since creative thoughts come at the most unusual times – from dreams, from the quiet magical moment just between sleep and wakefulness, and when we have time to free our mind, here are a few things that help me.

• Quiet walks at dawn before the world wakes up
• See the world differently. Viewing the world through my camera lens gives me new perspectives, especially if I look for an unusual camera angle or view point with the most common of objects.
• Meet new people everywhere you go.
• Get away from your desk and get out of the workplace – Get some fresh air!
• Be curious – get off the freeway and take the back roads (literally and figuratively).
• Take your vacation; make your weekends fun and not just extra days for work or chores.  Our minds need time to recharge to be our best.
• Volunteer and give back – volunteering gets your mind off your problems, your life and gives you perspective when you help others.  It also helps you see differently.

An Invitation to Creativity and Inspiration

At Stowebridge we work in a creative business. We are serious about helping you with creative ideas.  And yet creative ideas come from making connections between what we know and new things we see.  So each year we host an IDEA FAIR.  We bring together the very best representatives and suppliers in our industry with people like you.  They bring their imaginative ideas, their latest products and endless amounts of success stories that have worked for others like you.  Our show is just the thing you need to recharge your creativity - its all designed to creative ideas just for you.

Join us on October 7^th at our Chandler, AZ location.  Each year we have a fun theme – And this year is no different – we are having a Birthday Bash to celebrate our 20^th anniversary.  Great food, new ideas, new people to meet, prizes, gifts and so many terrific ideas to spark your creativity. 

You don’t have to be a current customer to join us.  But we do ask that you register for the show.  Register at www.Stowebridge.com and click on the Birthday Bash logo on our header.  Bring colleagues from your office and by working together, you will find even more ideas.  Once you are registered, you will receive updates and a formal invitation with all the details.

Let us help you spark your creativity.  

Here are a few photos from past shows - our Build It theme last year and our Hollywood extravaganza in 2012.

The actual car from the Bonnie and Clyde Movie

Lessons I learned from my Summer Interns

It has been several years since we last hired marketing interns.  This year we had two outstanding marketing students from Northern Arizona University, both with dual majors - Victor Martinez, marketing and management, and KaitlynMcNalley, marketing and finance.  They have worked on a variety of projects during their summer internship at Stowebridge and have added a lot to the various projects they have been involved in.

I trust this was a valuable experience for them, but I also benefited greatly from working with them.    While I understand my business inside and out – they made it clear to me that there are some simple basics I have not taken time to articulate.  There is always room for more clarity.

Here are some of the lessons I learned from them:

Be inspired by all the world has to offer

Don’t be afraid to ask questions

Be open to trying something you have never tried before

Be open to trying ideas you tried in the past but find ways to make it work better.  (Don’t be quick to explain why something has already been done and why it won’t work.)

Make new friends

Embrace and integrate new technology

Communicate in new ways – to reach more of your audience – Facebook, Blogging

Dig deeply – the answers are out there 

Live in awe of people and things that may have become mundane

Be grateful for every opportunity

Be generous to others – if you saw Kate's picture when she started you will see her new shorter bobbed hair cut – the result of donating her hair to help others.

These are fantastic lessons for all of us.  We get out of college and sometimes lose sight of these.  I am thankful to Victor and Kate for opening my eyes. 

(We are pleased to report that Victor will continue as a sales person while he finishes his last semester at NAU.)

Note: We have two outstanding interns working on websites for us – Edward Hietter and Aaron Harrington, both from the University of New Mexico.  I don’t think I could begin to articulate how amazed I am at all they do and know.  I will never, ever know all that they know – I am just thankful they are on my team! 

Where do you call home?

Nearly every Friday I eat dinner at the same restaurant.  It’s part of my ritual and a comforting way to end the week – whether it was successful, stressful or quiet.  I always know I will be greeted with a smile and hug followed by a glass of my favorite craft beer by the tall, lanky manager, Eli.  Sometimes, like last Friday night, he sees me walking across the parking lot and greets me at the door, beer in hand.  Truth be told, I am much more of a wine drinker but their limited wine menu does not stack up against their broad selection of craft beers.  There are plenty of other nights to drink fine wine.

It’s not a fancy place with its metal tables and plastic table covers but it is as comforting as coming home.  Some of my friends might not even feel comfortable in such modest surrounds.  The menu features all the regular items you would expect at a grill but all the bread is homemade, they make the most amazing Caesar salad dressing I have ever tasted and they serve specials that rival any gourmet restaurants I have visited – all served in a plastic basket. 

The restaurant feels like home because of the people who work there.  Eli remembers my beer choice without even asking but also brings me samples of new ones he thinks I will like.  His weekly answer to “How are you” is always “Living the Dream.”   And he remembers the menu choices I like the most.  While I would like to think I am truly special, I see Eli and the rest of the staff work the same magic with everyone who walks in the door.  In our fast food, overworked, “press 1 for English”, world that we live in, we all want to be remembered and welcomed home, wherever home is. 

When I reflect on our business, Stowebridge Promotion Group, this is how we want our customers to feel.  We treat people as people.  We want them to feel at home with us – whether it is in our showroom or across country.  We work hard to have a welcoming atmosphere and a welcoming way with our customers.  We don’t believe in pushy sales, sales quotas or making the numbers for a certain supplier.  We believe in finding just the right item in our customer’s budget that we know will arrive just the way the want it, on time and on budget. 

Many of our customers are old friends and many of those who were not have become friends.   We want to know more about our customers than just their business, we want to celebrate their life events from weddings and graduations to their children’s success.  Knowing our customers and offering outstanding customer support is a hallmark of our success and part of our culture.  Our customers are people we sincerely enjoy working with and that makes it a pleasure to come to work every day.  Our team pulls together to make things happen, sometimes even the impossible. We enjoy helping our customers grow and are excited by their success.  We love to help our friends promote their business, thank their customers, motivate employees, and to help them become memorable.