Online Price Shopping...Just Another Challenge for our Industry!

I’m a seasoned promotional marketing professional with years of experience.  For years I taught education sessions on the value of selling solutions and not products or “stuff.” Today that concept still holds true, but the marketplace has changed. 

Let’s be honest.  Our clients can and will shop online.

In today’s business environment, occcasionally I feel inclined to do a Goggle search to see what my clients will find.  This is happening even with good clients and not just the price shoppers.  I hate that, but the reality is that in today’s economy, this is something we all need to consider.

One enterprising distributor, Rick Ornberg from Eagle Mountain Promotions created a website warning potential customers to be careful when buying from "cheap crap online dot com." This site was built for fun and on it Rick offers some cautions for buyers.  Check this out: http://www.CheapCrapOnline.com

Here are some good points from Rick’s site:

Can you contact someone personally, and right away?
Some online resources are little more than a west coast computer connected to a factory in China. Make sure there's a real person taking your order and able to answer any and all questions before committing to any purchase.

Can you talk to someone that is familiar with the product & processes? Imprinted products involve a wide variety of materials and imprinting processes. Your contact should be well versed in the production process…or be able to obtain production information quickly for you should you require it. Your local distributor is…or should be, able to contact any manufacturer directly…not just rely on a catalog information page.

Are shipping costs (and where your order ships from) included?
You should obtain at least an estimate of the shipping costs. What may seem like a reasonable or desirable product price might actually cost more if shipped from a distant location. There might be a nearby manufacturer that can supply your product with less shipping costs.

What about surprise costs? Is everything included?
Sometimes there are setup charges, plate charges, artwork fees, special packaging requirements --- stuff that should be disclosed up front, to help you make an educated decision.

Will you see and approve a proof?
Make sure you'll have final OK on any layouts or designs for your products before they are imprinted. Don't let a "RUSH" scenario replace common sense. If there's no time to approve artwork, then you may be looking at additional costs and missing your deadline anyway.

Are they a member of a local Chamber of Commerce?
A Better Business Bureau logo isn't enough. A "no complaints" listing doesn't mean there haven't been some that have been satisfied, and won't reflect those that have not been officially called in. A Chamber of Commerce membership is usually a better indicator of a business that is established, community based, and not just working out of a PO box someplace.

What about personal service?
There is no substitute for personal, one-to-one communication and interaction. There can't be enough online boxes on a website to check to cover all the information that you may desire or need.

Rick has had a lot of fun with the site and has even gotten some business from it!  Keeping with the concept, he even printed up some business cards! (cheap ones, of course, bought online.)

While we make light of online shopping horror stories that do happen all the time, we also acknowledge that there are above board, honest and trusted online providers out there as well.

Most of us can relate to the challenge of competing with online sources.  Savvy salespeople may not have faced this even a year ago.  Even the most successful salespeople, with the most loyal clients are beginning to see customer pressures to meet online pricing.

FreePromoTips will continue to present information that will help you succeed in today’s marketplace. We certainly don’t have all the answers, so we welcome your contributions.  Please share your comments on this topic below.

If you have had success counteracting online sales, and would like to share something in depth that we can use in a future FreePromoTip issue, please click here.