We sat down with Dan Tushar, SanMar’s National Sales Manager, to get some pearls of wisdom from his 20 years of industry experience.

Offer Options
You have likely worked with a customer at one time or another who asked for a quote on a very specific product. Perhaps they wanted 5,000 t-shirts for a charity event, or 500 caps for a company picnic. They knew exactly what brand they wanted, the features they needed and how much they planned to spend.

While it’s important to deliver customers the products they want, it’s good business practice to provide choices. Dan recalls a recent experience where providing more options helped a customer land a big account.

“The client asked for pricing on a particular brand of t-shirts,” said Dan. “So our customer presented pricing for the requested shirts, as well as a couple other styles that met the customer’s criteria. Ultimately, the client chose to order a different piece that delivered a similar product at a lower price.”

He mentioned that the alternative can also happen, as customers will often pay a little more for higher quality and richer features.

Always Be Prepared
By going into meetings prepared with all your research wrapped up, you can better deliver on your customer’s expectations.

“The key is pre-call planning,” said Dan. “Establish a budget, end use, fabric and color needs, and show various products that fit within those parameters.”

When you have the time and the logo it’s always a best practice to bring in decorated items to your sales presentations. We’re a part of a very competitive industry and spec samples can help you stand out from competitors. According to Dan this also presents a great opportunity to bring in complementary products.

“Why not show off a decorated cap to go with that uniform program, or a logoed duffle bag to pair with other items for a trade show or golf event?” said Dan. “We’ve helped customers find a lot of success by presenting the right coordinating pieces in the right situations.”

Take a Long-Term View
Another key element to successfully delivering on your customers’ expectations is to make sure inventory levels are healthy enough to support any new or long-term needs. This step is often overlooked but it is vital to the success of any selling program.

“There’s nothing worse than selling a customer on a new product and then needing to resell them because the inventory can’t support the order,” said Dan. “If you’re working with a customer on an exceptionally large request, give us a call to check our current and planned inventory.”