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ANY ITEM YOU can imagine, from key chains to crystal, clothing and golf accessories, sports items and even personalized movies, were all on display at the ASI Show!, held at the Sands Expo Center in Las Vegas.
For any distributor looking to break into promotional products, the ASI Show! was the place to be.
According to ASI, the show broke the industry's record for summer show attendance, with 965 companies exhibiting and 3,346 distributor personnel attending. Total attendance was 6,355.
Selling Promotions
The show's keynote addresses demonstrated that a good salesperson can easily expand into promotional products. Many of the sales techniques are the same.
In his keynote address, "Key Qualities and Traits of Ad Specialties Champions," Tom Hopkins, author of How to Master the Art of Selling, said that successful salespeople have healthy attitudes toward failure.
He recommended that salespeople look at failure in one of five ways:
A learning experience.
Feedback that a change in direction is needed.
An opportunity to perfect performance.
As the game they must play to win.
An opportunity to improve their sense of humor.
In his keynote address, Thomas J. Winninger, the author of Price Wars and Hiring Smart!, offered the following tips for selling promotional products:
* Sell products as packages and concepts. Don't act as if they are just mugs or pens, for example.
* Give names and prices to your services. It creates a perception of value on the part of the customer. Also, package the products themselves as a service.