Here’s one good reason having a screen printing business stays lucrative: Your potential clients can do more with their promotional products.
Many businesses believe that promotional items, such as mugs, shirts, pens, and sweets, are only for brand awareness. That’s not true at all. The next time you reach out to your prospects and they need more convincing, tell them they can also do the following with the branded products:
1. Saying Thank You to Customers
None other than the Harvard Business Review considers customer appreciation better than loyalty. According to it, gratitude combines two influential factors that drive sales, growth, and even commitment to the brand. These are behavior and emotion.
Gratitude toward customers can be in many different forms. One of the most popular strategies is to offer a loyalty or referral program. Customers who spend a certain amount over a particular period can receive discounts or promo items, for example.
Research by TD Bank, though, revealed that it could be simple as thanking them in person. Whenever the sales team gets to interact with them, the company can share their appreciation along with the promo product.
2. Bringing Leads Deeper into the Sales Funnel
Promotional products can be excellent come-ons to encourage leads to enter into the deeper levels of the sale funnel until they eventually purchase an item. The key here is to make every offer better than the previous one.
Here’s an example: A newly opened gym wants to bring in members who will have to pay monthly or yearly fees. To do that, they introduce a tiered marketing program. First, they encourage a one-day free trial, in which those who sign up may receive a tote bag. Then, the business gives another incentive — a shirt and a cap if they will sign up for one full month.
3. Increasing the Morale of the Employees
It’s not only the customers who deserve a thank you from the company. The employees do, too. In fact, they need it more than the leads and prospects. Without them, the business will never achieve growth or even survive.
For one, it can enhance the relationship between managers and employees. In a 2016 study, among those who received an appreciation from their boss for the past month, about 86% said they trusted their managers. Over 75% said the recognition boosted their productivity.
Not only that, it could create a positive domino effect. Recognition makes employees happy. Those were happy in their work lives tend to feel the same in their home, based on the research.
4. Improving Social Causes
A 2014 Taiwanese study revealed a strong positive correlation between purchase intention and brand trust, which corporate social responsibility (CSR) can enhance. The relationship is even more evident among millennials, which now make up a significant percentage of consumers in the United States.
If the company is a grocery store, they can hand out free fabric bags to boost the connection between sustainability and the brand. They may also give away these promotional items as incentives for those who will participate in fund-raising events.
In the end, it’s not the promotional product that matters but the reason and the manner of giving. Because of that, these items are less likely to go away anytime soon.
