Below is the text of several emails (in italics) that I recently received, which I copied and pasted exactly as I received them.
• Re:10 years professional usb flash drive&power bank&phone case manufacturer in Shenzhen
Why you can believe in our factory for good products ? we have following qualifications:
-Achieved CE,RoHs,UL certificated;
-Absolutely passed H2 test for each USB flash drive;
-Working with us ,you can lower your cost and get higher - quality products;
-We have many successful customers in almost each countries;
• Hi Jacob, how are you?
If there is any products or item project you are working on, we can quote your item back to you in couple hours, we are specialized in helping customer to do their customized item/merchandise / Corporate Gifts…etc we can fulfill what you need here. or weather any item you are looking for, we can get it to you in a short time.
• Crazing Hot Fidget Spinner !!!
Hi, Good Day to you !
Thanks for your time and glad to know that you are esteemed promotional gift company.Today approaching you to find the way cooperate directly.
As the Fidget Spinner are the hottest sell model currently on every market , how about selling this Fashion Fidget Spinner ? We would like to support our quality beautiful fashion fidget spinner and offer the fast shipping.
We 'd like to see your blooming and flavourish business. Pls check below Fidget Spinner ,some may interesting you.
Looking forward to the win-win business together with you.
It’s been five years since I was an end-user client at a Global 500 company, yet these unsolicited offers still arrive in my inbox on a daily basis. Overlooking the spelling and grammar, do you ever wonder whether YOUR clients respond to these opportunities directly from Asia? These are just three examples, but most of them offer the same message—better, cheaper, faster—and with the same level of customer service you’re getting now. The offers I see from the powerbank manufacturers even offer some representation of product safety certification, if you’re into that sort of thing. What they don’t offer is YOU, and your relationship.
It isn’t just manufacturers on the other side of the globe finding your clients with their search engines and poorly written email marketing outreach. Targeted ads from Staples Promotional Products serve up offers on Facebook, and the right key words in a Google search bring them Gildan Inkjet-printed T-shirts from Vistaprint with their business card order. Your potential competitors are literally everywhere.
“We are hearing more frequently from our clients about various industry disrupters offering products at substantial discounts,” said Jon Levine, president of The Image Group. “We have lost few sales due to our ability to reinforce our role as a service provider, protecting their brands with a sharp focus on safety and social compliance, while upholding their brand guidelines. We need to bring much more value to our clients than that of just a product sales organization, and positioning ourselves as a service organization elevates the relationship.”
Chuck Fandos, U.S. CEO and GM at Brand Addition, thinks it’s the new promotional products market reality. “The lines between a business customer and a retail customer are blurred. Make that quickly becoming non-existent. With technology (internet, email, social media), a buyer is a buyer. The channels are collapsing, and although we in the industry see the distinction, the person buying often doesn't see it, or if they do... care.”
“If our customers get direct solicitations from factories, Amazon, or our competitors, they act as a shopper would.” Fandos continued. “They check out price, availability, value, and other factors to make their decision. It’s the world we live in, we can’t stop it or fight it. So you better build a value proposition, clearly communicate it, and have great relationships. I don’t think this is going away. We can try to push what we want to push, or think like the customer, and give them what they want.”
In an industry long built on price-and-item, there is no question you can’t continue to race for the bottom price and still sustain your business. Have you focused more on improving your client relationships lately by knowing what they really want? Especially when you’re not sure exactly which competitor is trying to eat your lunch TODAY?
Jeff Jacobs has been an expert in building brands and brand stewardship for more than 35 years, working in commercial television, Hollywood film and home video, publishing, and promotional brand merchandise. He’s a staunch advocate of consumer product safety and has a deep passion and belief regarding the issues surrounding compliance and corporate social responsibility. He recently retired as executive director of Quality Certification Alliance, the only non-profit dedicated to helping suppliers provide safe and compliant promotional products. Before that, he was director of brand merchandise for Michelin. As a recovering end-user client, he can’t help but continue to consult Fortune 500 consumer brands on promo product safety when asked. You can also find him working as a volunteer Guardian ad Litem, traveling the world with his lovely wife, or enjoying a cigar at his favorite local cigar shop. Follow Jeff on Twitter, or reach out to him at jacobs.jeffreyp@gmail.com.