Complaining about who is “allowed” to enter the promotional products industry is nothing new. For years it has been one of the biggest points of contention between distributors and both PPAI and ASI. Whether people feel like new entrants lower the bar or further saturate the market, the consensus among distributors is that when there are more people in the industry, profits are lowered.
Frankly, I’ve had enough.
It shouldn’t matter who is a member of PPAI, acquires an ASI number so they can operate a business out of their garage, or partners with SAGE. None of this prevents a distributor from selling more merchandise or growing his or her business. The fact is that a business will flourish or fail based on the quality of work and the value provided to the client – period. When distributors place an inordinate amount of focus on what the “other guys” are doing, they end up losing sight of their own business objectives.
Let me use a sports analogy to illustrate my point: the Dallas Cowboys don’t get better by worrying about the free agent defensive back the Philadelphia Eagles signed in the off-season. The Cowboys only get better by focusing internally on having a more robust offensive plan, coaching their receivers to run more precise routes, or by simply practicing more.
None of us can control who joins our industry. This means that there is no positive payoff that comes from using precious time to focus on it. That time is far better spent trying to reduce friction from the buying process so that clients see you and your distributorship as their preferred source for promotional merchandise. When you provide an experience that is uniquely yours, there is no competition.
As an industry, we need to decide whether to have a small or big tent. On one hand, we can have a small tent to keep people and organizations out because they represent a threat. On the other hand, we can have a big tent to allow people to join because they might raise the bar and make all of us better. I, for one, am all for the big tent for a few reasons:
1) New thinking forces everyone to innovate or risk becoming irrelevant. I am smart enough to know that I don’t know it all – and never will. When people join the promotional products industry, they bring new ideas that cause me to think differently about my areas of expertise.
2) Those who fear new entrants into the industry for fear that they only serve to increase competition generally sell only on the value of price. The problem with using price as a differentiator is that there is always someone willing to go lower and win that race to the bottom.
3) Far too many in our industry have a “secret society” mentality and want to keep it that way by protecting industry pricing codes, keeping the supply chain a mystery, etc. We live in an age where information is cheap and, in most cases, free. Simply type “promotional products industry pricing codes” and you’ll be astonished at the results. This means that the end-user is far more educated than ever and there is very little magic or mystery to promotional products unless there is a value-add like packaging, individual customization, proven ROI, etc.
I do understand the fear of letting just “anyone” enter the promotional products industry, but the fact is that it will continue to happen. In my mind, everyone has a choice: either continue to complain about it or focus inward to improve their offerings to the point where the consumer thinks only of them as the resource for promotional merchandise. As for me, I choose the latter.
Bring on the big tent – it only makes the ones who truly differentiate better and stronger.
Bill is president of PromoCorner, the leading digital marketing service provider to the promotional products industry, and has over 17 years working in executive leadership positions at leading promotional products distributorships. In 2014, he launched brandivate – the first executive outsourcing company solely focused on helping small and medium sized-promotional products enterprises responsibly grow their business. A featured speaker at numerous industry events, a serial creator of content marketing, president of the Promotional Products Association of the Mid-South (PPAMS), and PromoKitchen chef, Bill has extensive experience coaching sales teams, creating successful marketing campaigns, developing operational policies and procedures, creating and developing winning RFP responses, and presenting winning promotional products solutions to Fortune 500 clients. He can be reached at bill@PromoCorner.com.