Love is ...
When a retailer calls & says they HAD TO place an order because she & her staff were spending too much time sitting at the computer, laughing their asses off at our cards & not getting any work done!
Love is ...
Re-orders ... "we've sold out of these & these & these & these ... I need more! how fast can you send 'em?"
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Sales Reps, spike the punch, freelance writers...
A while back I was contacted by my first sales rep company. I should tell you, over the last couple of years I've learned that when it comes to sales reps, they find you, not the other way around.
So we do all of the initial stuff... talking, terms, agreement, & I send samples. Lots of them. And then it's a waiting game. 2 months go by & nothing. I e-mail them & get no response. Eh, I figure I've been ripped off. No big deal. Another couple / few hundred to write off. I chalk it up to a learning experience. Then out of the blue, hundreds + in orders from them.
Some days I think I'll never figure out people. Roll with the punches... does that mean take the shit & bounce back? or does it mean, when you see a punch coming, roll your head to the side to make the impact as painless as possible? Probably both.
Eh. Screw rolling with the punch. I say spike the punch.
So now we have several sales reps. And I LOVE the fact that they do the selling, because that's my least favorite part of owning a business. Next I'll need to outsource my product packaging & shipping, because packing & shipping is 2nd in line for my least favorite things to do ... Oh gosh, it almost sounds like I'm complaining now, doesn't it... I'm not. Really I'm not. Just in a mood I guess.
We added novelty fridge magnets to the line this year. The feedback ... & sales reports are showing that our magnets absolutely ROCK! They're selling twice as fast as our cards EVER did. AND every day I get a clearer view of which cards are popular, and which are not so good. The not-so-good / non-bestselling ones will be coming out of the line. I want only the best. In order to do that though, we need many more cards IN the line... So we're using freelance writers now. Struggled with that one for a bit, my own ego was in the way... but once I talked it through with the team, we agreed. I got us off to a good start, but we want the best products ... and in order to give that to people, we need to expand not only the line of cards & novelties --more quickly than I alone can write cards -- but we also need to offer the funniest shit on earth.
Prepare to laugh motherfuckers!
So we do all of the initial stuff... talking, terms, agreement, & I send samples. Lots of them. And then it's a waiting game. 2 months go by & nothing. I e-mail them & get no response. Eh, I figure I've been ripped off. No big deal. Another couple / few hundred to write off. I chalk it up to a learning experience. Then out of the blue, hundreds + in orders from them.
Some days I think I'll never figure out people. Roll with the punches... does that mean take the shit & bounce back? or does it mean, when you see a punch coming, roll your head to the side to make the impact as painless as possible? Probably both.
Eh. Screw rolling with the punch. I say spike the punch.
So now we have several sales reps. And I LOVE the fact that they do the selling, because that's my least favorite part of owning a business. Next I'll need to outsource my product packaging & shipping, because packing & shipping is 2nd in line for my least favorite things to do ... Oh gosh, it almost sounds like I'm complaining now, doesn't it... I'm not. Really I'm not. Just in a mood I guess.
We added novelty fridge magnets to the line this year. The feedback ... & sales reports are showing that our magnets absolutely ROCK! They're selling twice as fast as our cards EVER did. AND every day I get a clearer view of which cards are popular, and which are not so good. The not-so-good / non-bestselling ones will be coming out of the line. I want only the best. In order to do that though, we need many more cards IN the line... So we're using freelance writers now. Struggled with that one for a bit, my own ego was in the way... but once I talked it through with the team, we agreed. I got us off to a good start, but we want the best products ... and in order to give that to people, we need to expand not only the line of cards & novelties --more quickly than I alone can write cards -- but we also need to offer the funniest shit on earth.
Prepare to laugh motherfuckers!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
