The Redbows Promotional Gifts Blog

We recently finished a facelift update to the original Redbows website. Launched over five years ago it has served us well but the problem arose of how to tie it into our current family of websites and micro-websites / portals. The answer was simple. We started the company to sell ‘essential corporate gifts’ – everything that a marketing person needed to have to hand and all at the lowest possible costs. So that what the Redbows website has become – the home of our Essential Corporate Gifts collections – all priced to bust the market place, whilst providing the best possible quality and choice. The Promotional Gifts Store remains the largest of our websites and daily responds to hundreds of requests for information from our large product base. Overtime we expect to develop more micro-portals to provide clients and visitors alike with more specific data on product set areas and greater ‘behind-the-scenes’ information on print techniques, manufacturing processes, advice and tips.

How often do we act global but go local? The internet provides everyone with a global information search facility but how often do we then search out a local supplier? The point is we like (and possibly still want) local service and that personal touch when it comes to even commodity purchases. This was all brought home to me the other evening whilst watching Pretty Woman. Remember the scene when she fails to get service in a high class boutique, then returns the next day saying ‘you work on commission right? Big mistake, big, huge….sorry I have to go now, I’ve got shopping to do.’ So what has this got to do with promotional gifts? Well people still buy from people. When it comes to promotional gifts it does not matter how much we automate the quotation and buying process. People like to speak to a professional gifts consultant and make sure that they are going to get the service they want, with a dedicated project manager looking after their every need and making sure their promotional products arrive to time, and as intended. Part of the issue for a company like Redbows is the size of the ranges we supply. Take our pens, coasters and mousemats. Your’re talking 1000 plus products, all within a similar price range, with similar specifications. This can be daunting for a client and the main reason why they want to talk to someone who knows the ranges inside out and can guide them to the right product for their need and budget. I am pretty sure other industries are very much the same. Yes, we are turning into a world that will purchase on-line without seeing a physical product or sales person but for some products and merchandise I can see full automation will be a way off, if ever.

How do you promote your organisation and engage with clients pre and post-sale? What incentives and rewards do you provide for new business and repeat customers? We do not often question our sales process but the other day (as we introduced another Price Busters promotion) I had a chance to review our approach with my sales team. You see at Redbows the first thing we recognise is that we are in the promotions industry. We help organisations and their clients promote themselves – whether this is a new website, contact details, company and brand name or some other product or service specific promotion. So we provide incentives that are designed to get clients to place orders with us for promotional merchandise. My belief is that we do not just have to offer this but also to be the best at delivering them we can be. We also offer a full price busting service allowing us to under-cut any like for like quotation. Now thinking further down the line when it comes to the sales process, what gifts do you offer clients as an incentive to place an order? All to often we see giveaways simply – given away without being handed over as an incentive to purchase. One you’ve got the order, what are you then going to offer clients as a reward for their next purchase and continued loyalty? Do you offer any incentives or rewards at Christmas? What do you offer for referrals and other sales leads? It is no wonder that at Redbows if asked what our price range is we can say a penny to several hundred pounds for a single gift – it just depends on what you are rewarding and incentivising.

When it comes to promotional sweets and personalised chocolates does price matter? Well the answer is simple – ‘yes’ and ‘no’. Let me explain. To be environmentally friendly (ECO if you like) costs money.  The same applies when it comes to being healthy. Take chocolates as an example. Nowadays you can opt for a Fairtrade and/or organic version of most chocolate products but you expect to pay a little bit more for them. Somewhere along the line extra costs are incurred and as we know promotional products, like any mass manufactured merchandise, are priced to volume. Now take sweets, how can these be healthier? Well like chocolates we can opt for Fairtrade or organic sweets but also sugar-free options. Now sugar-free you may think, is a healthier alternative. Wrong. Not always. Take sugar, nature’s natural sweetener and replace it with a man-made chemical. Point made? Also consider colourings. Food colourings are added to get a specific colour but what are they made from, how are they applied and are they everyday approved food colourings. So, how do you ensure you are getting ‘pukka’ products? Well check out where they are made, do they comply with all relevant European labeling legislation, do they use standard everyday food ingredients, and above all remember that quality is often reflected in the price. Finally look at the shelf life and ask for the date of manufacture. If you buy sweets and chocolates, remember they may have been made en-masse and then branded in smaller batches. If brought in from overseas (yes mints do come from China) they can be several days or weeks in transit, and often not in a suitable ambient temperature. If you buy sweets, confectionery, chocolates or any other snack items, you want to ensure that they are going to be fresh and editable for clients within your expected usage dates. Presentation is not everything with promotional sweets and chocolates – often the ‘proof is in the pudding’ and how it looks under the wrapping and eventually tastes.