As a business owner, you’re acutely aware of all the hard work that goes into your day-to-day operations to make sure that things are running smoothly and your company is thriving, but how do you convey this success to prospective customers?

Check out our top five tips for selling yourself to your target audience:

1. Gather customer testimonials. Customers trust other customers, so showcasing quotes from satisfied patrons can lead to more business in the long run. Follow up with recent customers and ask about their experience while your service is still fresh in their minds. Long-standing customers are likely to give you a great review, and that simple act of reaching out for a testimonial will help strengthen your relationship. Once you have a few testimonials to pull from, you can use them on social media, your website, in emails and so much more.
2. Be prepared with product collections. An easy way to showcase your value as a distributor is to position yourself as a product expert, and one of the best ways to do this is to create ready-to-go product collections. This will help you send product ideas faster, selling yourself like the expert you are. The product collections can be product focused, price focused or industry focused. For example, if you’re looking to target the restaurant industry, put together a collection of branded drinkware, to-go menus, uniforms and reusable bags. If apparel is one of your areas of expertise, consider having price-focused collections where you create a presentation of some budget-friendly items, some mid-level options and some higher-level products so you’re ready for customers of all budgets. When it comes to showing your value, a little preparation goes a long way.
3. Check out the Global Ad Impressions Study. ASI conducts this study every year and fills it with essential promotional product stats like how many impressions a T-shirt gets, how long end-buyers typically use logoed mugs and what products sell best in different regions. By sharing stats like this, your customers will know that you’re well-informed and on top of recent trends. Use these stats in pitch decks, on social media, in conversation and more!
4. Think ahead. Your customers are busy running their businesses and sometimes it’s hard for them to think about what might be happening too far into the future. Be a proactive partner by continuously thinking of promo items they may need throughout the year. When a new year launches, check in and ask if they have any upcoming events they need giveaways for. Around spring or summer, follow up to see if they need promo for any grand openings or outdoor events. Leading up to Q4, reach out to see if want to order any awards to motivate employees or if they’ll have any extra marketing dollars they’ll need to spend by EOY.
5. Focus on relationships, not sales. While it’s true that sales are the lifeblood of our industry, very few customers want to feel like they’re being sold to. Instead, lean in to relationship building first. Listen to your customers’ wants and needs and understand the successes and struggles they face. Learn about their personal lives and connect with them on things that aren’t work related whenever possible. By building trust first and foremost, you’ll establish a thriving relationship with your customers that will lead to repeat collaboration down the road.

Have you found any success using these tips. Is there anything else you’d recommend that we missed? Continue the discussion on our members-only Facebook page.