October 20, 2023
Top Tips for Q4 Success From Distributor Sales Pros
These industry aces generate significant business during the busy holiday season. Here, they deliver powerful insights to help you do the same.
The mad-dash Q4 selling season is well underway, and it’s pivotal to promo.
The year’s final quarter is when many industry firms produce their greatest sales volumes and execute solutions – like holiday gifting initiatives – that call for ample creativity.
It’s critical to get Q4 right – and the five industry aces interviewed in this article can help you do just that. In their own words, they offer case studies, strategies and insights that will help fellow frontline distributor sales pros make this busy three-month stretch a successful one.
Jump to a Q&A
Angela Millin Kimel
Vice President of Sales & Strategy, Harper+Scott (asi/220052)
Q: What types of clients will you focus on most in Q4?
A: Agencies, because they always have last-minute projects and activations that get thrown at them, and they need support. I’ll also be keying in on creatively driven markets – like beauty and quick-service restaurants – as well as any company that has a high employee count and a deep human resources department; law firms and fintech organizations would be examples. Also, you can’t forget about supporting all your existing clients.
Q: What type of solutions will you be providing for these clients?
A: We proactively work to put together custom catalogs for our customers for circulation across departments to help them get ahead of gifting season – before inventory starts to drop. These catalogs feature quick-turn, top trending items curated by our in-house team to help take the heavy lifting out of gifting. Most recently, we created a “One Stop Shop” trend deck that is broken down into categories and targeted to all price points of (usually last-minute) holiday gifting needs. Of course, we also offer fulfillment/drop-ship capabilities and digital solutions so that we’re able to take as much work off the plates of our clients as possible during the busiest time of the year.
It's that time of year – gift giving season for #promoproducts distributors. Executive Editor @SaraLav_ASI has top tips for navigating this year's challenges, trends to watch out for and exciting product picks in five different categories.https://t.co/aXtemKjyd3
— C.J. Mittica (@CJ_ASIMedia) September 6, 2023
Q: What type of product categories are most sought after in Q4?
A: Travel-related items, food/liquor, cozy-themed products like blankets and candles, and gorgeous novelty packaging.
Q: Can you share a quick Q4 success story?
A: I’ll share a few fun ones. Last year, we did a wearable merchandise collection for Maybelline that was really well received. Instead of a traditional influencer mailer approach, we created this awesome sweatsuit in two colorways, socks and a dad cap. Our team worked on custom graphics for each piece and made the entire collection feel very retail-inspired. The whole set was perfectly timed for all the influencers’ holiday travel. The creativity and execution also opened the door for us to create Maybelline’s US Open activation sweatshirts and work across their influencer mailer program.
Other success stories involve solutions for our client, Cash App. In 2021, we customized a record player, kitted in a full-color gift box with custom insert cards for A-listers. We received the request right before Thanksgiving and delivered right after the New Year. In 2022, we created a “Stash Box” – a fully wrapped, book-style box that had a custom candle made to melt down. The end-user then got to discover a collectors’ coin at the bottom of the wax, custom matches and CBD gummies. Working on 2023’s gift as we speak!
Q: Your top tips for a successful Q4/holiday selling season?
Review previous orders. Always get ahead of what happened in years past. There’s so much opportunity to be found here.
Stay on top of trends and be resourceful. Lately, everyone is interested in a brand-name item, but that’s not always the best use of a client’s budget. What other products feel the most elevated and on-trend – and have deep inventory? Who are some newcomers to the promo space that offer great items you can capitalize on?
Use variable data and thoughtful messaging. A personalized card goes a long way. It’s important to make sure no one ever feels like a number. Take the time to talk to your clients about strategic ways to make items feel more personal to the end-users.
Be speedy. Everyone needs a solution at the last minute in Q4. Find ways to get ahead of the curve and close fast. Make friends with your vendors and decorating partners. It pays off big time when you can make the impossible possible!
Product Pick
Food gifts, such as the Limerick Lane Cellars Wine Enthusiast Tote & Gourmet Gift (101683) from Gemline (asi/56070), prove popular with recipients during the holiday season.
Tommy Gomez
Account Director, Brilliant (asi/146116)
Counselor’s 2023 Distributor Up-and-Comer of the Year
Q: What types of clients will you focus on most in Q4?
A: I’m primarily focusing on people and sales teams based on demand. It’s been a rough year for companies and employees alike. Many of our human resources clients are looking to boost employee morale, while those who work in sales are looking to get a head start on the next quarter by using physical gifts as their end-of-year touchpoints.
Q: What type of solutions will you be providing for these clients?
A: I like to leverage Brilliant’s technology to optimize the overall experience for both the sender and recipient. Many of our clients personalize our Preferred Gift form to not just collect addresses and/or size preferences but as an extension of the overall message/theme around the gift. One year, we had a client gift a custom-made cookbook we curated using recipes collected from their own employees.
I’ve also seen an uptick in clients choosing to curate full-blown company shops with Brilliant’s Storefront feature, gifting employees gift cards or promo codes to choose their own gift. This direction has allowed for the most flexibility from a budgetary standpoint, as unused/unclaimed swag can be repurposed for other gifting occasions in the new year.
Q: What type of product categories are most sought after in Q4?
A: Apparel is always a client favorite, especially when it comes to those looking to create a company storefront. Specifically, quarter-zips have been in high demand this year, with brands like Patagonia and The North Face sought after. Also, Levi's denim jackets and socks have been popular pieces, especially for global clients who might have employees and/or customers located across a variety of climates. Other categories include bags and blankets.
Successful Solutions
Tommy Gomez says these flannel shirts, with a hashtag message embroidered under the collar, brought smiles to employees of financial services firm Plaid.
Q: Can you share a quick Q4 success story?
A: One of my favorites involves flannel shirts we did for my client Plaid, a financial services company, during the 2022 holiday season. The garment featured a hidden “easter egg message” under the collar: #lifeatplaid. It was a treatment I had been obsessing over for some time. Branding doesn’t always need to be front and center, especially when gifting to those already familiar with and connected to your brand. These were gifted to all employees, and they were a huge hit.
Q: Your top tips for a successful Q4/holiday selling season?
Sell concepts, not just products. Lead with the employee experience. How does this specific item convey the client’s brand and/or message?
Create urgency. Inventory and production times tighten as we get closer to the end of the year. Pad your timelines.
Lean on tech. Consider a pop-up holiday storefront and/or any other tech tools available to you to expand your options.
Rely on the reliable. It’s a crazy time of year for all of us. Consider tried-and-true items with ample stock.
Know when to pivot. Be up-front and suggest a New Year’s gift (arrival in January) if you determine delivery around the holidays is no longer feasible.
Julie Woodall
Owner, Promotion Perfection powered by HALO (asi/356000)
Q: What types of clients will you focus on most in Q4?
A: I’ll be focused on manufacturing and service-oriented clients who are looking for gifts that their salespeople can give to their valued customers as recognition for the business given to them over the course of 2023. Post-COVID, recognition seems to be more important as a way for my clients to stay front of mind with their customers. It’s especially true of those manufacturers and service providers who have steady competition in their field.
Q: What type of solutions will you be providing for these clients?
A: Gift-related items that are for personal use outside of the workplace. Think high-end beverageware, portable chargers and customizable/personalized high-quality gifts from suppliers like Swanky Badger (asi/90303) and HPG’s (asi/61966) Origaudio. When a gift is personalized with the recipient’s name, it clearly shows that it was specially selected for them. People love that; they don’t get rid of those items. It’s like throwing a little piece of yourself away if you do.
Q: What type of product categories are most sought after in Q4?
A: Beverageware from brands like OtterBox (asi/75226), BruMate, and Asobu, which are all available through suppliers in our industry. Recipients like to see their gifts look retail-oriented, high-end and expensive. It shows the esteem that the giver has for them. Two can coolers may have the same hot/cold properties, but that BruMate piece looks different – more retail – and they will see that brand for sale in upscale locations. It has more prestige.
Successful Solutions
A personalized “thank you” message is part of the unique decoration on this backpack that Julie Woodall is delivering for a client’s holiday gift to employees and customers.
Q: Can you share a quick Q4 success story?
A: My own self-promo gift to clients this year is the Spector & Co. (asi/88660) Cooler Backpack (BG116). In it, I am putting a pair of BruMate can coolers. “Stay warm this holiday season with cool gifts from HALO” is the messaging.
I’m also working with Swanky Badger on a project for a client. The marketing manager of my client company has handwritten a personalized “thank you” message to some of their very special employees. The bags are monogrammed with the recipient’s initials on the outside, and on the inside (under the flap) is the letter, reproduced in her handwriting with a discrete logo. So, the bag doesn’t actually look branded; it looks more like a personal item as opposed to swag – until you look under the flap, that is. Then you see the branding and the lovely message with the wonderful sentiment, directed specifically at the recipient and no one else. The CEO thought it was such a great idea, he is now doing them for clients, as well.
Q: Your top tips for a successful Q4/holiday selling season?
Be proactive. Follow up on your ideas, asking the client if they are moving forward on the project. If they say “yes,” encourage them to order ASAP so supply/demand don’t interfere with them getting what they want. If they say “no,” ask them why – maybe you can take their rejection in a different direction and get them something else.
Reach out with great gifting ideas to old clients you don’t call on very often or who have “left the fold.” Tell them that you thought of them when you saw XYZ item and knew it would be perfect for them to use for their holiday gifting. They’ll be flattered that you were thinking of them, and the XYZ item may just be the icebreaker that you need to reopen a closed door.
Look to past successes for inspiration. If a client is stumped and nothing you suggest seems to spark a purchase, go back through your files and look at things they may have done years ago and might like to go back to. A client that I’ve had for 25 years did camp chairs many, many years ago, and I thought, “Those things must be totally worn out by now.” So, I suggested that they revisit that idea with a new look. They loved it.
Lend a helping hand. I offer to help clients wrap gifts. It turns out to be a lovely camaraderie adventure with the customer, and it gives you some extended time with them for feel-good memories. You can learn so much from them when you are participating in a group effort. The goodwill you generate by offering to help can’t be measured.
Product Pick
Stylish brand-name drinkware, like the BruMate NOS’R Insulated Nosing Glass (BRMT-BK10N) from Diamondback Branding (asi/49546), is a good fit for holiday gift packages.
Javier Melendez
National Account Executive, Walker-Clay (asi/354530)
Q: What types of clients will you focus on most in Q4?
A: To be honest, I’m not being picky. Virtually all my clients have projects this time of year or are planning for events early in January, like conferences and kick-off campaigns. For me, it’s all about getting proactive against holiday production and shipping challenges to keep up with demand.
Q: What type of solutions will you be providing for these clients?
A: I think finding the right solutions starts with asking the right questions. What events do the clients have coming up? Did they post on social about awards last fall/early January, and are they planning the same again? Do they have any folks working outdoors or in warehouses? You can think of countless others. The point is to match solutions to the questions: Maybe it’s an online store. Maybe they need a years of service program, etc.
Q: What type of product categories are most sought after in Q4?
A: Branded drinkware and high-quality chargers are among the top-requested items this fall so far. No one really wants chargers under 5000 mAh. I try to explain to clients that if they upgrade to a higher capacity, they are more likely to get better usability by the end-user. I share my own story of a larger branded charger I was given years ago, and still use to this day.
Q: Can you share a quick Q4 success story?
A: We execute a gift-of-choice program for a client. Using a combination of an online order form and strategic planning, we’re able to get all the client’s employees’ gift selections, bring them to our facility, repackage them into branded gift bags, and then distribute – usually a few days before Christmas – to over 20 locations on the same day. It’s a true team project, and the client is always very happy when we execute.
Q: Your top tips for a successful Q4/holiday selling season?
Talk to your supplier reps. What’s selling and trending? Perhaps there's a new decoration method they rolled out so you can finally do that difficult logo on a product of theirs. They are our partners – treat them as such.
Don't let your own product preferences get in the way. This year, I didn’t especially care for items a client selected, but the customer liked them and wanted to go with them. For me, there’s a lesson in that: Just because it’s not your personal style or your taste, doesn’t mean it won’t sell and accomplish what a client needs it to.
Track meticulously to set yourself up for next year. Write down what went well and what didn’t this Q4; it will help you gameplan your approach for the following year. Relatedly, know what clients are doing and when. Did they order calendars in November? Great. Reach out in July next year and remind them how stressful it was, so “Let’s get it out of the way now versus another holiday headache.”
Product Pick
Cozy-up items like The Euro Throw (20535) from Kanata Blanket (asi/73520) make a welcome Q4 present for employees and customers’ clients.
Jay Basaria
Founder/CEO, 5 Star Promo (asi/589987)
2023 Distributor Salesperson of the Year Finalist
Q: What types of clients will you focus on most in Q4?
A: Real estate professionals will be a major focus. So will human resources departments across a range of end-markets; they’re looking for gifts to give staff.
Q: What type of solutions will you be providing for these clients?
A: My job is to be attentive – to understand each customer’s unique situation and objectives, and then provide a solution that meets those. It starts with asking questions like, “Can you give me some context so I can narrow down the search to your needs?”
Q: What type of product categories are most sought after in Q4?
A: Blankets are big. They’re one of my favorite holiday gifts because they bring that warm feeling during the holidays and are an item that people tend to use daily. You can create great ensembles, too; we’ve done blankets with a hot chocolate and tumbler gift set, for example. What’s really important is adding a personal touch: Something meaningful with a handwritten note is always well-received.
Q: Your top tips for a successful Q4/holiday selling season?
Start early. Production and transit times are usually longer during the holiday season. Get ahead!
Self-reflect a bit. Think about items you would want to receive and appreciate during the holidays. Sometimes, you can come up with great ideas for clients based on that.
Find out about budgets. Oftentimes, clients’ budgets will expire at the end of the year, so be sure to share ideas and be proactive to capture as much as you can before the year ends.