Chrissy Mazzola, like many sales representatives, has reinvented herself this year.

Unable to bring clients to the office of Manalapan, NJ-based Inkwell Global Marketing (asi/231120) and certainly not able to visit them in person, Mazzola has adapted her sales strategy and expanded her toolset. In this Promo Insiders podcast, ASI Senior Writer John Corrigan talks with Mazzola about pivoting to video to connect with clients during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Podcast Chapters
0:59: Pivoting to video
3:25: Client feedback
4:09: Traditional promo products sold during the pandemic
6:08: How to create a sales video
7:52: How business has been in 2020
9:35: Future of PPE in promo
10:18: Work from home tips
12:15: Lack of social media
13:25: Advice for sales reps heading into Q1

Working from home for the first time in her career, Mazzola brainstormed ways that she could stay in front of her clients, at least virtually. Instead of bombarding their inboxes with another “How are you?” email, she decided to create a video that would answer their questions about face masks. She gathered information from different college studies and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and sourced various masks from suppliers, testing them before recommending them to clients.

“You have to really know what you’re selling, especially when it comes to PPE,” Mazzola says. “Make sure the sanitizer doesn’t smell so bad that you can’t have it near you.”

“Everybody is unsure what the future holds, but you have to stay positive.” — Chrissy Mazzola, Inkwell Global Marketing

After preparing her script and doing her makeup, her daughter pressed record and Mazzola spent the next 11 minutes informing and entertaining her audience. Once the video was finished, she sent out an email blast to all of her clients, even ones that hadn’t ordered from her in years. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive – she sold over 200,000 masks!