How to Fix Gift Baskets on the Go
Popped balloons. Slashed cellophane. The strangest things happen to baskets when they’re traveling to clients.
Maybe you’re going to a presentation, or perhaps you’re making a delivery. In either case you must be ready for whatever can happen to that gorgeous basket enroute to its destination.
To solve the worst problems, designers carry their own version of a doctor’s bag. The contents promise to remove all the pain associated with the smallest things going wrong to ruin the event.
Your bag doesn’t have to be an actual bag. It could be a toolbox, a wired carryall or a small cardboard box. Choose whatever works for you and fill it with supplies and replacements such as scissors, tape, curling ribbon, raffia, and pull bows.
You’re a savvy gift basket designer who always carries these tools in case of emergency. Keep these supplies handy and always available in your vehicle. It’s a great investment in time and against headaches.
What’s in your doctor’s bag?
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Substitutes Often Get the Sale
Starting a gift basket business may seem a bit rocky at the beginning. Understanding what clients want and satisfying them isn’t always easy.
I found this to be true when I started.
What worked for me to get sales going was to offer alternatives to what clients said they wanted.
For example, one prospect asked me for Girl Scout Cookies, but I had no access to them (and neither did anyone else) because the cookies were out of season.
Instead, I offered the alternative of thin mint cookies that I had in stock. Although they weren’t in Girl Scout packaging, the prospect accepted my suggestion, and with that, the prospect official became a client.
My suggestion to you is to keep alternatives in mind each time a person requests something you don’t stock, and also remember that even experienced designers don’t always have every requested item. It’s impossible.
When you focus on offering alternatives, you’ll make more sales and satisfy clients just as if you have exactly what they want.
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Consider Wholesale Specials to Lower Your Costs
Some wholesalers are offering specials right now that lower costs and increase your profit margin.
I mention this to you because I had a chance to save money in December and blew it. The savings was 60 percent off a product that I regularly purchase.
I didn’t document the savings on my calendar, along with the deadline date to give the offer a second thought.
I found myself buying the item for full price just 15 days later, as none of my negotiation tactics worked to extend the price reduction.
That was a huge mistake on my part, one that I wish the opposite for you.
If wholesalers are offering any of the following, look at your inventory and consider the savings:
There’s more available according to who’s offering what, but this short list provides you with a guide to specials that lower your price and put more money in your pocket when you sell.
Companies listed at GiftBasketWholesaleSupplies.com and OrganicWholesaleSupplies.com may be running such specials right now.
What’s the best wholesale special you remember that convinced you to buy?
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How Do You Plan Trade Show Shopping?
Today, I’m walking the New York International Gift Fair, hoping to find several everyday and specialty items that clients have requested.
I’ve developed a routine to prepare for shows, and I wonder if you’ve done the same. Time is precious, so it’s important to know what you’ll do before, during, and after visiting a trade show. Do you:
1. Request a badge, by phone or on the show producer’s Web site, before arriving so that no time is wasted registering on site?
2. Review your buying chart to see what needs replenishing and also review a list of items that have been requested in the past by clients, bringing that list with you on this mission? This chart is part of Gift Basket Forms.
3. Sit down outside of the show with the directory once you arrive, searching for your favorite suppliers and specific merchandise sellers, noting their location before walking onto the show floor?
4. Briefly scan booths while walking by that are not on your list and not allow the booth’s representative to waste your time trying to talk you into buying items you don’t want or need?
5. Bring your own purchase order, created with space to select merchandise and instruct suppliers about your specific delivery instructions? As with the Buying Chart mentioned in No. 2, this form is also included with Gift Basket Forms.
My plan is to arrive at approximately 10:00 am, visit the show for three hours, and return to my office with a minimum of 70 percent of my merchandise ordered. The rest will be found at shows I attend in other states, where I’ll again complete the above five steps.
Shopping a show is serious business. That’s why Golden Basket Club members are coached before and after attending a show to ensure that time and money are spent wisely. The Club was mentioned in yesterday’s post.
What’s your plan when you prepare for a trade show?
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Gift Basket Books
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Welcome, from Shirley George Frazier
