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Take a closer look. These products are more than meets the eye,
with some special effects and cool customisation available. And
that goes for the inside, too. Let your clients know that sometimes,
you can't tell a folder by its cover.
Say you're getting qutes to redesign your kitchen. One company's
guy scribbles the bid on a piece of paper and hands it to you.
The other encloses the bid in a personalised presentation folder
with a sales sheet of previous jobs and some references. Which
company will you choose?
"Even if the second company is higher priced, their presentation
shows professionalism, quality, and suggests commitment," observes
Dennis Weir, president of Rata USA Inc. (asi/80720). He uses the
illustration to point out the difference a sharp conference folder
or binder can make to a business - whether it's a multimillion
pound corporation or a small contracting firm. Often a quality
presentation is the deciding factor.
“Presentation products project a professional image and suggest
that much time and effort went into a presentation and that a
company will be there to stand behind their products or services,”
adds Dave Spangenberg, sales manager for the folders division
at Carlson Craft Business Solutions (asi/43920).
Information Packaging
Of course, presentations are just one use of conference folders
and binders. When you start looking at the big picture, you'll
find there isn't a business that doesn't use them. No matter how
automated and digitised things are today, people still want conference
folders to keep organized.
So why do distributors often overlook them as imprinted products?
According to Glenn Nickow, president of General Loose Leaf (asi/56403),
this niche shouldn't be an afterthought when it's a business necessity.
Look at it as selling "information packaging." The information
is what goes in the folder or binder, which is the package. That
information could be anything from sales presentations to safety
manuals, price books, catalogs, hotel guest directories, real
estate sales sheets, etc.
Why walk out of a client's office and leave an order for the office
supply stores to pick up? You are just as capable of selling binders
and folders and have a lot more to offer clients in terms of custom
shapes, sizes, colors and imprinting. It's one more thing you
could be selling to make yourself more valuable.
If your clients go to the "big-box stores," they're not getting
"solution providers," notes Craig Palubiak, CEO of American Loose
Leaf (asi/35555). No reason not to point out to a potential client
that if his company truly wants to have an image, their folders
and binders send a powerful message of quality and professionalism.
Ivan Fishman, president of All Book Covers Inc. (asi/34262), puts
it this way: At retail, your clients will get the basic "no-brainer
vinyl" that isn't personalized and certainly doesn't offer the
variety of shapes, colors and sizes that distributors can offer.
Sure, anyone can go to the "big-box office supply store" and get
a standard binder with a clear overlay and insert their own cover
sheet. However, they haven't done a cost analysis, taking the
cost of printing the sheet and inserting it. Why not point out
to a potential client that customized binders aren't only a marketing
tool, they can also be more cost-effective. "Distributors are
not just commodity suppliers," Palubiak adds.
Find The Inroads
Just by approaching different departments in a corporation, distributors
can find multiple buyers for binders and folders. Human resources
uses binders for their policy manuals or employee benefits. Sales
uses them for meetings and reports. Marketing, for presentations.
Engineering, for technical drawings. Get the idea?
Wendy Farrell, the marketing manager for Gemline (asi/56070),
says their padfolios with interchangeable components on the inside
make great employee rewards or items to generate sales leads.
"Binders and folders are purchased by every company regardless
of sales volume, number of employees or market focus," notes Eric
Folger, vice president of sales at Leeds (asi/66887). If that's
not enough incentive, once distributors get the order and demonstrate
their capability, chances are about 50% will get repeat orders.
Also, think technologically. Companies who sell their products
and services over the Internet are becoming a big market for distributors.
End users download information from a company's Web site and guess
where they put it? Custom binders and folders provided by the
company to their clients. "If your client is driving its customers
to its Web site, you can sell them binders to hold their information,"
suggests Palubiak. "Every day that customer picks up that binder,
it represents your client." He says this is a huge trend that's
gaining momentum. Other companies, like banks, are also giving
away Ringbinders as a marketing tool.
And as promotional
products salespeople are more than order-takers, binders are
more than covers. "You can convert that office supply purchase
into a promotional purchase," suggests Michelle Mitchell, vice
president of marketing at Fey Line (asi/54040). A distributor
can take care of all the needs of an end-user looking to buy binders
and folders - from the custom imprint to providing the materials
inside, the tabs, the extra pockets and inserting the materials
too. The outside cover, whether it's a binder or folder is only
one part of what that customer could be looking for. For the savvy
salesperson, it's an opportunity for more than one sale. Mitchell
recalls a Ringbinder they did for a conference. Along with each
binder, recipients received a tote bag, a name badge, bottle of
water and stadium mug.
Inside Out
Before you go selling binders and folders, you have to find out
what the client plans to put in them. Though it seems like it
wouldn't make that much of a difference, the contents should determine
the total look of the folder. Will the folder be used in a corporate
setting or outdoors? Construction companies would need a tough,
durable folder that wipes clean. Poly-binders are used for schools.
For a luxurious look, foam padded covers are great for corporate
sales meetings or hotel guest directories.
If you're going for durability with real marketing punch, suggest
leather with an embossed logo. It will stay around for a long
time. "We're seeing more upscale binders and folders," says Weir.
"Customers are looking at conference folders with padded covers,
sewn edges, metal corners and personalised with a foil stamp."
The selection of materials for binder covers runs the gamut of
textures and looks from suedene to French calf to using fabrics
that match the décor of a hotel room or restaurant. "We do that
all the time," says Fishman. "Supply us with the materials and
we'll make the product."
General Loose Leaf will take four-color artwork and trap it under
a clear front cover for a full four-color look in a small quantity
order that looks like a million dollars.
And that's just the outside. The inside presents more choices
in ring sizes and shapes and tabs, extra pockets, etc. One distributor,
for example, requested a binder with a pocket to hold a DVD. Another
explored the possibility of adding a sound chip so when the binder
was opened, end users heard the presentation.
"There's a lot of tweaking we can do to serve particular needs,"
Weir says. It's not out of the ordinary to make modifications,
such as inserting special pads and custom pens. Binders can even
come with removable rings allowing them to function as padfolios.
On that note, padfolios can virtually become portable offices,
with interchangeable components like PDA holders, pen loops, places
to put sticky notes, removable business card holders - even clocks.
Custom is a big selling point of binders and folders. But the
beauty of this promotional niche is that you don't have to do
much to get a custom look. Just put a sewn edge on a binder or
add a brass corner or some foam padding and your client's got
something that's unique without paying a lot. "You don't have
to be totally different to have something off the wall," says
Fishman. "Sometimes all you need to have is a basic item and add
a little something to it."
We at Ideasbynet are here to help you with
your promotional conference folders requirements. Call us: 0870
787 5527 - Our Promotional Staff are highly experience and
will provide you with the dedicated professional service you would
expect from a major corporation.
Browse our massive online Promotional
Conference Folders Catalogue
for a diverse selection of products all at great low prices.
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