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ISOs can boost sales and cement client relationships by handing out promotional gifts, but the success of the giveaway depends on the type and value of the gift, observers say.
Mouse pads or desk organizers—trinkets—keep an ISO's name in front of a client, while high-end, experiential gifts, such as golf outings, prove more likely to influence purchasing decisions and affect agents' sales, according to ISOs.
"Virtually everybody uses promotional products," says Anne Lardner, a spokesperson for Irving, Texas-based Promotional Products Association International. It is a "question of how often they use it and how well they use it." Companies typically use promotional merchandise to foster awareness of their products and services with established and potential clients.
Lardner suggests ISOs work with promotional consultants to find options. "If you work with one of the consultants, you can find the best
possible product that the recipient will keep," she says.
U.S. sales of promotional products reached $19.4 billion in 2007, says Lardner, adding that, "People don't realize the size of the industry."
Promotional products are "anything with a logo," ranging from inexpensive pens to high-end gifts, such as artwork, she says.
The Gift Of Experience
For the ISO industry, high-end, experiential gifts have the most impact on client relationships and agents' sales, according to Terry Roberts, director of software integration at Fast Transact Inc., a Lacey, Wash.-based ISO. Make high-end gifts "memorable or experiential in nature," such as a trip or an activity, Roberts recommends. Such gifts help close deals roughly 70% of the time, he estimates.
The expense of high-end gifts,
however, limits the number of clients who receive them. Fewer than 5% of prospective clients receive experiential gifts at Fast Transact, Roberts says. Between 15% and 20% of clients receive mid-range gifts, such as gift cards, he says.
"In terms of impact, if you give thought to the things that you give them, they will remember it," says Roberts. He describes giving a classic-car-loving client a die-cast model of a Corvette. The client "still talks about it," he says, adding that the car model was a mid-range gift in terms of price.
Even if an ISO fails to sign a potential client after giving a thoughtful gift, the ISO has created a link with the recipient, says Roberts. "Years later you can still say, 'I was the one that gave you the Corvette,'" he says. The prospective client will remember the gift and the ISO, he says.
Gift cards can be thoughtful as well, says Roberts. A client might "mention that they don't like their keyboard, so we'll go to CompUSA and get a $100 gift card they can use to get a new one," he says.
Low-cost items, such as logo pens or mouse pads, are least likely to affect client decisions, Roberts says.
Small Items, Big Impressions
While the low-cost promotional items may not close deals for ISOs when agents give them to prospective clients, such promotional items can keep an ISO's name in front of clients, says Donna Embry, senior vice president for Payment Alliance International, a Louisville, Ky.-based ISO. "The most useful items that people interact with might make a company more top of mind," Embry says.
Fast Transact Inc. distributes desk accessories such as carpal-tunnel prevention pads, document holders and mouse pads with the company logo, says Roberts. "We want the name in front of people all the time in something they use all the time," Roberts says. "We do mouse pads because clients constantly look at them" on their desks, he says.
Company name recognition increases among recipients of promotional products, agrees Lardner. "Seventy-six percent of people are able to recall the name of an advertiser from a promo product over a year later, while only 53.5% of people can remember a commercial a week later," she says, citing Promotional Products Association International research.
Merchants Notice Insight, Too
Not all ISOs, however, use promotional products. Some believe merchants are affected minimally by promotional gifts and respond better to agents' industry knowledge.
Merchants take more notice of ISOs if sales agents answer questions than if they give promotional gifts, says Marc Maxwell, outside sales manager for Connect Merchant Payment Services Inc., a Riverside, Calif.-based ISO.
"If one of my reps goes out and is able to answer questions that no other ISO can, that will stand out more than something on" the merchant's desk, Maxwell says. "Instead of giving them something small, give them information to help guide their business," he says.
