> if you don't mind sharing, how do you find new
> accounts?

I'm down to less than 1 cold call per quarter. Sometimes, I'll go out of my way to make a cold call, just for a change of pace, or on a whim. But, most of my new customers this year came from 3 regular sources.

#1 Networking: I get lots of customers through contacts I make at the Chambers of Commerce. (I have memberships in 3 different cities.) Most of these Chamber events are perfect for soft selling. When I call on a client in their location, their time is limited and the attention is divided. At a Chamber function, whether breakfast, luncheon, committee meeting, business card exchange, open house for a member, etc, the pace is more relaxed and the meeting isn't as confrontational. And before cell phones, I didn't get interupted during my introduction.

In addition to Chambers of Commerce, I network through memberships in a Chemical Association which includes both the producers and their vendors. The same type events exist for business card exchanges. (Note: I rarely exchange cards. I take their card and give them one of my imprinted handouts. In addition to having some functional use that increases their desire to hang on to it, my presenting it as a card demonstrates my belief in the products I sell. I generally use ink pens, letter openers, monitor dusters (for sweeping the dust of their computer screen), pocket memo books, or band-aid dispensers. These rarely get thrown away.

#2. Directed referrals: Prospective customers contact me, indicating they got my name from "so & so", who orders from me. Or, sometimes, I receive the referrals to the prospect with instructions as to what they are looking for, or an event they need to have something in hands for. These leads are far more productive than cold calls. My existing clients are rewarding me with a vote of confidence that influences the prospect's buying decision.

#3. Internet marketing: Between my existing website which is highly ranked in several search engines for a variety of key words, I also get visitors through "pay per clicks" and from postings on some forums. I also receive some traffic from total strangers and some internet friends putting links from their site to mine.

> and if for example
> a store owner has more than one k&b dealer
> or do you have to find your own accounts and
> keep them from being served by someone else?

Kaeser and Blair is very careful to follow all the rules regarding independent agents. Because of our status, K & B cannot offer protected accounts. It is not all that uncommon for a company to buy from 2 different K & B dealers. In my local market (population under 200,000) there are 5 established K & B dealers(sales volume of $75,000 to $500,000), and I know of at least 4 clients that I serve, who also purchase from one of the other dealers.

It doesn't make any difference to K & B, as each dealer is paid commission on the orders they submit. One dealer may sell screen printed or embroidered clothing almost exclusively, while another focuses on calendars or specialty products. It wouldn't make sense to deny one dealer their commission, simply because the other dealer had sold them something different in the past year.

If I want a customer to buy exclusively from me, I had better work to be the absolute best salesman they ever used as a vendor. But, even then, a company may have 2 to 10 or more buyers who have purchasing authority during a year's time.

I have at least two local customers where I sell to 5 of more people in different departments. There may be other buyers who are also purchasing from K & B, but ordering from another dealer. I know K & B would rather have the company buying from two salespeople, rather than one K & B dealer, as well as a competitor.

And I'd rather have some of the client's business, rather than being frozen out, simply because they purchased one time from another dealer.

Even in this small market, there is more business than I can handle. So, by having multiple dealers in the market, K & B is not only following the law, but they are reaping a larger percentage of the total market.

In addition, some buyers are under orders to distribute the business around to different vendors. Even though the payments go the K & B, the commissions are going to different salespeople. It makes a difference to some.

On a side note, in '93, I became the first Century Club dealer that K & B had in Southwest Louisiana. One of the other heavy hitter is my associate, while two of the others are his associates. The fifth Century Clubber is a third generation associate. The best way to sum it up is that K & B operates on a 1 by X matrix formula. I receive over-ride commissions on all my immediate associates, and they receive the over-rides on theirs, while I get nothing.

It is a fair system as every dealer has the same right to recruit, but the overrides are paid on actual performance of the dealers each has brought on board. I had nothing to do with the recruits who my associates brought in, so I haven't earned any over-rides. It works for me.

Dennis Bevers




The products, opportunity, and company that work for me!