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2. In the long haul, successfully branded items succeed because the user likes that the brand is noticed in daily use, either by others or even by themselves.
That's subtle but crucial. Does the very existence of the logo or the identifier or the distinction make the user happier? Can you imagine how crestfallen the debutante would be if her date didn't even know what a Birkin bag was? For even more Seth.... go here: http://www.sethgodin.com/sg/ “Even a great brand needs investment and caring if it’s going to retain its relevance and vitality”
Steve Jobs September 23, 1997 Recently, Sales and MarketingManagement.com published an article ”5 Ways to Differentiate Your Company During The Selling Process”. Adapting the SMM principles to the hospitality tabletop industry, TabletopJournal discusses these five principles and why they are important to tabletop suppliers….whether you are a manufacturer, manufacturer's rep, or a dealer. 1. Make proactive recommendations. When responding to a customer request for a quote on a new tabletop product, make recommendations beyond what the customer is requesting that you feel will benefit the restaurant operator in some way. Will it save money? Perhaps there’s a single piece that will take the place of two others? Or, maybe you can recommend a glassware piece or a serving piece that will better merchandise a particular menu item? You will often know of new products that will better meet the needs of a customer and can differentiate yourself and your company by making these helpful recommendations. So, think beyond the original customer's request for information. 2. Define your niche. Don’t let your company categorized with multiple other suppliers. Make sure that the customer knows that while many companies have glassware, you are THE specialist for craftbeer glasses, for instance. Or, if the customer is looking for showplates, make sure they understand that your selection of glass showplates is the widest range available and your large inventory allows quick re-supply. Make sure you tell the customer why working with your company and products is very different than others….not by disparaging your competition, but by showcasing your company's and your product's strengths.
4. Sell your culture.
Every company has a different culture. Make sure you articulate your company’s culture and why it aligns well with this potential customer’s company culture. Whether it is your company’s structure, it's flexibility, or simply the style in which you conduct your business….the SMM article is correct – often these “soft” issues are the true differentiators in the selling process. 5. Communicate benefits by audience. The benefits of buying your products or working with your company (versus competitors) will be different for the owner, the food & beverage director, the chef and for the accountant. Make sure you sell your company and product benefits to each of those constituencies. Often we simply sell one overall list of benefits and hope they fit all the various decision makers on the customer end. Make sure you tailor your presentations to the audience who is listening…and having input to the final decision. Decision-making in the food service/hospitality/catering industry is complex and often unique in each situation. Tabletop products often appear to be similar and therefore the decision-making process gets quickly to whose products are the cheapest. Only by differentiating your company and its product strengths and then showing how your company or product aligns best in solving the customer’s problem can you avoid the downward spiral “race to the bottom” of price. Differentiation in the hospitality tabletop selling process is key to adding value and showcasing your company and its product's true value to your customers. If you are interested in reading the SMM article - its a great read and we think you will enjoy it, you can read it in its entirety by going here: http://salesandmarketing.com/content/5-ways-differentiate-your-company-during-sales-process Telling the story is one of the keys to building a great brand. In this short video, Libbey does a great job of telling the story of who Libbey is and how it became the global leadership brand that it is today. Companies and brands that fail to tell their story (or fail to tell it well) miss huge branding opportunities. In today's world, to have a short video to tell the overall brand message is a key to building a strong and distinctive brand. Nice job, Libbey. Whether you're a restaurant selling a seafood entrée or a tabletop manufacturer selling glassware...long-term, deep discounting as a means to grow sales is a dead-end road on a number of levels. True, it can stimulate short-term sales (i.e. Restaurant "Weeks") but deep discounting items that weren't designed to be sold at lower prices simply is not sustainable. Repeat after me....n-o-t s-u-s-t-a-i-n-a-b-l-e. Yet, we see both restaurateurs and manufacturers continue to attempt to do it. What happens? Restaurateurs find that menu items sold at discounted prices produce lower profit margins and the volume increases are simply not enough to overcome the profit erosion. Additionally, servers who sell the discounted food items receive tips at the lowered prices levels, so they lose earnings. Sound familiar, manufacturers? Tabletop companies that continually rely on discounts to secure orders cannot live on the lower margins with hopes of making it up on the re-orders. In today's tabletop world, customers switch tabletop products with much more frequency, limiting the opportunity to sell smaller re-orders at higher margin pricing levels. And, similarly to restaurant operators, those that are doing the selling, simply work just as hard (or harder) as ever, but now receive less compensation or commission and bonus. And finally, there's the whole issue of brand equity erosion when deep discounting becomes the norm rather than the exception. Although New York's legendary upscale restaurant Le Cirque utilizes Groupon's Reserve program, director and owner Marco Maccioni is quoted as saying "You have to balance your exposure (in these types of programs) because we're criticized for participating in these discount websites." Dilution of brand equity is certain when discounting is used as a long-term method of improving sales. Quality and value is built over a long period of time, built up through many touchpoints, experiences, and exposures to a multitude of brand attributes. Of course, the most easily manipulated of those attributes is price. Offering a deep discount is an easy way to push a customer to dine at your restaurant....or purchase your dinnerware...in the short term. However, there's very little brand benefit, particularly for a product category with a buying cycle measured sometimes in years, or at a minimum months....rather than in days such as fast moving consumer goods are. So, before you offer that next deep-discount....consider the overall impact on your brand equity, especially to loyal customers who like a restaurant or glassware product and would have paid the regular price. Long-term discounting is never a way to build equity into a brand. This is a repeat of an editorial we published in our most recent TabletopJournal BULLETIN newsletter. Due to the variety of reactions we received, we decided to include it here where it will be archived under our Branding topics. There a lots of brands within the hospitality tabletop industry, but few with the prestige, heritage, design DNA, and overall brand personalities of the brands within the Rosenthal-Sambonet-Paderno portfolio. We recently were fortunate enough to sit with Rosenthal-Sambonet USA President Andrea Vianello to ask him about what its like these days to be managing high quality brands such as these within today's hospitality world. To learn what Andrea Vianello had to say, go here: http://www.tabletopjournal.com/people/rosenthal-sambonets-andrea-vianello-brand-nurturer-tabletop-innovator Action!
“The number one problem haunting big and, sadly, not so big business today is the failure to act. Only a strategy of constant, fast-paced experimentation with everything stands a chance in today’s turbulent marketplace.” - Tom Peters www.tompeters.com
To learn more about the Tuxton brand and its wide range of hospitality tabletop products, go here:http://www.tuxton.com/
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