Do Promotions Work?

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Do Promotions Work?

Do promotions and giveaways really motivate contractors to buy a particular brand?

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Dave_132

Give me a dependable product with factory support 24/7 and you can keep your ink pens and coffee cups.

bruce_21

The most important thing a mfg or rep can do for me is to have a knowledgable, real person answer the phone right away when I have a problem.

yellowdog

i worked at fw webb for years and was always amazed at what a contractor would do to get a free sweatshirt or jacket. now on the other side of the counter, i think that a points system rewarding you for what you want to buy is much better than a freebie for something that they want you to buy.

Jackmartin

I have read everything people gave said and I agree completely. The thing I would like as an incentive out of some of these wholesales is so cheap it costs nothing,, HONESTY.
I wil relate a little story that underlines the difference from the new crop of " ceos" and the guys I came up with. I have beendealing with wholesale in Winnipeg since 1977 yeah I am that ancient. The new vibe with these bs masters is online ordering. I had my knee replaced and I asked my oldest son to pick up some 410 for me so if the a/c coughed at the house I would gave some. No problem after work he pops into this wholesale with my order from the internet and brings it over to the house. I didn't think anymore about it untilI recieved their bill, the refrigerant on the website was 175 if you were bringing in your own permanent tank. The bil I get is for 275 and on top of that they charged me for a new permanent tank to the tune of 150. So, I got hold of the billing department and politely told them they had the wrong amounts. This is where the honesty comes in the girl was obviously nervous and said she would try and sort it out. Literally ,three months go by with them sending me billings with late charges for the tank and the gas. Finally,we seemed to be on the same page and I paid the bill, remember I have always been current. I get a snotty text from some woman who just had to tell me she was a CPA which to my old mind means you learned how to lie from professionals. She then proceeds to tell me she wants us to go on a cash only basis, to say I was irked is an understatement. Now,the older I get the less bull crap I am willing to put up with, so I sent the third generation ceo a letter asking him how he could breath with his head in his rump. Now they have erased my presence from all living memory, which has caused me great personal anguish, the other dozen wholesales we deal with seem to be able to make the website prices agree with the actual bill. Hats,boots,jackets ,nope ,just honesty what they say is how they dance. The more MBA graduates and lawyers we get in these wholesales the closer it gets to organized crime,when I started out the owners would help you load your truck with what you bought, now everything they say and do is written on toilet paper, I may be a fossil but we have bent over backwards to be honest with our business dealings and as far as I am concerned being a stand up person is all any of us want from any wholesale. I wonder if they figured out why the rise of the internet wholesales have become so popular, cheaper prices, the stuff arrives overnight, and the price on the internet bill is what you pay, oh and they treat you honestly, now whoever thought that business model would work?????

HomerJSmith

Honesty is a really big deal with me. Customer satisfaction is also a really big deal with me. If I feel cheated, I will never deal with that company again, EVER.

Ford Motorcraft had a rebate, three bucks on a set of sparkplugs. I dutifully printed out the requirements on the rebate form and mailed it in. I got a reply from the rebate company that the rebate was denied because the information wasn't printed out. Of course, I had a copy of the form showing it was printed out and not in cursive, to no avail. I never bought another Ford Motorcraft part and that was 50 yrs ago. That dishonesty was a high price for Ford to pay.

If you satisfy a customer he will tell 10 friends what a good job you did. If you are dishonest he will tell 20 friends what a bum you are.

I have a saying, "Satisfaction guaranteed, but, please, don't be to hard to satisfy."

Do promotions work? I'm a sucker for them, how do you think I got all my tools.

Mad Dog_2

The first thing I do when I start using a new product is to squeeze the phone # out of them for THE GUY....The guy I can call on Saturday nite and he gets you back up and running mad dog

Mad Dog_2

Promotions are always nice. I always loved the All American hometown BBQ or picnic companies would throw..Slant Fin, Venco (Long Island 🏝 Burnham rep).  Cold beer 🍺,  good Chow, Clams, Camraderie a free tee shirt.  50 50 raffles.  Company's have become way too PC and Corporate and won't put on these great mixers anymore.  I never saw ANY plumber get too smashed and if a guy was wobbly, we took his keys and drove him home. We took care of our own.  Matt Jr fondly recalls these annual picnics from when he was 3 yrs old on.  Live bands, Dunking Tank,  bouncy castle. Pony rides. My annual plumbers picnic  that I helped  run  for 25 years was legendary up in Historic Oyster Bay LI .  I don't even know if they do it anymore? Interest and participation has waned greatly..sad.  "Nobody Left to run with anymore!  Mad Dog 

hot_rod

Folks from across North America will walk across shattered glass for a Carhartt jacket giveaway.

They can be dual branded also.