Sandra J. Paluzzi
The Bead Peddler®

Many corporations have employee incentive programs.  Some of them also gift employees at the holidays or to mark employee anniversaries.  Some non-profits offer incentive gifts for various fund raising levels.  Still other businesses gift their large customers.  And some schools give presents to their graduates.   With a little thought, you may be able to cash in on corporate gift giving. 

Before you decide to contact organizations, think about how happy you would be making the same item over and over and over again.  If you are a one-of-a-kind designer, all is not lost.  For one thing, you could try to sell a realtor on giving original sun catchers or fan pulls to home buyers.  In other words, you can target your sales pitch to companies of any size depending on your comfort level.  You may want to stay local  when you begin.  Think about the organization you are soliciting.  Ask yourself the following questions:

What items would appeal to that particular company?  Hospitals may be interested in badge lanyards (You would have to offer lanyards suitable for both sexes).   Office environments may like beaded letter openers or pens.

What would make your offering different from other companies?   Sororities might like bracelets done in their colors.   Schools may like key rings with their school colors and/or a sports mascot charm. 

If the company has a very large or diverse population, what would appeal to everyone? Along with the obvious key rings, most people would be happy to receive key rings, cell phone lanyards or sun catchers. 

When you have some ideas firmly in mind, you can move on to doing product research and design.  This is the time to price out materials and determine their availability.  If you plan on mass producing an item, make sure the beading supplies are readily available in the quantities you need.  You may want to make samples at this time or you may not.  Remember that you may not sell the sample for a very long time, if ever.  If you have the components laying around or can get them in small quantities, it may be worth it to have samples on hand.  If the item is general enough, you can always sell it elsewhere.  I would not recommend making a big investment until you have a purchase order firmly in hand.

You are now ready to contact selected companies.  I firmly believe the hardest part of sales is finding the decision maker.   If you have decided to target realtors or other independents, you will want to talk directly to the main contact.  If you are hitting large corporations, you can start with human resources.  HR people tend to be helpful.  If they don't handle incentive programs, they will probably refer you to the correct department.  Some companies have a purchasing department and others are segmented so that each department selects their own gifts.  If you are referred to a department such as sales, try to talk to the manager's administrative assistant.  They usually are very instrumental in making gift purchases.  They will also be thrilled that you respect them and are not trying to go over their heads.

It is not hard to find the correct person in either a large corporation or a very small organization.  It is the mid sized companies that present the biggest challenge, particularly if they have that dreaded telephone menu.  If a company does not have a HR person, try to start with a receptionist or administrative assistant.  Ask them who would be the right person to contact regarding buying corporate gifts or employee incentives.  They may say 'no-one - we don't do that'.  In that case try to talk to the owner or manager.  A lot of managers buy gifts for their staff at the winter holidays or for secretary's day. 

When you finally reach the decision maker, you will want to introduce yourself and find out how often they buy gifts and how many gifts they buy at one time.  Ask them what they're now spending on gifts.  Candy and flowers are not cheap.  They could get some really great stuff from you for the same price as a floral bouquet or box of candy.  Tell them the benefits of buying from jewelry or accessories - the gift will last longer than flowers or candy.   Also, their gift will be remembered and may even turn into  a conversation piece.  You also have an advantage in being local.  Your buyer can see a sample before placing an order.   It is best to  physically show the product so the potential customer can see the quality of your work.  However, your buyer may not be willing to have even a short meeting.  In that case, pictures of your items can be taken on a digital camera or scanner.  These pictures can be emailed or printed on high gloss paper.  Include prices with quantity discounts and as always, follow up, follow up, follow up.

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