How To Sell Awards

As a promotional products dealer, you are already a rock star at selling things like pens, shirts, bags, and jackets. With a little bit of help, you can start selling crystal awards like a pro too! At Crystal D, we’re here to help you sell, but where do you start?

Step One: It starts with you!

“It starts with me?” Yes, it does. In order to be successful at selling crystal awards, you need to believe in the benefits and power of a recognition program. According to a 2015 WorldatWork study, the more deeply embedded a company’s recognition culture is, the more engaged, motivated, and satisfied their employees are. This also leads to a higher retention rate. If you believe in the power of recognition, you will sell awards more confidently.

Step Two: Focus on recognition

Selling promotional products is second nature to you. Selling crystal awards is a little bit different. Take some time to focus on selling recognition awards, and it will become second nature to you, just like selling other promotional products. When you focus on selling awards, you will see your sales increase as well! Who doesn’t want to see an increase in sales?

Step Three: Research your clients’ business

You have a lot of clients, and chances are you don’t know everything there is to know about their business. That’s not unexpected, but you can set yourself apart from your competition by researching your clients’ businesses. The research you do will reveal more product solutions and create new sales opportunities. Not only will you create new sales opportunities for yourself, you are showing your clients that you understand their business as well as their wants and needs.

Step Four: Talk to the right people

You already have a contact for each business you work with, but that might not be the right person to talk to about awards. Many times, the person responsible for the pens, jackets, and bags is not the person responsible for the awards. Talking to the right person gets you in the door to selling crystal awards. Ask your contact if they are the right person to talk to about awards. If they are not, ask them for an introduction. You can also download our Decision Makers Who Can Say “YES!” brochure for more people you can talk to about crystal awards.

Step Five: Ask for the business

A majority of your clients probably buy awards already. So why should they look to someone other than you for those awards? Ask for the business, and you may be surprised to find out how many awards they are already buying.

But what questions should you be asking? Knowing the right questions will allow you to approach your clients with more precision and helpfulness. Here are some key questions to get you started:

Questions for Potential New Sales

• Do you currently have employee recognition and incentive programs in place?
• Who are the main supporters of these programs? C-suites? Line managers? Employees?
• How satisfied are you with your current products and awards?
• How many divisions or business centers does your organization have?
• How do you communicate the program to your employees and/or vendors?

Questions Before Recommending Awards

• What is your budget for the program(s) or award(s)?
• Is the event formal or informal?
• What style of award would you like? Traditional? Modern? Artistic?
• What would you like to say on the award? (Text, logo, image)
• How will the awards be presented?
• Do you need other promotional products for the event like invitations, posters, t-shirts, giveaways, or gifts?
• How would you like to receive award ideas? Email images? Samples?
• How often do you want to host recognition events?

Questions Before Placing an Order

• Do you have a list of personalizations?
• Will these awards be drop-shipped or sent to one location?
• Do you have a preference on the layout of the artwork?
• When do you need the awards to arrive to your event?

Want this as a flyer? Click here to download these questions!

Step Six: Let us help you!

We’re here to help you sell crystal awards! Access our selling tools from our dealer dashboard or give us a call. We will help you pick the perfect awards that fit into your clients’ budgets, and we can offer some ideas that will be sure to ignite interest from your clients!

We love helping you come up with great ideas for an award, but we could use a little help. Let us know if you have:

• The budget for all awards
• The event date
• The delivery date
• The theme of the event, if your client has one
• The purpose of the award (sales, retirement, etc.)

Don't forget to send your clients the A.W.A.R.D. acronym to help them select and present the perfect award.

Award: select an appropriate award that fits the achievement and the personal taste of the recipient.

Who: the person who directly oversees the recipient should present the award. Need help with what to say during the presentation? Download our “What Do I Say?” template, and your client will be well on their way to a great presentation.

Authentic and Accurate: present the award in an environment that aligns with the recipient’s preference. Some people prefer public recognition while others prefer something that is much more private and out of the spotlight.

Reflect: the person presenting should share details of the accomplishment by specifically stating how the recipient has made a difference.

Distinguish: be specific! The more specifically you can describe the attributes of the recipient, the more meaningful the presentation becomes, and the more enduring the memory.

Remember that employee recognition, employee engagement, and awards are not limited to commemorating years of service. In fact, there are at least 51 different opportunities that exist in most organizations! Download our Internal Programs flyer so you know what business to ask for!

Step Seven: Provide “The WOW Effect”™

Crystal awards create a memorable experience and overwhelming emotion to each recipient. When your clients use our awards as part of their recognition program, each recipient will be WOWed and will have an award they can cherish forever. Because you offered crystal awards and gifts from Crystal D, you put “The WOW Effect”™ into their business.