Does the following scenario sound familiar to you? Perhaps you've already experienced this moment if you're are attending The PPAI Expo in Las Vegas this week. Promotional Consultant Today features this article from Bill Petrie, a PPAI Fellow and owner of brandivate marketing. Petrie is presenting three education sessions at The PPAI Expo. Read Petrie's thoughts below on how to effectively answer an oh-so-familiar question.

It's 5:07 pm and you have just completed a 6.2-mile stretch on a trade-show floor. Your feet ache with every step as you trek back to the promise of relief in your room. However, before you are able to enjoy a brief intermission before your dinner engagement, you have one final hurdle to face: the crush of humanity at the elevator bank. Surrounded by other show-goers, you have a casual conversation with someone who asks, "So, what do you do?"

This is your moment of truth as a promotional products professional. How will you answer? Will you clearly articulate what you do or will you begin listing the products you can decorate? Does your answer spark interest or fade into the mundaneness of business small talk?

Perhaps you share with your elevator-waiting mate that you can "put their logo on anything" and that your company offers "wild creativity, fantastic customer service and quick turnaround time." While likely factual, this kind of answer will have you blending in with the thousands of other promotional products distributor companies. You are looking to stand apart from the crowd—figuratively and literally—and that answer won't differentiate you at all.

Rather than the generic promotional speak, craft an answer that leads into a meaningful conversation—and an opportunity. I'm not talking about a canned "elevator pitch." Instead, provide an answer in terms of how your company serves others but worded in such a way that it creates some magic in the mind of your inquirer. For example:

  • We create promotional marketing programs that engage people at multiple touch points.

  • We partner with our clients to turn ideas into experiences.

The above two examples are not only concise, but will create a little bit of fascination and mystery in the mind of the listener. At the very least you will grab their attention and will be asked how you do that, making the ensuing conversation far more meaningful. And, while you are waiting for your turn on the elevator ride to the sweet surrender of a quiet moment, you might just create a connection that turns into a client.

Source: After 15 years working in executive leadership positions at leading promotional products distributorships, Petrie started brandivate to provide those same services to small- and medium-sized distributors who are seeking to grow, but are unsure of how to do it. The philosophy is simple: to serve the underserved, giving each client the tools they need to develop and strengthen their business.

A featured speaker at The PPAI Expo, he has extensive real-world practice coaching sales teams, creating successful marketing campaigns, executing recruiting strategies, developing operational policies and procedures, creating and delivering RFP responses, and successfully presenting promotional solutions to Fortune 500 clients. Petrie was also recently appointed as a chef/board member for PromoKitchen, a 501C(3) nonprofit focused on education and mentorship in the promotional products industry.

Hear Petrie live at the following session today: Putting The Social In Your Media. Wednesday, 9:00 am – 10:00 am, Breakers F, Level 2

To download content from his sessions earlier this week and for more education sessions, go to expo.ppai.org.