Pup-Pie is a Sofi Silver Finalist

 We have been taking products that are Silver Finalists for the Sofi Awards  to some of San Diego’s  top executives to taste and comment on. The Sofi Awards are like the Academy Awards for the Specialty Food Industry.

Coles' Dog Waits for Tasty Treat

We arrived at Coles’ Carpet just as President, George Coles, wrapped up the filming of a commercial. Ben, his striking and stylish black lab, made his appearance fresh from the groomer and looked stunning in his shiny coat and colorful scarf. We did have to do a few takes with the tasting and the photos, until George Coles had a talk with Ben, who really just wanted to devour the entire Pup-Pie. After that the well behaved lab waited patiently for George to release the next tasty treat. The anticipation was quite visible until George gave him another taste.. and another! It was clearly a tail wagging, two paws up vote for the finalist product.

Cole’s Dog Ben Kept Insisting On Another Taste…And Another

China Mist - A Sofi Silver Medal Finalist

Each day we have been visiting top San Diego Executives and CEO’s who are members of our “Tasting Board”. We thought it would be interesting to have them sample and comment on some of the products that are competing for the Gold Sofi Award. The products we have chosen are silver medal finalists, who were chosen from thousands of other products, to be the best of the best. For more information on The Sofi Awards read my previous post on the awards . 

Darin Anderson, Kim & Celeste Taste Lotus Pear Tea

We are very excited to announce that Darin Andersen, COO of ESET, has joined our Executive Tasting Board. We already knew that Darin and his entire team are very health conscious. So the Lotus Pear beverage by China Mist seemed the perfect choice to have  him sample.  We did the tasting session in their beautiful meeting room which has  a gorgeous view of San Diego. 

Two top staff members, Kim and Celeste, joined the tasting. We poured the beverage over ice. Kim, who has a sweet tooth, said she would probably add a little sweetener to it, but thought it was good. Celeste, a real health nut, loved it and loved the fact  that it did not contain sugar or artificial sweetener. Darin said he really liked the beginning aroma and the finish.  He liked that there was no metallic or artificial taste, which so many beverages have. Instead, he said, there was a nice aroma with hints of pear, and that it was very light and smooth with a great after taste. They all said they would definately use the beverage.

ESET develops software solutions that deliver instant, comprehensive protection against evolving computer security threats. They pioneered and lead the industry in proactive threat detection. ESET NOD32 Antivirus is their flagship product, and consistently achieves the highest accolades in all kinds of comparative testing. ESET employs over 500 people globally, has 100 million users in over 160 countries, which total global sales of $200M. Worldwide Distribution headquarters is in San Diego.

Each day we have been visiting top San Diego Executives and CEO’s who are members of our “Tasting Board”. We thought it would be interesting to have them sample and comment on some of the products that are competing for the Gold Sofi Award. The products we have chosen are silver medal finalists, who were chosen from thousands of other products, to be the best of the best. For more information on The Sofi Awards read my previous post on the awards.

Tates Dark Chocolate Cookie -Silver Finalist For Best Cookie

Dark Chocolate Whole Wheat Cookies - Silver Medal Finalist

Tate’s Bake Shop is no stranger to big awards! There have been more awards than I can list in this post! Founder, Kathleen King started selling cookies in 1971, when she was 11 years old! She launched Tates  in 2000. Her cookies were rated number one out of fifty tasted by Rachel Ray magazine.  The dark chocolate cookie is loaded with bittersweet chocolate chips and the whole wheat flour in the recipe creates a wonderfully light and less sinful cookie. Visit Tates Bakeshop online to see their other products.

David Oates  Samples Tates Cookies

David Oates of Stalwart Communications samples the Tates Dark Chocolate Cookie.

David Oates is  founder and President of Stalwart Communications. But more importantly, he is a dark chocolate lover! He eagerly took the dark chocolate cookie I offered and took a bite. His first response was that he thought it would be hard and brittle, but it had a wonderful texture and was not overly heavy. He said, and this is a common comment when Tate’s cookies are sampled, that he never would have believed these came out of a bag, had he not seen it! He then commented that it was a great dark chocolate taste without being over powering, and that he is a big fan of dark chocolate, but felt that even people who are not dark chocolate fans would love this cookie.

Stalwart Communications is a San Diego based Pay-On-Performance PR Agency. David Oates, founder and President of the popular firm, was a Finalist for Influence San Diego’s Agency Of The Year Award. Follow him on Twitter at Stalwart.com. His firm is shaking things up in the PR Industry by ensuring that they profit from their clients ONLY when they generate results! For more information on Stalwart Communications visit them online.

The event is this Sunday and there are over 30,000 participants. Keep in mind that some roads will be closed during the event.

Years ago I found out that a good client, a builder who had been ordering housewarming gifts from us regularly, was using someone else for baby, birthday and get well baskets.  We had let them know we specialize in Housewarming and Closing gift baskets’ and had done a wonderful presentation showing only those. We just forgot to let them know of all our other products and services! That was a learning experience! I had just focused on their immediate needs and assumed they new we did much more. They were surprised and delighted to know they could get those other types of products from us as well.

The new client is not aware of all the products and services you have. They may think what you offer is limited to the product or service they just bought. For instance, If they hadn’t educated me, I would not have known my camera store, Nelson Photo, also gives photography classes, or that Sign Diego, who did my office sign, also can do the signage for our vans. 

Early in the relationship with each new client, send over a nice box of chocolate truffles or perhaps a cookie basket. Tuck your brochure or a list of your products and services inside the gift. Include a warm note such as this: “We just wanted to make sure you were aware of all our other products and services.  We look forward to working with you again soon.

An attention getting container & warm message make a great Warm Call Gift.

WARM CALL GIFTS

Warm call gifts are small, inexpensive, but nice little gifts to bring with you when you are doing a marketing campaign to visit prospective or existing clients. 

NO MORE “COLD” CALLS

Whether you are popping in on a client to tell them about a promotion,  or calling on a prospective client, you will find the reception you receive, when you bring a nice little warm call gift, is off the charts better than when you just drop off a business card or literature. If you can not get past the gatekeeper, make friends with the gatekeeper! 

 It’s great if the gift is something that will sit on the recipient’s desk and create conversation about your company. The Business Suit Box (pictured) can be filled with nuts, cookies or chocolates and some of your business cards (to make it easy for them to refer you).

A FEW OTHER WARM CALL GIFT SUGGESTIONS

• A mug with company logo – filled with coffee or tea and biscotti
• A small house shaped box with goodies for companies in the building industry
• A small money themed box with goodies for companies in the banking or financial industry
• A nice travel mug with chocolates for companies in the auto or motor home business
• Custom molded chocolates (phone, car, house, etc.) for any industry
• A small flower pot with a cookie bouquet & message “Thanks for helping us grow!” for a client promotion

If you need help or suggestions, feel free to give us a call at 858-578-2740 or visit our website at www.thebesttoyou.com

So you have identified a hot prospect that you would love to have as a client. Perhaps you have done a bit of research and know that your product or service would be a great fit for this client. You may even know that you can provide better quality, service and pricing than who they are using. There is just one big obstacle. You can not seem to get past the gate keeper! Your phone messages to the decision maker are not returned.

First Get Your Proposal And Company Information Together

We have the answer and it works like a charm! Send a gift basket directly to your prospective client, with your proposal tucked inside! First of all, carefully construct your proposal to the prospective client, along with a nice cover letter (ask that they please look over your proposal and company information while enjoying the goodies) attach a business card to the cover letter, and decide if you want to include a brochure or a sheet of testimonials. 

Then Do Just A Bit Of Research (Or We’ll Do It For You)

For a really great impression, contact the prospective client’s assistant first. Let them know that you are sending a gift and would appreciate knowing if there are any concerns (For instance, is the prospective client a diabetic or allergic to anything) and also if you could get any tips on what type items would be a big hit. Usually they will share information such as: “She absolutely is crazy about chocolate”,  or “He is a real health nut and loves fruit and healthy gourmet items.”  or “would love a basket of fresh baked cookies.” You might also ask if there are any hobbies such as golf, baseball, etc.  

Now Lets Turn That Prospect Into A New Client! 

 Have the brochure and proposal tucked inside of an elegant, custom designed gift basket. Address the gift directly to the prospective client. I suggest that the cover letter be scrolled, and tied with a ribbon to the bow on the outside of the basket.  A proposal tucked inside  of  an elegant gift basket that is custom designed to match the taste and personality of your prospective client, is definately going to get in the door, to the targeted person, and read. Now just follow up with a phone call and experience quite a different result than before!

For more information on getting your foot in the door, Give us a call at 858-578-2740 or visit our website at www.thebesttoyou.com. Our goal is your increased business.