So many business owners look at the actual price of a single product as opposed to looking at the bottom total of the order.
What I mean is:
As a sales representative I work with my customers to reduce their actual invoice total in turn reducing the actual product cost.
See the company that I work for as a sales representative, Gift Box Corporation, offers our customers quantity discounting and annual usage discounting.
For my customers that place bag orders in the first quarter of the year for the entire year, they get 15% off for the first quarter special and then we add up the total number of bags and give them a quantity discount based on annual usage on top of it. We can ship multiple times through out the remainder of the year providing the customer with bags when they need them instead of overwhelming them with inventory with one large order. To save the customer even more money we offer a half off frieght allowance on all orders of $350.00 or more.
Does your packaging distributor offer those deals?
Take another look at the bottom line.
Some times it pays to work directly with your packaging rep and ask for specials and cost cutting measures. I also suggest having a competitor of your current packaging company provide you with a quote on all packaging products. Give that second packaging rep the quantities for the packaging products used in the previous year along with exact descriptions of your products, color, shape and materials or supply them with actual samples of your products. You do not have to tell them the dollar amounts, a good rep will not need that information. Have that second packaging rep provide you with the costs for reordering based on annual usage and company discounts.
As an example, a potential new customer that I am currently working with purchases paper bags, gift boxes and tissue from a competitor. When asked for pricing on shopping bags, I provided them with first column pricing. They stated that I was way over priced. My first response was how many bags do you order a year? Thousands was her answer. So now I re-adjusted my numbers based on her annual usage. I also provided her with information concerning the discounts available to her in the coming year. When all said and done my cost was less. I didn't provide her with any extra discounts only the ones she earned. I don't play games when it comes to pricing. So many sales reps/manufacturers will reduce the cost of the first order to secure the new business then up the cost on future orders. I will not. I want my customer to get the actual pricing due to them so they don't have sticker shock in the future. I am also suppling this customer a quote for custom shopping bags. A full years worth of inventory but I am hoping to drop her cost per bag even futher.
Will I get the business? Maybe not because her current sales rep/packaging provider might meet my pricing or even beat it to keep the business. As much as I want the order thats OK. I know that customer is getting the pricing they deserve and that sales representative/manufacturer is being kept honest. And this is why I suggest you should occasionally work with your packaging provider's competitor for pricing at least every few years.
Who is going to hurt? No one especially not you because you will know you are getting the best price available to you.
So the last few blogs have been about "green" packaging and you ask what does this have to do with any thing green - well I have two answers. One, you will have more green in your pocket!
and two, Gift Box Corporation maintains stock products that are made from recycled products, products that are recyclable and products that are re-usable. Check them all out at http://www.800giftbox.com/.
What I mean is:
As a sales representative I work with my customers to reduce their actual invoice total in turn reducing the actual product cost.
See the company that I work for as a sales representative, Gift Box Corporation, offers our customers quantity discounting and annual usage discounting.
For my customers that place bag orders in the first quarter of the year for the entire year, they get 15% off for the first quarter special and then we add up the total number of bags and give them a quantity discount based on annual usage on top of it. We can ship multiple times through out the remainder of the year providing the customer with bags when they need them instead of overwhelming them with inventory with one large order. To save the customer even more money we offer a half off frieght allowance on all orders of $350.00 or more.
Does your packaging distributor offer those deals?
Take another look at the bottom line.
Some times it pays to work directly with your packaging rep and ask for specials and cost cutting measures. I also suggest having a competitor of your current packaging company provide you with a quote on all packaging products. Give that second packaging rep the quantities for the packaging products used in the previous year along with exact descriptions of your products, color, shape and materials or supply them with actual samples of your products. You do not have to tell them the dollar amounts, a good rep will not need that information. Have that second packaging rep provide you with the costs for reordering based on annual usage and company discounts.
As an example, a potential new customer that I am currently working with purchases paper bags, gift boxes and tissue from a competitor. When asked for pricing on shopping bags, I provided them with first column pricing. They stated that I was way over priced. My first response was how many bags do you order a year? Thousands was her answer. So now I re-adjusted my numbers based on her annual usage. I also provided her with information concerning the discounts available to her in the coming year. When all said and done my cost was less. I didn't provide her with any extra discounts only the ones she earned. I don't play games when it comes to pricing. So many sales reps/manufacturers will reduce the cost of the first order to secure the new business then up the cost on future orders. I will not. I want my customer to get the actual pricing due to them so they don't have sticker shock in the future. I am also suppling this customer a quote for custom shopping bags. A full years worth of inventory but I am hoping to drop her cost per bag even futher.
Will I get the business? Maybe not because her current sales rep/packaging provider might meet my pricing or even beat it to keep the business. As much as I want the order thats OK. I know that customer is getting the pricing they deserve and that sales representative/manufacturer is being kept honest. And this is why I suggest you should occasionally work with your packaging provider's competitor for pricing at least every few years.
Who is going to hurt? No one especially not you because you will know you are getting the best price available to you.
So the last few blogs have been about "green" packaging and you ask what does this have to do with any thing green - well I have two answers. One, you will have more green in your pocket!
and two, Gift Box Corporation maintains stock products that are made from recycled products, products that are recyclable and products that are re-usable. Check them all out at http://www.800giftbox.com/.
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