Off the Cuff: Selling to Religious Organizations: Part 1 of 2

Sept 14, 2009

By Mark L. Venit, MBA

In our industry we decorate a massive assortment of items by a broad variety of technologies. Then we distribute what we produce to virtually every economic sector in every nook and cranny of society.

And among the myriad destinations we reach are churches, synagogues, mosques and a wide variety of array other faith-based entities.

Our audiences of buyers here include a broad assortment of decision-makers, ranging from the leaders of houses of worship and the movements within them, to all those folks who lead and serve in statutory support organizations, youth groups, building committees, fundraising arms and other groups and subgroups within the institutional infrastructures.

Anyone who has experience selling to this market can attest to the challenges of facing buyers who vary in experience from being paid staff members to volunteers, and in age from adolescents to senior citizens. You might deal with singularly powerful individuals who dominate the buying process or have to meet with subcommittees that present a laundry list of emotional and political considerations of the committee members (e.g., the garments must be from manufacturers affiliated with the Fair Trade Federation, decorated by firms that employ inner-city youth, featuring graphics done by church members, etc.).

And we all know what a shirt designed by a committee can look like!

While reaching the buyers in this market who are paid staff and are available during business hours isn’t much different than reaching buyers in businesses, getting to volunteers can be a daunting task because so many work during the day.

Here are three quick tips on getting through to volunteers for teeing up an opportunity to sell:

Be mindful of the buyers’ time and circumstances.
Once you’ve established the names of buyers who are volunteers, it’s OK in most cases to contact them at work, early in the evening on weeknights or on Saturdays between 10 a.m. and noon.

If you call a volunteer at his or her place of employment during business hours, the only thing you should sell on the phone is an appointment.
Ascertain when you can meet with them in person or by phone and then do a fast adios. If your reception is a friendly one, endeavor to obtain where to mail literature to them before your appointment if you think doing so will be advantageous. If they’ve got an e-mail address and you can make a brief presentation using your Web site or other online resources, send them a link prior to your personal encounter.

Get to the point.
If you must call them at home, quickly get to the point as to why you’re calling and make your first question about whether they can speak with you briefly right then and there or would they prefer you call back at a more convenient time. Whether the appointment will be conducted over the phone or face-to-face, be extremely punctual. If nothing else, your professionalism will score credibility points.

Once your appointment gets underway, you’ll need to do some serious fact-finding and data-mining. Your goal on the initial encounter should be to learn as much as you can, not to talk as much as you can or appear too eager to make promises.

Key questions

“Which items have you purchased in the past?”
The answers here will give you lots of room for discussion and further questions. Ask if the group or decision maker was satisfied with the quality of the item, the graphic treatment on it and the extent of the sell-through (e.g., went like “hotcakes,” still have a bunch left, etc.) or distribution pattern (e.g., we gave them out to participants at our event, we over-ordered, we under-ordered, people took the items but apparently never use them, etc.).

 “Will the items be offered free, at cost, or sold at a profit?”
Once again, the answers will enable you to shape a smarter sale. You know giveaways need to be extremely competitive in price. You also know better items with upgraded decoration sold to individuals give you better opportunity to merit a better price and produce more ooohs and ahhhs.

 “How far in advance of scheduled events do you place your orders?”
Answers here might lead to a discussion about where you help buy at a lower price or where you might be able to absorb some risk (offering to provide last-minute additional orders at the same price or hold the price on smaller re-orders, etc.) Such marketing advantages might preclude certain competitors from remaining in the game.

“What do I have to do to earn your business?”
This is my all-time favorite question to a legitimate prospect. You can expect to hear the usual “Good prices, good quality, and good service.” It’s a softball question that you can swat out of the park when you respond affirmatively and can legitimately amplify your response by delivering enhanced graphics, greater satisfaction and sell-through and explaining your interest in starting a long-term relationship not simply winning an order.

In Part II, we’ll look at the six primary reasons why religious organizations buy decorated apparel and how being prepared to satisfy each reason gives you a big leg up on the competition while maintaining price integrity wherever possible.

Mark L. Venit, MBA, is president of Apparel Graphics Institute Ltd., Ocean Pines, Md., which provides management and marketing consulting and proprietary research to apparel graphics companies throughout the Americas and Europe. He also is the chairman of ShopWorks Software LLC, a provider of industry-specific business software. Venit teaches pricing, strategic marketing, salesmanship and other business management topics at the Imprinted Sportswear Shows. You can reach him at markvenit@cs.com.