The use of promotion codes - Trophies2go

From my perspective, the economy is soft and money is a bit tighter for all of us.  I have pondered the use of promotion codes in the past.  Sure, I want more business, but is it the right thing to do?  Our product costs have increased substantially over the past few years as have rent, utilities, and labor costs.  We have increased prices a little, but not enough to keep pace with the expenses.  So now I am faced with another question: do I raise prices again and then try to use other sales tactics, such as discount or promotion codes?

As a consumer, I hate the tactics of some businesses (like furniture companies or mattress companies) that mark up products half of the year, only to significantly discount them the other half.  I am sure that works for them, but does anyone who buys awards and trophies want their supplier to apply such a tactic?  My gut says “no” – I think that most people expect to receive great products, service and prices every day of the year.

I value the internet as a great source of knowledge for the consumer.  I also feel it serves as a tool for customers to ensure they are getting a good deal.  My blog serves as an outlet for me to share my thoughts/ideas and as a way for me to test business strategies.  In the interest of testing out the use of promotion codes in my trophy & awards business, I am going to offer a promotion code good for 10% off.  Use the code: awardsgurutest08 , on the last page of the checkout, from now until August 31st, 2008 as a gesture of goodwill to see how good we are at what we do.  I am not going to raise prices and then give you a discount - this is off of our great everyday prices.  I hope that we will beat your expectations of what an online trophy & awards supplier should be.  Make sure to check out our extensive line of acrylic awards, plaques, crystal awards as well as our sports trophies!

Thanks for being a reader of my blog!  Your readership and support is appreciated!

Habitat for Humanity – This Quarter’s ‘Awards for a Cause’

We are proud to announce this quarter’s ‘Awards for a Cause’ charity – Habitat for Humanity of East King County.  Each quarter, Trophies2Go.com chooses a charity or cause to rally behind.  This quarter we are doing so by featuring several products and donating a set amount per item sold to Habitat for Humanity.  To view these products, click http://www.trophies2go.com/charities.  In addition to our financial contribution, Two members of our staff are actively involved with Habitat for Humanity on a regular basis. Janice works at the East King County office and on build sites in the area. Her daughter, Hilary, (also the newest member of our staff here at Trophies2Go), volunteers with the Wilfrid Laurier University chapter, where she goes to school in Waterloo, Ontario.

 

We applaud Janice and Hilary’s volunteerism and will strive to find ways over the next few months to make an impact with a larger group effort.

 

 

Here is more information about Habitat for Humanity:

 

Habitat for Humanity is a faith-based organization that makes comfortable living available to families in need at manageable rates. Contrary to popular belief, Habitat for Humanity does not simply give away houses. Instead, the recipient is required to put in 500 hours of work on the site and can then purchase the house at a lowered rate with 0% interest on loans. For many, this makes a world of difference.

 

Though Habitat is a faith-based organization, not all volunteers are Christian, or do the recipients of houses have to be Christian in order to be eligible. Many schools and universities have their own chapters and volunteers can choose to donate their time over spring break to travel with their chapter to an area in special need of help in what’s called the Collegiate Challenge.

 

Founded in 1976, Habitat for Humanity has since built over 200,000 houses and supplied as many families with a comfortable means of living. Since the East King County chapter’s creation in 1988, 72 houses have been built across Bellevue, Carnation, Redmond, Snoqualmie, Kirkland, Newcastle, Sammamish and Issaquah.

 

If you think you’d like to volunteer with Habitat, or simply learn more about their organization, visit www.habitatekc.org.

 

‘Tooting the Horn’ of the Awards Guru, now a CRP!

I am usually the last person to self-promote, give myself praise, or anything to that effect.  Believe it or not, it is really quite hard to give myself acknowledgement or recognition for what I do in the world.  I much rather give it to others, in particular my staff, family, friends or customers.  For this article, though, I will break that practice for a few minutes.

I recently completed the RPI (Recognition Professionals International) certification program that allows me to put the initials CRP after my name.  It means Certified Recognition Professional.  Even though the funny side of me wants to find out a cleaver way to drop an A in CRP, I haven’t figured out something suitable…yet.

Besides learning principles, disciplines and best practices, I learned a lot about the rewards and recognition industry.  I am fascinated by how certain businesses apply recognition to a corporate culture and yield tremendous results.  I am also fascinated why, despite a mountain of evidence and ease of application, that more managers and c-level executives are not begging to implement change in their business.  Over the last 4 days (plus several from last year, too), I saw practitioners who were supported by their management and those that weren’t.  Consistently, those who were supported from the CEO on down not only loved their job, but came through with the best effort and results for their company.

I also gained friendships from my fellow classmates that will enrich my life.  Besides the important stuff (food, drinks and laughter), I know feel like I have a support group that will help me when I run into difficulties.  Thanks as well to the RPI staff, instructors, other CRP graduates, and even the staff at the Newport Beach Marriott Resort and Spa.  All of you did a great job in putting together a world-class event.

If your job puts you in the world of practicing recognition or being a resource provider to businesses, please consider the CRP certification program.

If you are looking to partner with an awards supplier who knows far more than the norm, I am your man!  As far as I can tell, I am the first and only retail awards supplier member to become a CRP designee.  My co-workers also know their stuff, too :-).  We are ready to give our best - to serve you with knowledge, tools and products that assist with your recognition needs.

Weekly Promotions from February 11th through March 30th

Want a super deal?  Look no further!  For the next 7 weeks we will be having a ‘Special of the Week’.  The discounts and promotions below are in addition to our already great quantity discounts.  These promotions will also be emailed to our customers around February 10th, but I wanted to get them posted to my blog as soon as possible.  In the past we have not offered extra discounts, but what the heck, this is a new year!  We plan on offering weekly specials throughout the year.  After these promotions expire, we will be offering 4 weeks of savings on select corporate awards. 

The promo code needs to be entered on the confirmation (last) page of the checkout.  Offer is valid only when placing an order through the trophies2go.com website. 

February 11-17th - Free UPS Ground Shipping on all orders of $50 or more.  This applies to both our Bronze and Emerald shipping levels.  Promo code: freeship50

February 18-24th - 25% off selected Winter Sports Dog Tags.  Your choice of Basketball (product 8663), Hockey (8130), Volleyball (8135) or Wrestling (8818).  Promo code: winter08dog

February 25th - March 2nd - 20% off Basketball Shield Resin Trophies.  Your choice of male (product 8648) or female (8649).  Promo code: winter08shield

March 3-9th - 20% off MVP Basketball Trophies.  Your choice of male (product 8646) and female (8647). Promo code: winter08mvp

March 10-16th - 20% off All-Star Basketball Team Trophy with Column Choice.  Your choice of gender (product 8658).  Promo code: winter08allstar

March 17-23rd - 20% off Rock ‘n Bop Basketball Bobblehead Trophies.  Your choice of male (product 8635) or female (8634).  Promo code: winter08bobble

March 24-30th - All items 10% off storewide.  Promo code: allitems10

 I hope you enjoy the extra savings.  We look forward to providing your meaningful recognition!

Kip Beelman - Raising the bar in Seattle Photography

I have 4 very close friends who are photographers in the Seattle area. I have had a chance to work with 3 of them in the past (Michelle Enebo, Dana Wasuyluka and Michael Johnson) and had incredible success with all of them. Add to them Kip Beelman.

Recently, my marketing mastermind suggested I needed some up-to-date pictures of me for PR, internet marketing and the such. Since I am no Tom Cruise, I needed some serioushelp. In steps Kip Beelman. In steps Kip Beelman’s gear. In steps Kip Beelman’s expertise.

Kip was very gracious in coming to my house on a Sunday evening. He envisioned the poses, set-up his gear and had me flash my cheezy grin. Below are a few samples of what came out of the session. Get used to them. After my marketing guy gets a hold of them, they will probably be plastered throughout the internet. I will hold my favorite back for when I hit the cover of a magazine. Oh, I forgot, I am not getting a ton of calls to be on a magazine cover. If that is the case, I will show it to you anyway…

While he was hot, my girls, Brenna (7 1/2 Years Old) and Audrey (4) got on their ‘Poofy Dresses’ from Carol. By the way, how did they grow up so fast?

When you have a minute, please check out Kip’s site. Not only are there incredible images, but there is great music to complement them as well. I am very fortunate to have quality friends like Kip in my life and am extra thankful that some of them have unspeakable talent. Thanks, Kip!

Does your Awards Supplier have Site Search?

Today we went live with site search on the trophies2go.com home page.  It is a very interactive tool designed to quickly and efficiently find the product you are looking for.  The user starts with a keyword, category or unique characteristic for their award.  They type it in to the search box in the upper-right hand corner of our site and click the ‘Go’ button.  Our site reveals products with those characteristics and also allows the user to refine the search by category, material, price, size or several other factors.  The results are given in either a grid or list format below the criteria.  The user can then resort the results by popularity or price. 

This new feature is provided by Nextopia.  If you have a moment, please try it out and let me know what you think!

As described earlier, you can find it on the trophies2go.com home page in the upper right hand corner.  In the next few weeks, we will also be adding site search to our smaller sites as well.

Thanks, Jeff

Coming in 2008

As the New Year approaches, there are many new features that are in our pipeline to improve our customers’ online experience.  The purpose of this article is to give a sneak peek of these improvements.

• On all 9 of our sites (trophies2go.com, issaquahtrophy.com, pokertrophies.com, cheapbaseballtrophies.com, cheapbasketballtrophies.com, cheapgolftrophies.com, cheaphockeytrophies.com, cheapsoccertrophies.com and cheapfootballtrophies.com), we will be implementing ‘Site Search’.  This will give the user quick access to all of our products, the ability to refine the search by several product attributes and help with misspellings.
• Improved product descriptions.  We will be altering all of our product descriptions to be more descriptive and give the user a better mental picture of the product.
• Product reviews.  We will be adding the ability for customers who purchase products to review them.  This will give prospective new customers another means of ensuring their product selection is right for them.
• Improved product detail page.   We will be altering our product detail page to me more efficient.  We will add product attributes, product reviews and alter the engraving input to be on this page instead of a pop-up window.
• Improved check-out process.  We will be re-engineering the checkout process to be more compact and efficient.  This will help with the speed in which it takes to check-out.  We will also be adding a guest-shopper feature that will also assist those who want to be one-time buyers.
• Improved transactional emails.  After our customers place an order, the order confirmation email, order shipped email and post-order email asking for feedback will be improved.
• And Much More!  If we told you everything we were up to, how could we surprise you?  Long story short, look for great things from us in 2008!

As we grow, our pledge is to continually improve our systems to make your awards purchase painless and worry-free.  Our goal is to be the best in the industry.  These changes will be a great step in continuing our improvement and our customers’ user experience.

In Celebration of 20 Years

For the past 20 years, we have grown.  Starting locally in Issaquah, Washington, and then expanding our reach nationally, we are proud to have been a part of celebrating accomplishments.

Today, I would like to turn the spotlight back on us, and more importantly the people who have helped the business thrive.  Part of me wants to focus on how we have grown and prospered, but for me that is not the only true mark of success.  The friendships that have been made are what make our business special.  Here are a few of those:

Bonnie and Mickey Kosko (my mother and step-father) founded the company.  Their constant support and praise have been a foundation for me and their willingness to help in times of need are much appreciated by all of our staff.

Rick and Pat French bought the company from Bonnie and Mickey and moved it to a larger location.  Rick’s mentorship has proven crucial in staying the course.

Pat Jones was an employee for 13 years.  Her dedication, devotion and caring for customers was unsurpassed.

Rod Alex was an employee for many years as well.  His technical knowledge of engraving was paramount to getting quality awards products created.

Sean Doull, Eric Goldhammer and many others were instrumental in creating a fun work environment and in doing the heaving lifting of assembly.

Jodi Conlon was instrumental in creating Trophies2go.  Her hard work, devotion and willingness to do whatever it took are the foundation for the success of our company.

Jenny Hansen helped with many aspects of Issaquah Trophy and Trophies2go; including the economics of the business and ensuring the highest level of quality control.

Jessica Anderson (my wife) has been through it all.  Not a lot of people could handle my entrepreneurial drive, but she has been very supportive and loving throughout.

Many others who are no longer here also helped and their efforts are appreciated and their legacy will not be forgotten as well.

Today, our staff consists of many.  Margene is the general manager.  Jeremy and Paul are engravers.  Gayle is in shipping.  Erin, Janice and Anne are in customer service.  Travis, Ryan, Justin take care of assembly.  Mike, Jessica and Mickey take care of other various aspects of the business.

Each one of these people is very important to the company and to me personally.  In celebrating our 20 Year Anniversary, their friendship and commitment is what I cherish most.  I very much look forward to many more years of laughter and companionship.

Supplier Profile – Chien Wang of Toujours

As my supplier relationships progress, I am amazed by certain individuals with a zest for going beyond the norm.  One individual that epitomizes this is Chien Wang of Toujours.  Before telling you some of Toujours’ new offerings, I want to let you know a little more about Chien.

Chien J. Wang was born in Taipei, Taiwan and immigrated to the United States with his family at the age of 11.  He did not speak a word of English yet started doing odd jobs for neighbors, and had a paper route to help the family’s finances.  At the age of 13, Chien’s father started a food distribution business. Chien worked every day to help his father establish the family business.  He established his work ethic and also learned that work could be fun and very rewarding.  He proceeded to attend the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, and graduated with a degree in business administration and entrepreneurship in 1991.  Chien finally realized his goal of starting his own business in 1991 by launching Toujours Products, Inc.  His company has become well known and successful by distributing awards and personalized gifts to retail outlets, such as Trophies2go.com.

Chien is more than just the president of Toujours Products.  He embodies the term ‘networker’.  He speaks at industry meetings, tradeshows, and networking events on the power of networking.  He has written a book, It’s Who Knows YOU.  The book will be available in all major book stores such as Barnes and Noble and Borders in early February 2008.  He also donates his time, speaking appearances, crystal awards and cash to many service organizations and community causes in the Southern California area.  His goal is to help others succeed and his mission in life is to touch and be touched by as many people as possible.  You can read more about Chien at www.chiensworld.com.

People like Chien help us accomplish our vision of being the national leader of meaningful recognition.  Through innovative product design and excellent customer service, Chien and his company help us make an impact in the world.  We look forward to continuing to grow our relationship with Toujours in order to help make our customer’s recognition events as heartfelt and meaningful as possible.

With that being said, Trophies2go.com is delighted to be one of the first to announce Toujour’s new 2008 product line.  Their new offerings feature a collection that is designed by well known designer, Nik Meller.  Nik designs furniture for many of the world’s high end hotels and for many movie stars and celebrities.

Item #1 – Product ID#8844   Bliss 6 1/2″ W x 11″H (Made from top grade optic crystal) $215 Retail.  Quantity Discounts Apply.  Smaller Size Also Available. 

 

Item #2 – Product ID#8845  Seeq 5″W x 11 1/2″H (Made from top grade optic crystal)  $285 Retail.  Quantity Discounts Apply.  Smaller Size Also Available.

Item #3 – Product ID#8846  Bayona 6″W x 11 1/4″H (Made from top grade optic crystal)  $160 Retail.  Quantity Discounts Apply.  Smaller Size Also Available.

When (and when not) to buy Awards on the Internet

Buying awards products on the internet has been around for 10-plus years.  We have been serving our customers since 2000.  In that time, I have noticed some interesting trends from our customers that may turn into helpful tips of when and how to effectively use an internet awards business.  I have broken these out into 3 categories: timing, price/quality, and other.

Timing:

The most important thing that is universal to our customers is when they receive their order.  After all, what is the use of getting a good deal on high quality awards if they arrive after the awards presentation?  We have engineered our site so that we guarantee the delivery date based on the shipping method chosen during checkout.  The catch with this can be the rush nature of when the order is placed and when it is needed.  So Tip #1: Order Early!  The sooner the order is placed, the higher the likelihood that you will be able to ship it by the cheapest method possible.  We even have a promotion that allows for free shipping if your order is over $100 and you give us an extra week for production.  A lot of our repeat customers are aware of this promotion and order well in advance – it is a win-win for all involved when ample time is given.  On the other end of the spectrum is rush orders.  We are happy to accommodate rush orders, but overnight or 2^nd day air shipping can be expensive.  This leads me to Tip #2: if you need your awards within 2 or 3 days, be prepared for expensive shipping.  We can adjust our production schedule in order to meet your deadline, but UPS is going to be the beneficiary of the extra cost.  Finally is my Tip #3 - if there is a super-urgent need (24 hours) and cost is a factor, try a local trophy company first.  This may be contrary to an internet company making money, but most of us are in business to please our customers.  If it is going to leave a sour taste in your mouth to pay $15 for an award and $50 for shipping, it might be worth it to explore a local business to accommodate your needs.  Even if they charge a $10 rush fee, you are still ahead of the game.  If it is worth the time and hassle to pay the overnight shipping fee, please don’t hold it against us…we are just trying to fill the need in your life to award someone who has done something extra special.

Price and Quality:

In my opinion, the internet has turned a lot of products into commodities.  Most of our suppliers have chosen to import products from overseas to stay competitive and keep prices down.  Even though we hand pick the products that we think provide the best value, there is another component to the finished award that is equally, or perhaps more important – engraving.  I think engraving is the most important part of the finished award, but it oftentimes gets overlooked by the buyer.  There are several different engraving methods that can decrease the cost of the award.  This leads me to Tip #4: find out the engraving process used on the award and make sure you are comfortable with it.  As an example, we engrave directly onto all of our medals.  We also use premium quality brass and aluminum and diamond drag our trophy plates.  We laser engrave into our acrylic awards.  We sandblast our crystal awards.  In contrast, some internet retailers use plastic labels for the engraving of medals and trophies.  They may also use other methods for engraving acrylic and may surface laser etch their crystal awards.  All of these styles provide a faster and cheaper method for marking the awards, but detract from the possibility of making a fantastic award.

There is also an artistic component to the layout of the engraving.  I have written an article on this in the past, but be aware that not all companies have ultra-experienced engravers.  If you are concerned about how your engraving looks, make sure to ask for a pre-production proof of how the engraving will look.  This can save an unpleasant surprise when you open your shipment.

Other factors:

Some other factors that influence whether you should buy on the internet and from who are: shipping expense, inventory levels, the company’s reputation, and building a long-term relationship.

The cost of shipping can be significant, but so is the cost we pay to our shipping carrier.  If you qualify for a free shipping promotion, that is best.  If not, make sure that you order well in advance to eliminate air shipping charges.  Inventory levels and the retailer’s supply chain are also important.  It is hard to gauge how much stock a company has, but if you are ordering in bulk, call your provider before placing the order to make sure they will be able to fill your order.  This should only be a problem for smaller companies, but occasionally there may be a national shortage that only a larger supplier’s existing inventory can rectify.  Finally, I will lump the retailers reputation and building a long-term relationship into one.  It is important to choose an awards retailer that you trust and then nurture that relationship.  The amount of time the company has been in business, viewing customer testimonials, the friendliness and knowledge of the employees, the look and feel of the website are all building blocks for building trust in the company.  At a certain point you will need to take a leap of faith and place an order.  This is the first step to building a longer term relationship with the company.  If you like what you get, tell them.  If not, let them know as well.  We are all in a state of constant improvement and welcome feedback so we can make your experience better.  When there is a history with our customers, it also allows us to treat them better when they need something extra special, such as a unique award or expedited shipping.

To summarize, there are a lot of factors that go into making sure that you should buy awards on the internet and from whom.  These factors are timing, price/quality, and other intangibles.  We feel like we do a great job in communicating and providing value for our customers.  If you choose a trophy and awards internet retailer other than us, keep us in mind for next time.  Our staff’s commitment and integrity in the long-term is our foundation of our vision to be the national leader in meaningful recognition.