The Pro:

Name: Kelly Moore
Title: Owner
Distributorship: Moore Promotions (asi/601617) in St. Petersburg, FL

The Sale:

Dollar Value: $110,500
Client: BayCare Health System
Product: A custom portable charger

How She Scored the Deal:

Sales professionals who work for big distributorships are the only ones who can bring in mega deals, right?

Wrong.

Just ask Moore. Her distributorship is essentially just her, and yet she has engineered multiple six-figure orders. “It all starts with who you know,” says Moore. “If you’re connected to the right people and you do an awesome job for them, you’ll be amazed what that can lead to.”

Her deal with BayCare proves that. For years, she delivered outstanding service and ideas to the large organization. Karma repaid the consistency when one of her BayCare buyers invited Moore to be part of a select group of vendors who’d have a chance to bid for a special order: Hospital Week gifts for more than 25,000 employees. “You had to be invited even to have a chance for the business,” Moore says. “You had to go in and pitch in front of department heads – elite executives. It was nerve-racking.”

Despite the nerves, Moore nailed it and won the business. Her success was due, in part, to smart preparation. She wanted to ‘wow’ the selection committee with a unique product suggestion. To do so, she spoke with contacts in the health care industry and asked them what gift items they’d liked and not liked – plus what products they’d want to receive. Then she took into account what products BayCare had gifted in the past. She finally decided to go with portable chargers.

Moore knew that having a competitive price would be key, so she kept the mark-up small. Then, on the day of the presentation, she brought gourmet cookies for the committee and a colorful packet with product information for each decision-maker. Most importantly, she won the executives over with her buoyant, fun personality. “I think, in addition to everything else, they liked my excitement and enthusiasm and they knew I had a good reputation,” she says.

How She Pulled It Off:

Pivotally, Moore partnered with a leading supplier – Hit Promotional Products (asi/61125). With Hit’s expertise, a stock charger was able to be customized overseas at a highly competitive price, with exclusive features including ramped-up battery power. “We had a two-color imprint and the client was offered a custom shell as well,” says Moore. “We also had Hit include a white gift box with a two-color custom imprint.”

Wisely, Moore had the order placed by October, leaving ample time for it to be produced and shipped by the April in-hands date. Even so, a delay in customs caused a temporary scare, prompting some frantic last-minute worry that an alternative product would have to be sourced. Fortunately, the products cleared customs in time.

Once Moore had the chargers, she and her lone assistant (a retired family friend) counted them out and separated them into individual boxes. Then, she rented a truck and delivered them to BayCare’s various hospitals. “It was,” says Moore, “a huge success. The client was thrilled.”

Takeaways:

1. Partner with a reliable supplier.
2. Be prepared to price competitively.
3. Take heart: This type of order is within your reach.