Disaster Preparedness Primer for the Promo Industry

Over the past several months, the promo industry has had its disaster preparedness challenged, and has experienced wave after wave of volatility, from heightened production problems to tariff issues, and now, the tragic impact of the coronavirus.  Due to this, we wanted to open up a conversation with the community by sharing a few ideas on how to create your own disaster preparedness plan.

Regarding COVID-19 specifically, we also have customers in every major city in North America, and some worldwide, so it’s particularly heavy on our hearts that so many friends and clients are dealing with the fallout from the coronavirus now. From canceled events that impact sales to importing concerns, to fear about safety and travel, COVID-19 is impacting some immediately (like our many friends in Kirkland near Seattle), and for others, it’s on the periphery but still worrisome; regardless of how you feel or how close you are to it, we hope this document kick-starts ideas on how you can be more prepared during a crisis. 

It seems the headlines are full of nothing but impending doom. From the drama of a heated election season to the threat of a possible pandemic, you can’t open the news or pop into a social channel without immediately being assailed by a barrage of sober warnings about the state of affairs.

While some of the threats are real and concerning, how we respond in a crisis is everything. Not just how we react to the problems due to a crisis, but how we choose to respond as businesses, as leaders, and as an industry. For example, in the 2008 recession, the impact was global, but the severity of the impact varied by region, and yet many of us then were reacting with resignation rather than responding with solutions. When a crisis is global, the alarm reaches a state of frenzy, but resignation to fear is not leading, but following. 

As an industry, it’s imperative that we remember the positives: we are professionals at overcoming setbacks. From missed in-hands dates, to imprint mishaps, to scrambling for new ideas, many of us have a well-developed muscle for recovery and with it, a high-sense of positivity. As we share these ideas for crisis management, we also want to encourage one another that panic and fear can create a self-fulfilling prophecy leading to failure, whereas sober optimism always seeks solutions. 

Prepare for a crisis but plan for a powerful future.

(I) Canceled orders due to canceled events

Event cancellations are a big concern. Due to the coronavirus, Adobe, Facebook, Google, and Shopify have all canceled their own summits.  In addition, Facebook and Google have pulled out of South by Southwest, and that’s just in today’s headlines. Some conferences are continuing, but distributors are starting to get notifications about canceled events, which leads to canceled orders.

It’s at times like these that we must remember that every product ordered is intended to serve a purpose in this business, particularly around events. For some events, like a sales conference or an annual company event, branded merch is about boosting morale, introducing new services, or simply celebrating successes. When there’s a canceled event that is intended to do any of these things, the event might be canceled, but the need for the original purpose still exists. 

They may have to cancel the physical gathering, but they don’t have to cancel their plans to inspire or motivate attendees. One idea is to work with your clients to create inspiration kits to ship to attendees. Yes, it might be more expensive, but you can suggest borrowing from the excess of the available budget from the canceled event. Event budgets encompass a wide array of products and services, from rentals to catering to speaker fees, and instead of a canceled event completely eliminating a budget for merch, borrowing from other budgets will help fund an alternative project to accomplish the organization’s goals. 

Also, some clients might order merch to gain visibility at an event (like a sponsor or exhibitor at an event), and again, a canceled event should not necessarily cancel their plans to market their services.  Help your customers think of alternative ways they can reach their prospects, such as a direct (lumpy) mail campaign. 

One other idea: Don’t wait for the cancellation news to come to you too late. Clients often place their promotional partners in a “need-to-know” category, and you’re sometimes the last (in a long line of people), who find out that an important project has been canceled. Look ahead by looking behind: look through last year’s order history to find event-specific orders for the months ahead and begin conversations with your clients about how to do all of the above. If you don’t have an order history or if you’re unsure, begin talks with your client now about their event-marketing plans so that you can come up with alternatives. By being proactive, you’ll be able to plan an inspirational promotion with your client that turns an event-cancellation into an opportunity.

Now is not the time to be an order-taker and pull back on the power of promotional energy; it’s the time to refocus on your client’s ultimate goals for an event and provide alternative solutions to achieve the same results. 

(II) Are You REALLY Prepared to Work Remote?

My friend Kerry and I just traded text messages, I was checking on her and her family as she lives in Nashville, two miles from where the tornado hit last night, killing twenty-two people. Disaster can strike anywhere at any time. Whether it’s the coronavirus, a freak storm, or a bad flu season, preparing for remote work is a wise idea.

Today, if you’ve got an internet connection, you can still take care of clients regardless of location, and because today’s employees place such a premium on work-life flexibility, your team should be empowered to work from home whenever they deem it necessary. 

For some companies, this is not a problem as they’ve had long-established work-from-home solutions and therefore, codified policies; for others, working remote is new territory. 

If this is new for you, for starters, make sure you are operating (completely) in the cloud. From the software that operates your business to your accounting, communication, and more, you should plan to power your business, whether anyone walks through the front door of your office or not. Our team at commonsku uses a variety of software tools to run our business and they are all cloud-based, from our primary communication tools (Slack for messaging, Zoom for calls and presentations, and Google Hangouts for video chats) to our accounting software, development tools, and more, we’re prepared to serve our clients without disruption by working remotely should 100% of our workforce be required to do so. 

For distributors, working remotely is within reach. It’s not whether you can work remotely, it’s shifting your mindset to embrace and train a work-from-anywhere culture, but also being aware of some of the constraints. On the plus side, most distributors do not have manufacturing or warehousing, and because they are not tied to a physical office, they are ready-made to work remotely; they just need the right tools. But there are limited constraints you should consider such as customers who still pay by check or suppliers who still send paper invoices, but nonetheless, a distributor can still service clients: They can source and search using ESP, Sage, or Distributor Central, process orders with commonsku, and run their accounting software with Quickbooks, in other words, they can operate at full capacity regardless of where they decide to “office.” 

Also, for leaders, providing the right tools to work remotely is imperative but so is giving your team time to get accustomed to using remote tools. If you’ve never worked remotely or if you’ve never had a large percentage of your team work offsite, after ensuring you have all the right tools, do a trial run to work out all the kinks before you’re forced to do so in an emergency. Working from home requires an adjustment, and some employees may not be prepared for the shift in work habits due to sudden displacement. 

(III)  Imported Orders and Custom Projects

No one knows how dramatically the effect of the virus will impact importing, but due to the recent tariff concerns, many in our industry were already sensitive to importing challenges. Following are a few tips to help save imported orders: 

Look at your previous year’s sales history so that you can foresee problematic orders in the future. Were there projects you know were imported? Make a list of these projects and begin to think of solutions. Now is the time to think through domestic alternatives and prepare for those far in advance with your client. 

One of the secrets to salvaging an imported order is to think outside the project specs to arrive at a solution. 

For example, at skucamp in Pittsburgh last year, John Vo shared the story of how his client wanted a large quantity of Bluetooth speakers in the shape of a vinyl record player to give out to VIP clients at Coachella. Due to the design requirements and the high quantity demanded, what they envisioned couldn’t be created within the scope of their budget, so John suggested they change their requirements. 

Instead of a large quantity of inexpensive custom Bluetooth speakers, what they created instead was a smaller quantity of actual record players, dramatically reducing the order to around 50 units but raising the unit price six times its original budget requirement per piece. Because they reduced the quantity overall, they were still within budget, but more importantly, this subtle shift worked as it created scarcity and FOMO with their recipients, making it one of the most coveted items at the event.

Another idea to help with sourcing: begin to make a list now of your suppliers who manufacture in North America. Creating this list now will keep you and your team from seeking and sourcing the same projects over and over. Do you realize how much lost time is given over to the question, “Does anyone know a domestic supplier who makes _____?”

Also, don’t make the assumption your supplier partners do not have domestic production capabilities. Some suppliers have a mix of both USA made goods as well as imported goods, if you are unsure, call your representative, but be sure to create a shared document for your team with this information. 

(IV) Be sensitive to fears and lead with compassion

The distributorship I led for years was located in Oklahoma City, known for its share of violent storms. It seemed every winter we were battling ice and every spring we were dodging tornados. When it came to safety, I had to learn to respect my employees and their individual fears, realizing that some people were more cavalier about potential disasters while others were petrified. In light of the recent coronavirus concerns, Stripe issued a strong policy mandating that some employees work from home while also stating that “Stripe employees in all Stripe offices are encouraged to work from home,” it was a compassionate response to all, intended to pacify the fears of some. 

Set a policy, but be flexible and compassionate when it comes to fear; we’re powered by humans, not robots. 

(V) Over-Communicate in a Crisis

The most important consideration after safety is communication. For employees, provide updates as needed via email and be sure your leadership team is accessible. If you’re a larger organization, develop a committee of diverse voices to represent the various sectors of your business and dedicate a point-person to be the primary contact during a crisis.

Often, in crisis-mode, we are so caught up in the primacy of considering everyone’s safety and the well-being of vulnerable projects, that we take it for granted that everyone knows where the business stands at the moment. Communicating with employees also helps give talking points to your team to share with clients and dismantles the rumor mill. 

Also, consider all of your stakeholders when it comes to communication, not just your clients and employees, but your supplier partners, investors, and the community. And remember the three C’s about communicating during a crisis: Be clear, consistent, and concise. 

In closing, please consider this post a live document of ideas on how to prepare for a crisis, we would love to include your thoughts as well. Email me, bobby(at)commonsku.com, or give us a shout on the socials @commonsku with your ideas and we’ll amend this document to include them.

Resources: 

• PPAI, our industry’s trade association, has an informative help page regarding Coronavirus.  

• Lola, (the site we use for booking corporate travel), has an excellent post on business and travel as it relates to COVID-19.