SaveAround's Community Conversation

The Winter Olympics in Beijing are well underway and we’ve seen the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. Both perspectives are real and meaningful. One doesn’t outweigh the other, but realistically can affect how we see ourselves and others in our day to day activities.

How we handle issues or conflicts can reveal a lot about a person and their character?
Read through these 2 scenarios to consider how you would handle things:

You’ve been planning this kickoff and scheduled things around it for months. You learn that it has been postponed at the last minute. Upon learning this news, you:

A. fly off the handle - how dare they mess up your schedule?
B. call the office and chew out whoever answers the phone
C. go back to bed - it’s not worth all of this headache
D. try to salvage the day and call other groups to fill in the time slot

You get a call from an upset chairperson who just opened their box of books before the Sprint Sale which starts in 30 minutes and the books are in the wrong market. You:

A. reprimand the coach for waiting to open the box at the last minute
B. cancel the sprint sale - how can you do this without the correct book anyway?
C. call and speak to the warehouse manager because he obviously missed it
D. pull out the extra sample books you have stored in your trunk for times just like these

Now these are 2 very real scenarios that may or may not have happened to you. Your reaction in both cases can either elevate emotions and turn up the flames or it can be a calming factor and one that can diffuse the situation.

A few things to consider:
* never take your frustrations out on the customer - EVER.
* if you cancel you might not be able to reschedule
* chewing out someone is going to help you (how)???
* please and thank you are good word choices (use them)
* are you sure this isn’t partly on you?

Here are a few take-a-ways from these scenarios:

Are you prepared to handle a crisis? Do you have a back-up Plan B at the ready? Things happen and things shift and move. Having a list of contacts who could potentially fill in an open slot can turn a busted day into a very productive one. Salvaging the day makes the ordinary extraordinary.

Ordering extra supplies and having them on hand turned this into a lifesaver scenario vs. a day-buster. Having a few books of the primary market on hand might help your cause.

Take ownership - this is your group and your schedule. Perhaps make a follow up call earlier in the week? Give date options when setting the kickoff date?

Learn from these situations and grow as a result in a positive way. Things happen and some are completely out of our control. However, we CAN control our reaction to things and how we go about our business moving forward.

2023 Merchants (old and new)

Take a few minutes and go through one of your sample copies of the market or markets you sell. If you don’t have a book handy, get online and look at the e-book.

The 2023 books are being prepared as we speak and if there are businesses in the book that have closed we need to update the files. On the flipside, if there are new businesses that have opened NOW is the time to contact them. Remember this takes TIME to reach the correct decision maker or person in authority to go through the terms of the contract and coupon requirements.

If you take a few minutes NOW to help identify these things it will help us improve YOUR book and make it easier to sell next Fall. If you have merchants to be added or removed, please send an email to sales@savearound.com and they can assist with that process.

Gather as much information as you can as this will only help expedite the process. (Contact name, title, email address, cell phone number, address, the best time to reach them, etc.) So take a few minutes and review the current book and see what updates are needed. The work you do now will only help improve the book you sell this coming Fall.

UPDATE - APPAREL INCENTIVE PROGRAM

*Effective January 8, 2022*

Updated information regarding the Apparel Incentive program

* Minimum of 200 sellers

* T-shirt = 3 books sold

* Long sleeve = 10 books sold

* one color print maximum

* Minimum 30 items earned or 200 total books sold (either one).

If minimum is not met, then there will be a charge of $6/t-shirt and $9/long sleeve t-shirt.

Hoodies are not available in this program.
Apparel stock will vary in color depending upon availability (i.e. grey, white, etc.)
Apparel sourcing may cause delivery delays (prepare your groups accordingly)

If you have any questions regarding the Apparel Incentive update for 2022, please contact sales@savearound.com