http://www.promotionalmerchandiseblog.co.uk/">Our Impression – The Promotional Merchandise Blog from LSi

It seems like every time I come on here I’m trying to preach something or moan about something….well nothing has changed – please see below….

Everything I hear lately is bad news, every other week there is someone linked to this industry going out of business, we’ve seen one of the largest gift houses go under in the past two years along with a lot of smaller ones. This year we’ve seen an increase in these companies going under and it’s very sad to see, many people have been put out of a job and many of our the manufacturers we use have been left with bad debts making everything more difficult for the rest of us.

We’ve always felt that we’re at the top of the game, not that it protects us but the companies we deal with are always very loyal and we offer such a good service I feel that we do very well in bringing on board new business. I’d say we’re the Marks and Spencer’s of promotional items – you pay for what you get with us and I don’t mean this in a big headed way, I’ve worked here for 10 years so I’ve competed with the good and the bad so I know what I’m talking about. It would be easy for me to leave LSi and start up my own company working from my bedroom undercutting the whole industry but the minute something goes wrong I’m washing my hands of the problem because I can’t afford the problem. I always talk about this and use the example of travel insurance because I travel a lot. When I go to a price comparison site and give them the info of the trip and it comes up with my cheapest option at £7 and then the more expensive companies below – I have never bought the £7 policy – I scroll down and I buy with confidence with a brand name I can trust so that if god forbid I break my leg on holiday I have total confidence my policy will cover me – pick me up and get me home.

This is how I see LSi – the brand name that WILL have problems on a job over the years we trade with our customers but WILL also put the problem right.

I can tell you all day long about how LSi is a sound choice and you can buy with confidence from us and how we’re not going to go out of business but it’s just words. If you want to trade with us speak to me or my team, we can put you in touch with customers we’ve dealt with for 10 years plus and you can speak to them directly about who LSi really are.

The latest version of our industry magazine has just landed on my desk and I’m very pleased to say that we’ve caused another stir in the industry just as we did last year! We’re being held up as an example of the correct way to interact with and work alongside customers, something we’re very proud of at LSi. Hopefully you agree!

Here are some quotes:

“As you leaf through this issue of PPD, you will no doubt read about the fantastic show put on by Lloyd and his team at LSi. I know very well how much time and effort it takes to organise such an event, and I take my hat off to them for putting on a great show. Well done to you all!” – Nigel Bailey (Trade Only)

“I recently went to an end user show hosted by LSi at the Royal Armouries, Leeds – and it was amazing!”, “You can buy promotional products from anyone but at LSi, they work with their clients so that they exceed their expectations and get more out of their promotional dollar.”, “I’m glad that LSi have bucked the industry trend of lethargy, instead opting for a proactive marketing campaign, with the most professional and entertaining end user show” – Brian Hayward (Page Partnership)

Hi,

I’m very glad to say the our World Cup Score Predictor game has exceeded my expectations with 105 players so far.

In case you’ve not seen it, it’s a game where I’ve picked out some matches from the World Cup and created a page where you can enter your details and your predictions. These are then calculated every time a relevant match is played and a league table published. You get 5 points for a correct score or two points for a correct result.

Although 5 matches have pass so far, it’s not too late to play. We’ll be running the competition right up to the final and with the leaders on 14 points out of a possible 25, no-one’s running away with it. Maybe it could even help to join late as you’ve seen how some of the teams are playing!

The game is split into the group stages, the round of 16, quarter finals, semi finals and the final/3rd place playoff. We’re not choosing every match as that would take you too long so we picked 11 games from the groups, we’ll be picking a certain number yet to be decided from the round of 16 and then every match from then on in.

The best thing about this game is the prize you can win – the replica World Cup you may well have held when you were photographed with Peter Shilton and Nobby Stiles at The Big Promo Gift Show! So why not give it a go?

You can keep up with the latest news on Twitter or on The World Cup Score Predictor website.

Talking of The Big Promo Gift Show, I’m in the middle of updating the website with all the photos, videos and news from the day. Keep an eye on the website over the next 24 hours and it will all be there for you to see. You can order your Peter Shilton and Nobby Stiles prints as well if you weren’t able to pick them up on the day.

If you’re already playing the game, good luck! If you’re not playing the game, why not?! It’s free and you can win a unique prize!

Here’s the league table as it currently stands:

The sales team has been pushing the upcoming LSi Big Promotional Gift Show for the last 5 weeks and although we’ve had some great success, more and more we’ve had the objection that customers just cannot spare the time out of the office, time is worth more to people than ever before…. this got me thinking.

This industry is just like lots of others – we have the good, the bad and the ‘just too expensive’. But unlike lots of industries our product range is massive, if we want a promotional pen we have fifty thousand to choose from, if we want a promotional umbrella there are thousands out there.

Why waste your time speaking to the bad and the too expensive. Speak to the people that know what they are doing…. the people that will save you TIME.