PRODUCTS, PRODUCTS & EVEN MORE PRODUCTS

WHAT GRINDS MY GEARS

Products, Products & Even More Products!

There must be 300+ different dedicated football trophies to choose from within the UK if you gathered up the options from the main wholesalers, most of which are just a repetition of the same style and theme. This is then replicated across all the different sports and into other generic products like centre holder medals. This mass of different product is great for the customers but is it really needed?

Does a football club need the choice of 50 different styles? It’s fantastic to have new products, and for clubs in any sport, to have new choices each year, yet are offered enough for them to choose a new product for the next 50 years! And in my opinion, this is the root cause of lots of issues, outlined in the steps below…. 1. The customer comes to order a handful of medals and trophies 2. I show them catalogues of my two main suppliers and give some recommendations of the most popular styles 3. The minds are blown by the vast amount of choices

4. This huge choice results in a lengthy discussion about which options to choose

5. A decision is made on which product they would like to order

6. The order is placed with the supplier 7. The item is out of stock, or the stock is too low. 8. Begin step 2 again with showing the customer all the choices again. There are just too many choices! If there was only a fraction of the number of different products on offer, surely wholesalers would be able to stock larger volumes of them rather than a small amount of stock spread over a vast range. In turn retailers would have an easier time with showing the different products but with the added hope of not having to deal with stock issues.

I think it’s all too easy when looking at trophies every day, to feel the desperate need to have new products as it can all feel mundane, but does the customer feel that way! Wholesalers and retailers alike really need to think about what the customers need. If we imagine a customer, perhaps making a one-off purchase or a club ordering their annual awards, I doubt they even notice new products or want to look through 200+ pages, or desperate to see what a new catalogue might have to offer. In most cases, a quality product, that’s in stock, supplied with a great service and personalisation is everything a customer is looking for. Will we eventually see a smaller range of products in the trade, I highly doubt it, but only time will tell!

I’ve often wondered just how many different designed trophy products there must be in this world. Anyone outside of our trade, or that has never purchased a trophy before, are often fooled into thinking there are about 5 products, a medal, cup, football resin, shield, and a plastic riser. How wrong could they be!

This feature is written by an anonymous author. If you would like to share your views on the content of this letter or would like to share what grinds your gears with us please email Jane your editor at janesoones@hillmedia.com. All letters for this feature will remain anonymous.

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