Send to a friend

SPECIALFOCUS

Incentive Manufacturers Representative Alliance

The Best Incentive Partners you’ve never heard of

The Incentive Manufacturers Representative Alliance is an organization comprised of manufacturers and their sales representative partners who are specially trained to assist merchandise incentive users. This special focus and IMRA directory is a ready-made source for your incentive efforts in the year ahead.

We begin with an interview with IMRA President Joe Zanone, Senior Vice President of Movado Group and an incentive industry mainstay.

SFXP: Give me the IMRA “elevator speech” about your membership and mission?

Zanone: IMRA suppliers and reps are proven, tested and experienced in program design and execution. They know which products are popular, they understand budgets and objectives, and they are eager to share their knowledge to help incentive users be successful. You can also be assured that when you source your products through an IMRA member, you are always quoted the lowest “factory-direct” price available.

SFXP: What tops the list of challenges that IMRA is facing? How has that changed in the past 5 years?

Zanone: Our challenges include reaching key decision makers within corporate America and spreading the word about the effectiveness of merchandise incentives vs. cash or gift cards. We need to turn up the volume on the general message that we are all here waiting to be tapped by corporate America for use in premium and incentive programs. The main issue is reach and has been for a lot more than five years. We also struggle with companies utilizing cash instead of the proven track record of merchandise.

SFXP: We have written a lot over the years about the value of using merchandise as sales incentives rather than cash. What do you tell sales managers who either don’t buy into it, or who say they’re forced to stick with cash incentives because “it’s what the sales team wants”?

Zanone: I like to relate a story about visiting my sister and brother-in-law in Dallas when they had just gotten a brand new 60-inch rear-projection TV with a complete surround sound system. My sister told me they debated for a long time about what to do with their “newfound money,” which was a reward for outstanding performance from my brother-in-law’s company and came in the form of a Best Buy gift card. The decision was between a new home theater and a new computer system. My brother-in-law was more impressed with the guy at the Best Buy who helped him select his TV than his own company, which bought it for him.

Cash, as soon as it’s spent, is almost immediately forgotten by the recipient. If that same company took the time to find out what was on my brother-in-law’s wish list, they could have arranged for the system to be delivered and installed and he’d still be bragging about how great his company is – how they appreciate him as a valued employee. As it is, he jumped to a competitor two months after he got his gift card.

SFXP: What about those managers who believe in the power of merchandise and gift cards, yet source their rewards at retail outlets? Does that continue to be a battle for IMRA member companies?

Zanone: That’s mainly the result of short-term planning on the incentive user’s part – the thinking that there is no time to use incentive professionals at the last minute. A lot of smaller companies go to the retail outlet for their incentives and corporate gifting needs. When I let them know that companies like Movado, Coach, Waterford or even Igloo are willing to work with them on smaller purchases, customization, quick turnaround and the like, they are floored by that reality. They would never have guessed that we would have a division to handle these items.

SFXP: What other factors – and maybe they are misperceptions – make a sales manager hesitant to call an IMRA rep? Is there a fear that doing so tacks on unnecessary costs?

Zanone: I don’t believe the costs are unnecessary to anyone trying to procure products. We, as IMRA professionals, can add value to the experience of “incentivising” and corporate gift-giving from expedited services, customization of the gift, individual drop-shipping, gift wrapping, and we will offer all of this generally as part of the sale of the merchandise. The key to this industry has always been motivating the employee while being budget-conscious. Point in case:  A Movado watch that costs $1,000 at retail is 40 percent off if the business comes through Movado. Now, that same watch costs $600 yet they still give an award that’s valued at $1,000.

SFXP: Can you run through the “value-add” that comes with using IMRA reps and IMRA suppliers?

Zanone: IMRA reps and suppliers are the most professional reps and suppliers within the incentive industry. We maintain a high level of commitment to the industry, as well as a highly visible presence within the industry. We go the extra mile to make sure that all of our clients are happy with the gift or reward opportunity by adding services not generally rendered by a retailer – engraving, imprinting, embroidery, custom packaging, individual drop-shipping, assistance in setting up an incentive program, understanding goals and objectives of a program, themes, ensuring that deliveries are made, assistance in presentation of the gift… You name it. We’re familiar with any and all requests. Most suppliers can even assist in overseas deliveries and servicing foreign entities of a corporation outside of the United States.

Merchandise is a proven motivator for sales teams, but there’s more to it than running to the nearest mall and scooping up the hottest name-brand items.
.

Click here to access a PDF version of the 2007 IMRA Directory.

---

 

Your feedback on our editorial is welcome at . We need to remind you that our articles are copyrighted. If you would like to distribute or post our material elsewhere, please contact .  Click here to subscribe today!