From The Marketing Side
they see the product in your
they do not like, or they feel
service experts by telephone or email
catalog or website and the
were misrepresented. But
for advice on how to best use our prod-
Guarantees
time that the school
this guarantee elimi-
ucts and services.
do not change
purchasing agent is-
nates any hesitation
sues the purchase
about making a
Participate in SMRIs Quarterly Sur-
return rates,
order.
purchase from
vey
of School Marketers, and receive the
but they can
Most of us
the company
results of the survey. Simply go to http://
increase
change our pro-
that publishes it.
www.smriinc.com/survey.html to sign up.
sales.
motions twice each
Returns are an un-
year, once in the fall and
pleasant fact. Guarantees
again in the winter/spring.
do not change return rates,
BOB STIMOLO, EDmarket’s Official School
Most educators respond to
but they can increase sales.
Market Consul-
fall promotions by year-end and
tant, is President
winter/spring promotions by the
Compete with Amazon.com
of School Market
end of August. Most education pur-
Research Institute
All educators are familiar with Ama-
chases take several months to result in
a full-service
zon.com and many of them shop there.
a purchase order. To accommodate this Amazon’s popularity has set the bar for
marketing and
research firm.
purchasing process, guarantee prices
motivational copy and generous terms
SMRI provides
in fall catalogs until December 31, and
and conditions. In a sense, we
direct mail and
guarantee prices in winter/spring cata-
all compete with Amazon. However,
email lists and
logs until August 31. This protects both we have one quality that Amazon does
services exclusive-
you and the educator, and it does so in
not have. We are specialists in edu-
ly to school marketers. To learn more, go to
a positive manner.
cation. We should invite the market-
www.smriinc.com or contact Kathleen Bill
Promise turnaround time that is ac-
place to take advantage of our special
at 800-838-3444 x201.
curate but puts you in a favorable light. knowledge by contacting our customer
If you cannot accurately state that all
orders are shipped same day or within
48 hours, you can say what percentage
of them are. For example, most orders
ship within 24 hours, or 90% of all
orders ship within 48 hours.
Guarantee Satisfaction
Some of us have return policies
that are downright frightening. We
are better off publishing guarantees
than we are rules about how to return
product. Educators have many reasons
that discourage them from making
returns, especially for school funded
purchases. It is much easier to keep a
product that does not live up to one’s
expectations than it is to go through
the paperwork associated with the
purchasing department.
Instead of copy about returns, we
should be using copy about guarantees
of satisfaction. My favorite is this: “Use
this product in your classroom for one
full year. If, at the end of that time, you
do not feel it was well worth its price,
return it and tell us so. We will issue
a complete refund or credit without
question.”
Educators do not keep products
Learn. Play.
Explore. Imagine.
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www.jonti-craft.com
800.543.4149
essentials | www.edmarket.org 5