Incentives work. We make them work for your client's business.
Corporations spend $64B a year on incentive and recognition programs. They use highly recognizable retail brands to increase sales, reduce accidents, reward their employees and thank their clients.
It's well known that non-cash incentives improve business. Yet many companies don't follow through with their incentive programs because they don't have the time or resources. If you have contacts at a medium or large size corporation Greunke can help you present and run any incentive program.
Many times a personal relationship is the single greatest factor in winning a contract, not the size of your company. In fact 80% of the distributors and value added resellers we work with have from 1 to 5 employees - and they work with some of the biggest companies including Adobe, Bank of America, Google, Hewlett-Packard, Harrah's Casino, Nike and Wells Fargo.
What is Special Markets?
Greunke is not an incentive company or a distributor. Greunke is a manufacturer's representative for special markets. Special markets is the channel which includes anything which is not retail. Since this is a significant but often overlooked business channel a manufacturer may only assign one person internally to manage this business. They in turn will assign territory representatives. Our territory is California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington. The service we provide to you is free because we are paid by the manufacturer. Our mission is to enable small businesses to utilize retail brands for corporate programs.
What kind of brands do we represent? You may have heard of a few of them: Bushnell, Canon, Citizen, Dooney & Bourke, Emile Henry, Hamilton Beach, Magellan, Nambe, Panasonic, Powermat, Trek and more.
The three most common opportunities are:
Are you trying to stand apart from the millions of online companies and stores? Through special markets you can also use retail brand merchandise as promotional products, company stores or for fundraising. Be as creative as you want. Develop a corporate wellness program, motivate a sales force or help launch a companies new product or service.
Why isn't cash a good motivator?
When surveyed anyone will ask for cash but research has proven this is the least effective way to motivate people. As a program manager you want to create a program which keeps everyone's interest and helps them focus on specific goals. In the case of an employee service award program it's very disheartening to see a price tag placed on 5, 10 or more years of your life with a company.
While skeptics contend that employee incentive programs are just cash bonuses in disguise this is not true. Non-cash incentives often become trophies – whether they’re large or small – because they represent an accomplishment and not just another paycheck.Merchandise is also a better motivator because:
- Tangible rewards offer emotional engagement. They provide lasting long-term performance improvement.
- Unlike cash incentives that are usually spent on necessities, tangible rewards offer guilt-free enjoyment.
- Giving cash puts a dollar amount on the value of the recipient. Merchandise on the other hand is perceived as a gift.
- Merchandise can be given tax free for safety and service award programs.
Why don't corporations contact Greunke directly?
Any size company can use incentives effectively but a small company can simply head to the store when they need a couple gifts. Medium and large size corporations implement programs on a much larger scale and they rely on outside vendors to manage this process. What do corporations gain by outsourcing?
- A single point of contact for planning and invoicing.
- A more experienced, and responsive, merchandise buyer.
- You can get better pricing for two reasons. Number one, some manufacturers have a lower price for resellers and number two, you can purchase merchandise for many different clients and will consequently increase your buying power.
- A corporation won't have to take employees off of valuable projects to manage an incentive program.
- There is no single place where projects originate from. The executive level, sales, marketing, production or HR department all use recognition and incentive programs. It is much easier to partner with an outside vendor than manage 10 or 20 internal projects.
How Do I Get Started?
Distribution
If you have a strong knowledge of developing or evaluating incentive programs than you can certainly offer this service to your client, but, this is rarely requested. Most programs have already been developed by your contact or by some other support company such as a promotion or marketing agency. The value you bring to the table is distributing merchandise and there are three basic options.
- Bulk Shipping
- Drop Shipping
- Online Program
You can help further your value by providing other services related to programs such as promotion, web design, program analytics, warehousing or custom packaging. Just remember to keep it simple and deliver on your client's primary need - delivering merchandise.
Next Steps
- Find out which brands are available to you.
- Check out how a turn-key online program works.
- See what's new in our gNews section.
- Research merchandise in the Greunke Product Finder. Remember, this is not a store but a tool for reviewing manufacturer's current merchandise. Pricing is coded to protect your sales margin. The actual price will be determined based on your account terms and quantity ordered.
If you're ready to get started contact us to set up your free Big Shot account.
Email:
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Phone: (415) 824-4544
We look forward to working with you!
Greg Greunke
President
Interactive Map
Click on map for details about our territory and supplier FOB locations.
