Selling pallets is easy when everyone wants them. But when the market is flooded with cheap used pallets and there is plenty of new pallet production in the market, companies have to do more to land accounts and keep customers. In a market that many consider a commodity, smart companies are doing what they can to differentiate themselves when it comes to service, product innovation and specialty packaging, and just-in-time delivery.
One area that frequently gets ignored by many pallet companies is customer education. Bora Celik is CEO of Subkit, a company that helps brands acquire customers through collaboration efforts. Celik recently wrote on the topic of customer education for www.entrepreneur.com.
Celik wrote, “It’s about going beyond just selling products and actually teaching customers about the value and benefits of what they’re buying. This strategy changes the shopping experience. It turns transactions into relationships.” He was writing primarily about direct-to-consumer sales, but the same challenges exist for B2B customers as well.
It’s a tactic we think pallet suppliers can utilize because it demonstrates the value of your products and doing business with your company, and adds value for your customers. They are opportunities to forge a deeper business relationship with a new or existing customer.
Celik’s following four suggestions can be tapped in terms of content for your digital marketing efforts, but they can also be reinforced in other marketing efforts, whether phone calls to businesses or sales calls at their location.
One suggestion is to use quizzes to engage people in your online content. Quizzes grab people’s attention uniquely and interactively, explained Celik. They teach potential customers about the right products for their application.
For product quiz topics related to the pallet industry, here are a few ideas:
• How many steps does it take to make a pallet board (from tree to finished lumber)?
• How can pallet design affect pallet performance?
• What are the differences between a block pallet and a stringer pallet?
• What is the difference between using hardwood or softwood in a new pallet?
• Why are wood pallets sustainable and good for the environment?
• What are best practices to reduce mold growth on pallets?
• What are the necessary ingredients for an effective pallet specification?
• Why are white-wood pallets better than rental pallets, or vice versa?
By making recommendations that are more tailored and relevant, quizzes foster trust, suggested Celik. They encourage customers to come back. The approach simplifies finding the right product, which benefits the customer as well as the supplier.
Another suggestion is to meet potential customers through live Q&A sessions. They can significantly enhance customer education and trust. Online tools, such as Microsoft Teams or Zoom, allow you to meet with multiple clients in a day without having to travel, saving both time and money. Some companies use these tools to create chats or webinars to cover key topics and interact with customers. These chats can be recorded and made available in an archive as long as participants know their questions and interactions are not private.
Celik’s third suggestion is to personalize interactions to enhance the educational benefit to the potential customer. He noted that “when customers or prospects get advice or product picks just for them, they tend to dive deeper into the content, remember what they learned, and act on the suggestions.” Going the extra mile to personalize communications builds a closer connection and bond, and it makes you stand out from suppliers who just sent standardized answers.
His last recommendation is what he calls “founder tutorials.” Brands increasingly connect with their customers through tutorials led by company founders. This approach brings a human touch to the brand, highlighting the passion and knowledge behind it. Celik noted, “Founders sharing their expertise and stories draw customers in. It builds trust and credibility.”
Beyond just a list of selling points, these tutorials reveal the heart and passion behind the product. Consider developing tutorials about saving customers money, designing and building a pallet or container that protects their product from damage in transit, providing services that save the day for a customer, etc.
As pallet sales get tougher, how can you improve your customer education efforts and outreach? Some of these ideas may give you insight on how you can take the traditional pallet sales conversation and turn it into an opportunity to build your brand beyond just selling on price.
