Many dealers have asked “Why should I pay hundreds of dollars for invitation albums when other companies give them away for free or for much less money”.
Here are some challenges with popular priced invitation brands that are saturated in the marketplace:
- They typically do not allow a dealer to customize the invitation beyond the typeface, layout and ink color.
- Their price point only allows limited profitability, even at the full mark-up.
- Their products can be found heavily discounted online, through stores, through home based businesses and through other party-related categories that use invitations as a self-liquidator to help them sell their other services.
When you invest hundreds of dollars in a more upscale product line that has limited distribution, is not sold online and cannot be discounted, here are some benefits:
- Your profit potential on any order is much higher and you don’t have hard sell the advantages of why a client should buy from you rather than online. Superior and exclusive product lines are more likely to sell themselves.
- You drastically reduce the chances of losing a customer to another dealer and/or online purchase, after you have invested hours with a client narrowing down and selecting the perfect invitation suite. Try to calculate the number of hours lost of your valuable personal time and/or your employees’ time to showing “free” invitation albums to clients who never return.
- Guests receive invitations with higher allure that are associated with your business, thereby creating a much better likelihood of referrals.
One of the qualifiers in determining what the potential range a client is willing to invest is where the reception is talking place. The invitation is the first perception guests will have of the reception. You can influence some clients to spend more money, but you have to have products that shine above the ordinary. Also, if you ever want to have an affiliation with a particular hi-end venue, showing them a portfolio of your most impressive client designs goes a long way.
Abbey Malcolm
Since I left Encore over two years ago, I have been asked by hundreds of dealers for upscale resources, which I have shared in previous communications.
I would like to bring to your attention one additional resource that I showed images of in a recent blog post. Abbey Malcolm Letterpress + Design, a talented, boutique invitation brand, has received excellent accolades in several issues of Stationery Trends magazine. With over a decade’s experience for some of the nation’s top brands, owner/Creative Director, Abbey Malcolm and her team strive to make their clients’ visions a reality – whether they are ordering through their line of pre-designed or completely customized invitation suites. We had the pleasure of working with them on their new website and believe them to be a good choice as a supplier and as a resource for a retailer who enjoys working closely with a top designer for their upscale clientele.