Promotional products help encourage to provide you with the names of friends and associates whom you can contact in the future.

A 1993 study by Baylor University found that customers who receive promotional products are more willing to provide these leads than customers who don’t receive promotional products.

This study was conducted with 20 Mary Kay beauty consultants, half of whom distributed promotional gifts (imprinted lint removers) to customers; the other ten offered no promotional gifts. Both groups then asked customers (200 in all) to refer the names of acquaintances. Findings are presented below.

Findings

Customers who received a promotional product were 14% more likely to provide leads than those who did not.

Salespeople who gave promotional gifts to their customers received 22% more referrals than salespeople who did not use promotional products.

40% of the salespeople who used the gifts commented on how well the gifts were received by their customers.

Summary

Providing promotional gifts to customers increases the likelihood of them providing your salespeople with business referrals, and increases the number of leads generated. Used within a one-time promotion to expand your customer base or as an approach to insure the continuous growth of your business, promotional products are effective tools.