Why One Promo Distributor Spent Two Hours 'Sprint Calling' Customers

By Joseph Myers

Since the COVID-19 pandemic gripped the nation in March, businesses have intensified their plans of action to show themselves not as locations and entities looking to make sales, but rather as providers of solutions during a strenuous time. That emphasis on establishing deeper connections appealed to the workforce at Hasseman Marketing, a promo distributor based in Coshocton, Ohio. CEO Kirby Hasseman and his team conducted sprint calls last week, making the outreach solely about learning how clients are remaining resolute and growing the realization that the promotional products industry has connections at its core.

Our team at Hasseman Marketing did a 2 Hour Sprint calling clients...and we learned something surprising. #sales #entrepreneur #bekind https://t.co/5qnfwIxnJK https://t.co/HlRlyYLkUN

— Kirby Hasseman (@kirbyhasseman) June 8, 2020

“This has been such a life-altering period,” Hasseman said of the climate that our fight against coronavirus has engendered. “Mental health has become an even bigger topic to address, and we wanted to offer whatever sort of support we could to our base by making the sprint calls.”

On June 3, Hasseman and his crew spent a two-hour block from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. dialing customers help them to “deliver marketing joy,” with the block yielding dozens of connections, including close to 20 from Hasseman himself. He fondly recalled a voicemail reply from a client who thanked him and stated, “We need more of that.”

“We’re all anxious and wondering what the next day, or even the next hour, is going to bring,” Hasseman said. “There are times where the sell-sell-sell mindset needs to ease up, and this is one of those moments. All we cared about was coming to know how people are holding up and what role we can play in keeping them positive.”

Sprint calls, he noted, helped his company a few years ago in accumulating a burst of sales, and while they might one day regain that distinction, the owner envisions making the recent connections the standard sort for his company’s lightning-fast phone exercises. In doing so, he will be engaging in something that many people might downplay in the quest for sales, namely, the tenderness that must play a part in establishing long-term ties.

“I want to create 20-year customers,” Hasseman said. “We’re all going through this together, so how difficult is it to tap into someone’s confusion, worry and pain and try to be a voice that tells them that we will all come through this and are supporting one another?”

He intends to make the sprint calls a monthly or quarterly component of his operations, seeing them, no matter how long the pandemic lasts, as musts for promoting unity. When the Hasseman team has its next chance to exchange thoughts with clients, it will strive to strengthen a line of thinking that the man behind the eponymous establishment will never waver from holding.

“I don’t think it takes a genius to realize that if we honor someone’s humanity in offering our services, consistent business will result,” Hasseman said. “With our sprint calls, we made clear that while some might see us as just a business partner to someone, we really feel that we are much more. We’re allies. I think that whatever your role is within this industry, your mind needs to be on the overall picture. Surprise-surprise, that goal isn’t reflected in dollar signs.”