The Promo Playbook by Cubic Promote
Welcome to The Promo Playbook, your backstage pass to the world of promotional marketing. Brought to you by Cubic Promote (https://www.cubicpromote.com.au/) Australia’s award-winning supplier of branded merchandise, this podcast is your go-to guide for making marketing and promo products work harder for your business. In each episode, we unpack real campaigns, talk to industry insiders, and share practical strategies to help you boost brand visibility, engage customers, and stand out. From trade shows to onboarding kits, we cover it all — with no fluff, just real insights that convert.
The Promo Playbook by Cubic Promote
What Makes Charm Your Most Powerful Business Tool?
Mary Aguirre shares her insights on building meaningful client relationships through empathy, deep listening, and authentic interactions. We explore how understanding clients' deeper needs creates strong connections that transform hesitant prospects into loyal customers.
• Working with meaningful projects including charities and women's safety organizations
• Building quick relationships through empathy, timing, and asking the right questions
• Creating charm through energy, authenticity, and adapting to clients' emotional states
• The importance of listening without mentally preparing your next response
• Handling strange requests like potato-shaped stress balls with creativity
• Approaching skeptical clients with curiosity rather than pressure
• Using personal energy boosters like almonds, dark chocolate and coffee
Remember to check out our next episode of the Promo Playbook for more insights on customer service excellence.
Find out more and visit our website: https://www.cubicpromote.com.au/
Welcome to the Promo Playbook by Cubic Promote. Today we have a lovely guest, one of our team members, Mary Aguirre. Mary hello, Thank you for joining me today. How are you?
Speaker 2:Hey, I'm doing good. It's my pleasure being here, thank you.
Speaker 1:Mary has been an incredible superstar for our team. She's worked with many Australian customers in delivery, merchandising uniforms exactly to specification. Mary, could you share with the audience out there what's the one customer that you've worked with that really stood out for you, where you thought, wow, this is a really interesting customer or perhaps something that they do was quite meaningful? One of mine was when I worked with a charity for the small local community where a young boy recently passed away and the parents created this charity leading merchandise to sell to the public, to raise funds for awareness for road safety. How about yours, larry?
Speaker 2:Mine, I think it was. There was this one client who initially said no due to budget and I didn't push, I just asked what would make it a yes, and that opened up really honest conversation. Like we found a faster turnaround was more valuable than a price cut, so I've sealed that deal and they left a glowing Google review, so that felt great, amazing.
Speaker 1:So it's all in the power of the launch.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:As opposed to the shooting out answers.
Speaker 2:Exactly.
Speaker 1:Was there any other interesting projects that you've worked with over the past couple years where you thought that's a really interesting project? Was there anything that may have stood out?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was from 2Connect, because they're getting promotional items from us and the purpose of it is so amazing because this is for, you know, for women, for women's safety, like that and so it was amazing working with her. It's just like a non-profit, but we really get along together, so she's always purchasing with us for a month amazing.
Speaker 1:Obviously you got along very well in a very short space of time. Which leads me to the next question. When people first initiate contact with someone whether it be real life, maybe it's a friend that you meet that becomes a really good friend down the track how do you go about creating a very, very quick relationship Whether it be a working relationship or any other couple of relationships very quickly, in the shortest place? It's hard.
Speaker 2:And it's honestly, it's the empathy and timing. I listen deeply, I ask the right questions, so I try to feel what the client needs, even if they haven't articulated it yet Speed and clarity and a bit of charm. It's never just about selling, it's about solving.
Speaker 1:I love that, yeah, you know.
Speaker 2:I have this client. I know what their mother age. I know their birthday. That's how we always get along.
Speaker 1:Share with me. You use the word quite casually, the word charm. It really stuck out to me. Tell me a bit more about charm. What does it mean to you? What makes it charming? What's amazing Not charming? How do you create charm? Because that seems to be very, very seems to be a bit of a secret sauce.
Speaker 2:Okay. So I could say what makes me charm during call is my energy and authenticity. I don't sound like a creep, I sound like me. Clients can feel me when someone's interested in helping, not just selling. So I bring warm, I listen without interrupting and I know when to sprinkle in a compliment to make someone smile do this in your head.
Speaker 1:Sometimes I'm guilty of it, where I'm talking to someone, but then, instead of really listening, I'm thinking what I'm about to say next. Does that happen to you, or is it mainly something that I do which is a very bad habit, by the way because you really want to be in the conversation?
Speaker 2:Sometimes it happens, but not often. It's like really different actually on the conversation. But just believe, before I call them I want to do a background check on them.
Speaker 1:Knowing a bit about the customer, even just on a brief level, really helps bring out a stronger, more powerful conversation.
Speaker 2:Yes, exactly, if they're in a good mood, you laugh. If they're stressed, I become the calm and I always make sure they walk away feeling better than when they pick up. That's also a charm as well.
Speaker 1:So we do a lot of weird things. I must have given weird but strange requests. What are some of the stranger requests that you can see from a customer?
Speaker 2:So far I've encountered this client looking for I believe it was a potato like a potato. She's looking for custom stress balls shaped like potatoes with the text don't be a couch potato. That's a brilliant.
Speaker 1:That's a great idea. I've also done one myself where I had a tomato sauce bottle and the customer wanted to brand the words along the lines of we have the secret sauce. Obviously, we are a consulting company and they want people to know that they have the secret sauce to success.
Speaker 2:That's also awesome.
Speaker 1:On my physical point of view, when you're with a customer, working with a customer, do you have a power snack that you go to? What's one of the things that will give you energy Of?
Speaker 2:course there is almonds and dark chocolate and coffee. Obviously coffee, always coffee.
Speaker 1:I'm not a big coffee drinker, but I do eat a lot of junk food. My junk food choices are always chips. I'm not a promoter. Imagine this scenario we have a potential customer that we're talking to and they're quite hesitant, they're skeptical. Can we deliver what we promised? When you talk to someone like that, how do you go about speaking to them in a way that would resonate?
Speaker 2:I try not to bulldoze. I get curious. I say something like what's holding you back or what will give you peace of mind here. When people hear it, instead of solitude, the resistance drops. I bring in fruit. I share real reviews, samples and past results with clients that really did work.
Speaker 1:I think I hear a common theme there, pound the question and listening.
Speaker 2:Exactly.
Speaker 1:I think I've learned something new myself. I appreciate you taking this time out this morning to connect with myself and for the audience tuning out there. Please stay tuned for the next episode of the Promo Playbook.
Speaker 2:Thank you.
