To those unfortunates who have actually been returning and reading the blog daily, to all 4 of you I am sorry for the lack of updates. There have been a couple of chaotic days!! So for a brand new website to falter its surely better to do so at the start when nobody reads it. Every attempt will be taken to ensure a daily read. So moving forward…..
The Carling Cup – I am a Spurs fan so I am extremely interested this year and here comes another reason to love the job. Blags, freebies etc. A couple of years ago I worked for a small independent in Swindon (ohhhhhhhhhh Swindon, a town origionally called Swine Town due to its connections to pigs – Really am puzzled as to why they bothered changing the name!). The Bud rep was doing his rounds, doing the normal spiel about moving the position of Bud in the face fridges as this would miracoulsy add 376.5% to the turnover!?!?, now being a free of tie premises I asked why should I? Obviously he came back with this old adage that every rep will – “The more we sell the more you make!?” I am sure he isn’t devoid of the fact that this also applies to the Becks, Stella and any other product, but he still spouts the same. Unhappy with this response I push for what I can get from him………
“Well… I could get a couple of tickets for the Carling Cup final for you? Would that make you reposition the bud?”
Honestly! As easy as that. I would run around the venue naked selling Bud if I got some free tickets!! And that was me off to the Carling Cup Final in Cardiff for Chelsea vs Liverpool – result.
I will warn you that either the rep from Bud was either two weeks into his job, two weeks from ending his job or he had been drinking far too much of his own product. Getting freebies that aren’t naff plastic moulds to plonk on the end of your bar are rare, so to get such a top blag for a simple request was a bit of a dream situation but what it does show is how easy it is for the big cooperates to get these tickets. Tottenham and Chelsea have been allocated just 30,000 tickets each, that means 36,000 have gone to corporate sponsors and taking the name of the trophy into account, most of the sponsors are from the Alcohol industry.
So when a rep does come in don’t let him walk away without an extremely good incentive – a flashing set of VK badges isn’t good enough!!
I work for a national chain at the moment and I have spent the last month trying to contact our Coors rep, trying to get my hands on a pair of tickets, but I think either you all know what I have just wrote and have beaten me to the punch or he’s on holiday!
Happy Blagging
