June 01, 2006ASI's June 2006 Advantages Magazine Features Interview with Grandee-Part Two
Part Two
Q: What’s your best way to deal with difficult clients?
A: Put your customer service into overdrive. Always anticipate your client’s needs, remember what they are
looking for and stay in touch. Finally, remember the customer is always right.
Q: Best source for creative inspiration?
A: My team is my greatest inspiration. We are constantly talking out loud and brainstorming ideas. We have a
white, write-on board we call the “Brain Board.” New projects are listed and each time someone walks by it,
they put their ideas on the board. It really gets loaded up after weekends filled with free-thinking time.
Q: Where do you see the industry headed in the future?
A: The Internet and importing boom has completely revolutionized the industry. There is so much business to
be had. Customer service and offering unique and creative ideas can help you harness that business and
help lock in relationships.
Also, I try to keep the high-tech promotional items (such as multi-functional laser pointers and USB flash
drives) affordable and applicable to a wide customer base. We are all so computer-dependent.
Q: What do you think was your best sale/idea to date?
A: Grand Ideas recently won a Gold ADDY for the development of the Froo Jean Koozies concept. That has
been a huge marketing success and we hope to go further with it. The best single sale was the integration of
a local (Charleston, SC) watercolor artist, a Boston framer (Benjamin Martin) and a Canadian banking client
for a destination gift in Charleston, SC. I really enjoy creating unique gift ideas for groups coming to South
Carolina, especially Charleston.
Q: What do you do outside of work?
A: I am an avid reader, gardener and traveler. I especially enjoy spending quality time with my friends, family
and pets.
Q: Is there something about you that might surprise us?
A: I read the sports section of the paper (from cover to cover) each day before I read anything else.
Q: What was your childhood ambition?
A: To be a ballerina! (Thank goodness that did not happen.)
Q: Favorite Web sites?
A: www.grandideas.net ; www.palmettoideas.net; www.foxnews.com.