Gorilla Gift Cards

[system]

I just joined PMQ last week! I’m excited about doing business with all of you!

Gorilla Gift Cards is a national provider of:

Fundraising Cards
Gift Cards
Key Tags
Hotel Key Cards
Any type of Promotional Cards

Our prices are the best in the industry!

Have you thought about ordering new gift cards for the holiday season?

Please give me a call or shoot me over an email for pricing…

Thanks,
Jeff Messer
Sales Representative
ph: 877-289-7357
[email protected]
www.gorillagiftcards.com

 

[Daddio]

Gorilla Cards:

I just joined PMQ last week! I’m excited about doing business with all of you!

You wil find the best way to do businesss with most of us here is to be a contributing member of the community. Just a word of caution to you, most of the regulars here (incluing me) take a dim view on posts like yours. Become a resource that makes a valuable contribution and the orders may follow.

 

[Lindsey]

Re: Daddio

Daddio, you must live a charmed life. You complain about the most insignificant things. Are you an angry person or just negative to everybody. I’m hate reading your post all the time because you know why? I love life and the pizza business!
Sounds to me like that new guy just wants to belong and help in his own way. I hope he or others don’t think we’re all like you.

 

[Crusher]

Re: Daddio

Lindsey:

Daddio, you must live a charmed life. You complain about the most insignificant things. Are you an angry person or just negative to everybody. I’m hate reading your post all the time because you know why? I love life and the pizza business!
Sounds to me like that new guy just wants to belong and help in his own way. I hope he or others don’t think we’re all like you.

Lindsey,
Are you new to the Think Tank? I noticed this is your first post and your account was created today. Are you a regular poster using a different name? If not, you are in the same category as the companies that Daddio is speaking of.

I agree with Daddio. I don’t want every company that thinks they have something I need, coming on here and trying to sell to us. I would rather have them become a source of information and give me the opportunity to buy from them. Royce does this very well. He is one of the top posters and he doesn’t push is products. When I need magnets I am going to go to Royce because he has put so much into this board. He is not selling to me, I am buying from him, there truly is a big difference.

 

[NicksPizza]

Re: Daddio

Lindsey, I can see where you perceive an attack . … and knowing Daddio, it was more of a confrontation than an attack. Seen attacks . . . quite brutal. HIs are far more obvious and pointed. See the thread where a guy played us off to be fools asking for tons of info for a start-up, then said was writing a paper, then admitted to being a sales prospector. THOSE were attacks from several people.

General decorum on a professional forum such as this seems to be participating and contributing as a means of promoting products. Several of the people here use this forum as a resource for info from other professionals (I am one) that find it somewhat rude and presumptuous for outside businesses to drop in seemingly unsolicited to use this as a free advertising platform. We have several members who are quite at a huge disadvantage to accept that sort of advertisement as OK. Royce and George are two examples of vendors who are participants as professionals, and give their business resources as adjuncts. This is our respite from the chaos of the business world. We get SPAM email, junk phone calls, junk mail, solicitations in our bank and credit card statements, huge ads in magazines, banner ads on websites, and so forth. Some of us will get testy when this little haven gets crashed by marketers using us as a “free audience”.

They aren’t so much perceived as about being “excited to be doing business” with us as gleaning new business prospects from being signing up as “a member”. He may very well be an asset to lots of us, but that isn’t at all a given. I appreciate that Gorilla is a paid advertiser with PMQ. Lots of respect given for that. Just don’t need still more advertisers forcing their message in a place I anticipate to be out of their reach.

Am I close Daddi?

 

[Lindsey]

Re: Daddio

It is my first post but I’m a real veteran of the business. 8 months now! I read the forum a lot because I’m still learning and I still want salespeople of different products and companies to contact me. Doesn’t mean I’ll buy, but I’ll learn a little more. There’s a lot more honest people then scam artists and I’m not ready to classify them all the same way. Maybe in the future I’ll get hardened to it and feel the same as you guys. Right now I need and want input from everybody. Daddio seems to be against everything.

 

[Charles]

Re: Daddio

Lindsey:

scam artists

We are not calling them scammers, we are saying it is spamming. Daddio was gentle. He told what to do to become a valued resource rather than just hitting us with a pitch. I often do something less tasteful like posting a picture…

 

[Lindsey]

Re: Daddio

OK, I stand corrected. Maybe it’s just a bad day going for me. Daddio, I’m sorry if I came across wrong. I’m new and I need all the friends and advise I can get. I’ll still listen to everybody. Actually, after reading the replys I’m starting to understand where he’s coming from. I got into that frame of mind where I said something and then had to defend it.

 

[Daddio]

Re: Daddio

Lindsey:

Daddio, you must live a charmed life. You complain about the most insignificant things. Are you an angry person or just negative to everybody. I’m hate reading your post all the time because you know why? I love life and the pizza business!
Sounds to me like that new guy just wants to belong and help in his own way. I hope he or others don’t think we’re all like you.

Lindsey
I do not see how you took my response to this post as a complaint or attack or negative. I was trying to give advice to a new member of this forum so he/she would not get blasted by others who are not so kind in their treatment of those who come here to advertise.

I decided that if there is someone who takes me as a negative person I should go back through my posts and see where this was coming from. I really can not see where you arrived at you opinion of me. I can only see few negative posts in threads that have been obvious spam other than the good natured banter that takes place regarding vacations, time off, etc. Please send me a PM to shed light on this.

My reason for being here on the Think Tank is much the same as everyone else to learn and to give a helping hand.

 

[NicksPizza]

Re: Daddio

Lindsey:

It is my first post but I’m a real veteran of the business. 8 months now! I read the forum a lot because I’m still learning and I still want salespeople of different products and companies to contact me. Doesn’t mean I’ll buy, but I’ll learn a little more. There’s a lot more honest people then scam artists and I’m not ready to classify them all the same way. Maybe in the future I’ll get hardened to it and feel the same as you guys. Right now I need and want input from everybody. Daddio seems to be against everything.

8 months is a huge success in my mind! You have passed the 6-month culling of the herd, so to speak. You seem to have the right idea to be snapping up all the information you can get. I am in 4 years now and still get everything I can read, borrow, remake, finagle and buy. The newer folks here are often my best learning source . . . you are the ones with still fresh insights and understanding of the beginnings of the game. I get occasionally jaded and complacent and stop seeing all the parts of the picture.

You won’t get so much hardened as tired. Working on, and in, the business and working through can wear us down. Keep that sense of wonder and curiosity, and remind us now and then when we get too grumpy. New owner-members get a whole lot less flack most days than new seller-members.

We’d like to hear more about your business and marketing successes if you are willing to start a thread about it. Dish the dirt.

 

[system]

I do appreciate the constructive criticism. I didn’t mean to just jump on here and start attacking all of the regular people that come here for a resource to their problems. Maybe I totally misunderstood what this forum was all about. I’m totally new to the pizza industry and I am truly excited about what I offer. I will try and contribute as much personal experience that I have with subjects that I know what I’m talking about. I don’t want people in this forum to think that all I want to do is push my products all the time. However, joining PMQ to get exposure for my company is the main reason why I signed up.

 

[Piper]

I’d like to just point out that Jeff’s company does have an advertising banner running here on the TT, so it’s not like he’s posting to get some free advertising. His company has contributed financially to keeping the TT running (and free for us operators.)

 

[Daddio]

Gorilla
Some things that I am interested in include: What works for marketing to different types of customers? I have customers that spent $1000 a week and others that spend $10 a month. What is the best way to determine where the best bang for my advertising dollars is? How do I increase the average sale? How do I increase the buying frequency for those customers that only come in once a month?

If you can give this type of information to us I am quite sure it would be welcome.

 

[NicksPizza]

Re: Daddio

Daddio is Canadian, so his intent sometimes gets lost in the exchange rate

I did a quick search using gorilla and found this company has been in the middle of a couple misunderstandings and . . . unhappiness . . . about electronic marketing through PMQ. This is actually the second sales person from this company in about a month to post very nearly the same message. KeyTagGirl created a login to reply to a direct thread about key cards and offered their services. Spot on timing and useful to that person. http://tinyurl.com/keytag-1

A few days later she posted a message (no responses on the 'Tank) with pricing and calling for people to contact her. Less finesse and probably less effective than her original post in making an impression. http://tinyurl.com/keytaggirl

Then there was a direct email thing that set off some concerns . . . same company. It is actually a growing sort of nervousness about Gorilla that could be happening. they may be a very good product vendor, and keytaggirl has been contributing to threads along the way. Just a strained beginning to the relationship here.

Lindsey, there is a banner ad that appears at the top for Gorilla Cards. You can find all the online sponsors for the Think Tank at http://www.pmq.com/sponsors.php I may change my attitude for the people who are paying to sponsor our online and print magazine. I am softening the more I think about them paying up, so maybe need some slack to put a little advertising in here. Maybe the threads need to say they are advertisements or something. Daddio made some suggestions along those lines of identifying blanket email bombs into the marketplace.

 

[snowman]

Gorilla Cards:

I’m totally new to the pizza industry and I am truly excited about what I offer. I will try and contribute as much personal experience that I have with subjects that I know what I’m talking about. I don’t want people in this forum to think that all I want to do is push my products all the time. However, joining PMQ to get exposure for my company is the main reason why I signed up.

Jeff, if I may inject myself into the discussion here.

Thanks for introducing yourself to us. You’ve told us what you do and we can assume how you make money. How can your making money help US make money?

Can you make hotel cards and get us ON those hotel cards? Do we buy the cardkeys from you, have them printed with our logos and give them to the hotels? Or do you sell to the hotels and find “partnerships” to reduce their costs?

How would our industry use keytags? I’m guessing these are similar to the ones you get from grocery stores for “rewards” programs.

What pizza-type POS products can use your gift cards?

How do the fundraising cards work?

 

[Charles]

Re: Daddio

NicksPizza:

Maybe the threads need to say they are advertisements or something.

Maybe create a Sponsors forum so that those companies that support TTT can post offers.

 

[keytaggirl]

Re: Daddio

Hey this is Keytaggirl!

Oh my goodness, I just started reading this post and want to let everyone know that I have nothing to do with this at all. We are all in the same business, to make money. I really do appologize for posting anything on here. I am trying to build a business and at the same time save my customers money. I really do think I have the best quality products at the lowest price. I have children to feed also and the last thing I wanted to do is make it harder!!

I was in the price marking business for 18 years before I started Gorilla, I got into the gift cards and keytags when one of my customers was telling me about merchants ripping companies off on plastic cards. I honestly would not do what I do unless I believed in what I am doing. Saving people money by supplying
the same, or better product for less!

I didn’t mean to get people all upset and I certainly don’t want anyone to think I am a crook or shaddy in anyway. I pay for advertising to and just thought I could offer everyone great prices and post it on here.
I have learned my lesson to not post any ideas for saving on here but please don’t bad mouth Gorilla unless you have had a bad experience with us. I open invoice customers for that exact reason, I don’t want you to pay for anything if it is not exactly what I say it is. We also send test cards before production to make sure the
cards work correctly. If I sell anyone something that is not exactly what I said it was, I will give you my home phone number and you can tell my boys I’m a liar.

I enjoy what I do and I am willing to help anyone even if it doesn’t have to do with cards. Please let me know if I can help.

Jennie/ Keytaggirl

 

[Charles]

Re: Daddio

Jennie has been very professional with me in email correspondence and seems like a very decent person.

I think we all agree that the Think Tank benefits from vendor expertise here. They are welcome and encouraged to participate. We just want to keep the blatant advertisements to a minimum. After all, PMQ sells advertising space.

 

[NicksPizza]

Re: Daddio

keytaggirl:

Hey this is Keytaggirl!

Oh my goodness, I just started reading this post and want to let everyone know that I have nothing to do with this at all.

I didn’t call you out to say you were bad or anything. I am VERY sorry if I left anyone with that impression. I was only pointing out that Daddio may have been aware of all the stuff popping around.

The impression I meant to leave was that you, Jenny, appeared in the middle of a very relevant thread, and have been contributing since you showed up. I’m not shopping for cards right now, but you would be a first contact for bidding when I want them. You would be an example of someone who came in the way that impresses me most.

Dewar probably said it simplest and best. . . “We just want to keep the blatant advertisements to a minimum. After all, PMQ sells advertising space.”

 

[system]

Daddio:

The size of your business would determine how you would want to market. I’m assuming you are in the range of small - medium. Here are some fairly inexpensive methods you can use to potentially increase sales and getting the “best bang for your advertising dollar".

Keep in mind that not every marketing avenue works every single time, all the time. Try mixing things up a bit every once in a while.

One thing that you might try is to print a small ad on a postcard and mail it to your target area. People read postcards when the message isn’t very long. A small ad on a postcard can deliver a high increase of traffic to your web site or restaurant for a small cost.

Try changing up the way you answer the phone sometimes. Try asking the caller if they would like to hear about your special offer before they start ordering. After they are done ordering try up saleing breadsticks or a smaller priced item.

In regard to the people who only spend $10 a month try getting their address at the time of ordering to send them a personal thank-you and that you appreciate their business. Maybe they can get a free item off the menu next time they come in.

One really great way to advertise, in my opinion, is to get involved in community events!!! I believe people feel that seeing your company getting involved with community events makes them feel more connected to you and would increase the probability of repeated business.

This is only a few ideas, hope it helps you and everyone else!