Chapter 20 Preparing for Your Career 599 Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Many different advertising opportunities are available to your business. You can use social media to let friends know about your product. You can distribute brochures at school or post a large ad in a strategic place. Contact a local paper and get a reporter interested in your product. You can even fi nd a prominent person in the community who likes and uses your product and ask that person to promote it. Selling and Distributing Your Product How and where will you sell your products? Will you need to rent retail (store) space, or will you set up a booth at school? Will your class receive requests by mail and ship directly from your classroom? Will your class sell from a website? These decisions depend partly on your methods of advertising and the customers you are targeting. After you decide on your sales methods, you can determine how to distribute your products. If you rent retail space or set up a booth, you need only consider how to get the products to the store or booth. However, if you set up a website to sell your product, or if you accept orders by mail, you will need to set up a distribution system. A distribution system is the method you use to get the product to the customers. For example, you could use the postal service to mail the product to your customers (Figure 20-19). Or, you could arrange delivery using a courier service, such as UPS or Federal Express. Whichever method you use, consider the charges involved. How much are your customers willing to pay for delivery? Providing Customer Service Customer service is the process of dealing with customers at all stages of customer contact. It includes helping customers choose the right product for their needs. It also includes making the actual sale easy for customers by being pleasant and helpful. Finally, customer service includes handling any questions or complaints customers have after they have purchased the product. The extent of customer service you provide after the sale depends on the type of product you are providing. At a minimum, your company should provide a way for customers to contact you. Supplying an e-mail address or phone number in your advertising material is one good way to do this. In addition, customer support services are provided when products or services need on-going technical support. Customer Service Representatives Customer comments will vary greatly. Some customers may be delighted with the product. Others may believe it does not perform as advertised. The students who respond to the comments are your company’s customer service representatives. They must have good communication skills and good people skills. They must also be familiar with all aspects of the product, so they can explain it to people who may be having trouble using it. vectorfusionart/Shutterstock.com Figure 20-19. Your method of distribution affects the packaging for your product. If you use a delivery service, the packaging must follow the service’s guidelines.