At one of my companies, ATS Acoustics, we often receive sample books from manufacturers hoping to sell fabric to us. Most of these samples are unsolicited. They get thrown in a big box and forgotten. (They don’t get thrown away because I’m a pack rat. You never know when we might need artificial alligator skin fabric. Come on guys, it could happen.)

So all these samples that the fabric manufacturers worked so hard to assemble into glossy sample books are just sitting there collecting dust.

One day I received a package from a manufacturer that already had their fair share of ignored, dust-collecting sample books in box. I didn’t even bother to open it figuring it’s just more samples. So there the box sat on the floor in my office. (I’m serious about the pack rat thing.)

Fortunately for the sales rep who sent it, he emailed my assistant and said “I sent you a blanket made out of samples of our new color line.” So she opened the box, and next thing I know the entire office staff is standing around admiring and commenting on this quilt-like blanket, made out of samples. An employee liked it so much she took it home.

If you ask anyone in the office about fabric samples we’ve received, I bet that’s the only manufacturer they remember anything about.

How can you be more like the blanket and less like the books?