Welcome to the promo playbook, the podcast where
suppliers come to win in the promotional products
industry. We're your hosts, Lisa Faustik and
Adrienne Barker, bringing you insider insights,
expert strategies, and no fluff advice to help
suppliers navigate the promo channel like pros.
From marketing to distributors to mastering software
onboarding, we cover it all. Whether you're new
to the industry or ready to scale up, this is
your playbook for success. Let's get started.
Hi, and welcome to the promo playbook podcast.
Today, Adrian Barker and I, Lisa Fosdick, are
going to dive into some topics related to consumer
suppliers joining the promotional products industry.
As many of our listeners may know, the promo
industry has nuances and complexities that are
very different from B2C or wholesale sales processes.
So Adrian and I are going to sort of discuss
and dish about the challenges that suppliers
face when they try to enter the industry. So
Adrian, one of the first things I wanted to sort
of unpack with you is the idea of what's it like
to take a brand that sells direct to consumers.
Into the promo space and what are some of the
complexities of that so i'll go first. Okay so
i so first i get a lot of the dreaming right.
Oh my god we got this product it will be perfect
to go on this item here and we can sell it. And
i'm thinking i did an interview with the guys
that do the colors they have things that go in
your colors to keep your colors straight and
i'm like you should go in the product industry
and they're like we are already in it but then
also like finding out like who are they really
selling it to. It's easy to say you're in an
industry but are you actively really doing the
work that's needed so i think first to. It's
important to really understand how the industry
works. And Lisa, isn't it funny that so many
people don't actually understand what a vendor
is, what a supplier is, what an end user is?
So should we impact starting from there? Yeah,
it's almost like you need a family tree of the
industry, right? Like, so how do people talk
to each other and how do people buy from each
other? So it is a mind shift, Adrian, like you're
referring to. You have to sort of think of the
architecture of the industry because it's completely
different than selling to a consumer or a wholesale
client. So to your point, vendors or suppliers,
we could use those terms interchangeably, sell
through a distributor network. So that might
be different than a traditional path or a sales
channel that a brand might already be functioning.
Part of the shift in mindset there is we as suppliers
and vendors depend on somebody else to sell our
product to the person who's actually buying it.
This is very difficult for folks to assimilate
into their DNA and understand that we don't have
the control that we might have in some of our
other sales channels and actually closing the
sale. That's a big difference. And when you think
of the chain, it's supplier, vendor to distributor,
and then through distributor filter down into
distributor sales reps. So there's another layer
there, and then they're pitching your products
to the end user customer. Do you have anything
to add to that, Adrian? I love it. The first
thing I know from actually being able to go through
this process a few times with a client is that
they're surprised that maybe they have. So I
had a client that had these things that go on
your glasses and they kind of made it was a niche
piece because during the zoom when you're wearing
your glasses, you could put on whatever it may
be. So if your brand was NASCAR or if it was
a political party you wanted to, to kind of promote,
you would do that. And the pricing was already
high. So I had to talk to them about, well, wait
a second. You've got to have the pricing correct.
So you're adding in the different levels. And
because the end user is not going to want to
pay six dollars for this, like plastic, uncomfortable
piece that goes in just to promote something.
And it doesn't have that value. So I think that's
the first step is to understand is there. room
in that item to go through this kind of chain
of command. What do you think? Love that insight.
So pricing your product is a big part of what
Adrian and I have both worked on as part of the
promo playbook and in our own consulting practices,
that setting the pricing correctly can be a real
challenge. And you need to dedicate the time
to focus on that and learn how the industry expects
to be compensated. It's a little different than
the retail world where it's 50 % or when you're
selling direct to a consumer, you're making a
much higher profit. In the promo space, distributors
look to make anywhere between 30 and 40 % margin
on any product that you're going to sell through
to that industry. And I like to work with my
clients on benchmarking their published retail
price. as the sell price and backing that off
into the distributor profit so that a distributor
is competitive with your already published pricing.
What do you think about that? I think everything
you said is perfect. That's exactly you really
have to look at the pricing and you also have
to have money to back you up because I think
I have seen that as being an issue too is don't
come into the industry and think I'm going to
announce it on Monday, and I'm going to be loaded
with orders on Friday, because that is not realistic,
because it's what distributors really need, too.
If you wanted to get into a halo, a performer,
some of the top ones, they are not going to want
to pay you in advance. You have to be able to
accept that it may be 30 days. Maybe it's going
to be 45 days. So you want in on that particular
vendor. But that's like there's so many little
pieces Lisa, right? Like what could be like the
but what will you know? You kind of what you're
gonna butt against and to me You have to have
at least that three years because the process
is slow That's why the process is so slow because
it's yeah, that's a great point Adrienne and
As we build our podcast, we'll dive deeper into
each of these subjects as we go along. But what
Adrian's talking about right now is the investment
of time. I think there is a misconception that
a brand can just hang up their shingle, so to
speak, on Sage or ASI, which are our search engines
in the industry. that distributors use to find
products, but then you have to stand out amongst
that very crowded field of other suppliers. So
there'll be a whole podcast further down the
line of analyzing the search engines and how
do you stand out on those search engines. So
pricing structure is important. Understanding
the architecture of the industry is important.
How do you customize your product? Sometimes
a brand doesn't really customize their product
before they get into the promotional product
space. So making sure operationally that you
address how your product is going to get a logo
added to it is also important in the conversation
and part of your price management and operations
is also part of it. So we don't want to overwhelm
our listeners with too many levels of it yet.
But what we wanted to share is Adrian and I and
other folks in our circle that we'll be bringing
into the podcast are experts at this. So we want
to today give you a high level of some of the
challenges you might face and letting you know
that we're going to unpack all of these things
as we go along. So just a quick recap, understanding
the industry, figuring out your product, how
you're going to decorate it. your pricing structure,
and then how will you launch that and market
that in the industry with the knowledge that
it could be a three to five year window for you
to establish your brand in a way that's going
to bring you consistent sales? I'll take a pause
there in Adrienne and see, I know you've worked
with several brands. How has that worked in your
world? So I think for brands, one of the things
they don't realize is and what we're going to
teach is what you're going to need, because do
you need to be a member of the Advertising Specialty
Institute? Do you need to be a member of the
Promotional Products Association International?
Are you looking to go to get these larger distributors
like a promo, like a halo, like a pro forma,
any of the ones that you are going to be listed
as like a preferred vendor? Or do you want to
go small? Maybe I just have a product. By the
way, I love this water boat. It's actually what
I use Lisa all the time. It's not, it's not like
because I'm doing the interview. It's actually
what I use, but you may not have, there's a lot
of products and there's a lot of competition
in the industry and not everyone could be these
like a listed suppliers that by the way, have
a ton of employees. They answer the phone quickly.
They've got people answering all the questions
that there's a lot of questions, right? Even
this color blue if i place the order i said blue
they'll have to say well what color blue is it
a royal blue is a dark blue is a navy blue what
do you want so questions are so important but
i'm trying to say is that there is a lot and
if you don't have the funding for it maybe you
want to be a smaller supplier and maybe you're
going to be a supplier in your market area. And
maybe you're saying to yourself, you know what,
maybe I don't need the industry. You don't have
to have it. We're just trying to help you to
see if you have it. So I think with my time with
score and when I was with score here in the United
States as a certified business mentor, I did
have a lot of companies coming to me saying,
I have this product that they're so excited about
it. And we want to not crush your dream, but
we want to make sure that. The ideation of it
is correct and i think that all businesses no
matter if you're just got one product piece that
you're selling you need to kind of do your own
internals swat analysis yeah like all of that
is so important because before we start to take
you on this journey we want to make sure that
the ideation is going to become. a business and
that we don't and all of a sudden three months
down the road go Lisa I don't know I think move
on Lisa that's the only advice I have for you
we don't want to do that we want to make sure
that you could take this to fruition that's really
important for us so I think that we've got an
amazing podcast it's not scripted you guys we're
real we don't have any papers around us all I
have is my pocketbook here with my little lipstick
to put on but honestly we're here to give Real
life information and to even take answers and
take questions at this is going to be up and
where i'm not gonna edit out the silly things
that i may say lisa. We're here to take answers
everyone that's a new thing so i'm excited about
this because we're coming from the distributor
view we're coming from the end user view cuz
we buy two. And we're coming from years of experience
going to the trade shows, understanding the industry,
having clients that are suppliers, having clients
that are distributors. So we see a whole picture.
And between us, without saying our ages, 70 years
of wisdom. Yes, yes. And other guests that we'll
have on the podcast bring perspectives as well.
And Adrienne, I want to touch on something you
mentioned, which is the choice of a geographical
focus to establish your footprint. I found that
to be a brilliant way for a bootstrap approach
to building your brand and testing the market.
That's a great way to see if the industry has
an appetite for what you're selling. And we can
also help with a competitive analysis within
the industry to determine is there white space
in the industry for your product. and then help
you figure out the pricing on it. So we're giving
you a lot of information in this short little
sort of intro podcast, but our goal is to get
you hooked and have you be thinking, okay, what
can I learn from Adri and Lisa and their guests
next time? Because we've lived through a lot
of onboarding of unique suppliers into the industry
and not everybody makes it. So part of the analysis
that Adrian was mentioning is let's do a strategy
discussion about whether you can make it and
what it takes to make it. The industry has varied
between 26 billion to 36 billion over the past
five years. I don't know where we'll land in
2025, but certainly there's room for boutique,
unique suppliers to keep the industry fresh and
give our distributor partners and sales reps
fresh new products to sell to their end user
customers. So we're excited to get to know people.
We're excited for people to join the podcast
and learn how this all unfolds. I love it, Lisa.
I'm excited too. And maybe eventually we'll do
a test. We'll get someone to say, Hey, I would
like some free. Advice from you and we'll have
them come in. So if that's you we brought that
to you. Yeah Yes, we'll we'll mark it right here
and show you what we it's so many things. Yeah
Share products your ideas. I love that. I'm gonna
say one thing. I think that one of the most important
departments for Suppliers is your accounting
department. So we're gonna show you the things
that are different We don't think the same way
Lisa is so unique and what she has done. I am
also her outreach to the community via the industry
is a beautiful thing. So we'll definitely want
to tune into that, Lisa, and all that you have
to offer and why that makes such good sense to
be part of the regional associations and the
different parts that you're in. So yeah, I'm
excited, Lisa. Let's go. We got our first one
in the queue here. So we're going to be back.
And we're going to start to promote this and
we hope that you say you want to be on the show.
So Lisa, we'll get it together for our next one
on what we're going to talk about. But you guys
have a gist of it. There's so much, boy, we could
talk for hours. We can keep this about 30 minutes.
We'll keep it a 30 minute show so we've got the
notes and all of that. And Lisa, take us out.
Thank you everybody for tuning in. This is only
the beginning. If you have a creative idea. You
are excited about something or even you came
across something you're not sure. Come talk to
us about it. We'd love to hear from you and we'll
see you next time. Thank you. Bye, everyone.
Bye. Thanks for tuning into the promo playbook.
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We want to hear from you. Until next time, stay
smart, stay strategic, and keep growing your
supplier success.