WEBVTT 00:00:02.329 --> 00:00:05.129 Welcome to the promo playbook, the podcast where 00:00:05.129 --> 00:00:07.650 suppliers come to win in the promotional products 00:00:07.650 --> 00:00:10.869 industry. We're your hosts, Lisa Faustik and 00:00:10.869 --> 00:00:13.949 Adrienne Barker, bringing you insider insights, 00:00:14.490 --> 00:00:17.170 expert strategies, and no fluff advice to help 00:00:17.170 --> 00:00:20.449 suppliers navigate the promo channel like pros. 00:00:21.250 --> 00:00:24.170 From marketing to distributors to mastering software 00:00:24.170 --> 00:00:27.370 onboarding, we cover it all. Whether you're new 00:00:27.370 --> 00:00:30.149 to the industry or ready to scale up, this is 00:00:30.149 --> 00:00:33.259 your playbook for success. Let's get started. 00:00:34.820 --> 00:00:37.659 Hey everybody, welcome back to the promo playbook. 00:00:38.060 --> 00:00:40.600 So glad you could join us. Today we're going 00:00:40.600 --> 00:00:43.899 to dive into the subject of the different types 00:00:43.899 --> 00:00:47.619 of distributors that suppliers can sell to. And 00:00:47.619 --> 00:00:50.859 the term buying group is often used as a general 00:00:50.859 --> 00:00:54.399 term to describe these different types of distributors. 00:00:54.799 --> 00:00:57.079 But what we have learned over the years is that 00:00:57.079 --> 00:00:59.869 they're very different. There are national distributor 00:00:59.869 --> 00:01:04.049 organizations like Halo, Geiger, American Solutions. 00:01:04.549 --> 00:01:07.370 There are affiliate networks like I Promote You 00:01:07.370 --> 00:01:10.750 and Kaiser and Blair. There are franchise companies 00:01:10.750 --> 00:01:14.569 like Proforma and Fully Promoted. Technology 00:01:14.569 --> 00:01:17.450 and enablement platforms like CommonSkew and 00:01:17.450 --> 00:01:20.849 Facilis. True buying groups like Reciprocity 00:01:20.849 --> 00:01:24.049 Road and Premier Group. There's a lot to dive 00:01:24.049 --> 00:01:28.040 into. So we're going to pick this up. Thank you, 00:01:28.439 --> 00:01:31.079 Adrian and Kim, for joining me on this call. 00:01:31.540 --> 00:01:34.120 And since you both have experience with this, 00:01:34.519 --> 00:01:36.420 you know, we were sort of debating before we 00:01:36.420 --> 00:01:38.980 got on our podcast how many of these there are 00:01:38.980 --> 00:01:41.859 in the industry. And we're not really sure. I 00:01:41.859 --> 00:01:44.920 think there's at least 20 and maybe as many as 00:01:44.920 --> 00:01:49.040 50. So if folks out in our audience know of some 00:01:49.040 --> 00:01:51.260 of these groups that they could bring to our 00:01:51.260 --> 00:01:54.170 attention, we would love that. But we are going 00:01:54.170 --> 00:01:58.829 to focus today on finding the right person. How 00:01:58.829 --> 00:02:02.090 do you decide on your strategy to pitch yourself 00:02:02.090 --> 00:02:05.230 to these big buying groups? And is it the right 00:02:05.230 --> 00:02:09.689 choice for your supplier at this time? So Adrienne, 00:02:09.689 --> 00:02:12.330 I'm going to ask you first, what's your opinion 00:02:12.330 --> 00:02:17.210 on going after a large, let's say, buying group 00:02:17.210 --> 00:02:20.159 or affiliate network out of the gate? So I love 00:02:20.159 --> 00:02:22.520 that question. So first of all, I think out of 00:02:22.520 --> 00:02:27.000 the gate, you should start smaller unless you 00:02:27.000 --> 00:02:30.000 really want to have proof of performance. So 00:02:30.000 --> 00:02:32.840 I think that's really important. So let's just 00:02:32.840 --> 00:02:36.060 say you've gone to, you've got have a consultant, 00:02:36.520 --> 00:02:38.960 you have everything you need and you're like, 00:02:39.180 --> 00:02:42.180 okay, I'm ready. Now, are you ready on the inside 00:02:42.180 --> 00:02:44.740 with the right support? Is everyone trained? 00:02:44.759 --> 00:02:48.139 Because in order to get to, and let's just say 00:02:48.139 --> 00:02:51.699 number one, Halo, in order to get to halo, you 00:02:51.699 --> 00:02:53.580 gotta have a lot of things set up and you've 00:02:53.580 --> 00:02:56.680 gotta have your accounting. And there's so much 00:02:56.680 --> 00:02:59.460 Lisa, I'm gonna just stop and say, you have to 00:02:59.460 --> 00:03:02.500 make sure as a supplier, no matter where you're 00:03:02.500 --> 00:03:05.080 selling to, that you have a very strong accounting 00:03:05.080 --> 00:03:08.719 department. That is probably the most important. 00:03:09.159 --> 00:03:11.659 Lisa can say, no, no, it's the decoration is 00:03:11.659 --> 00:03:14.139 the most important. And Kim can say, no, no, 00:03:14.139 --> 00:03:16.020 it's getting out there and making the sales calls. 00:03:16.039 --> 00:03:18.939 But to me, it's gonna come down to your accounting. 00:03:19.129 --> 00:03:21.949 department. That is what's going to make a big 00:03:21.949 --> 00:03:26.349 difference. I love that insight and we can unpack 00:03:26.349 --> 00:03:29.009 why that's important. And one of those things 00:03:29.009 --> 00:03:32.750 is a lot of these groups ask for a rebate and 00:03:32.750 --> 00:03:35.909 they want to understand that you can pay this 00:03:35.909 --> 00:03:40.169 rebate and you need to have some money in your 00:03:40.169 --> 00:03:43.909 bucket to be able to promote yourself at a national 00:03:43.909 --> 00:03:47.210 or a big buying group. So we're getting a little 00:03:47.370 --> 00:03:49.909 ahead of ourselves. But that's a great point, 00:03:50.210 --> 00:03:53.129 Adrienne, that you need to have a strong accounting 00:03:53.129 --> 00:03:56.789 department or a strong outsourced accounting 00:03:56.789 --> 00:03:59.629 partner that's doing your accounting for you. 00:03:59.650 --> 00:04:02.090 So thanks for bringing that up. That's great 00:04:02.090 --> 00:04:05.530 insight. What do you think, Kim? I agree. I feel 00:04:05.530 --> 00:04:08.729 like you have to crawl and then lock and then 00:04:08.729 --> 00:04:12.289 run in this industry. And I think you need to, 00:04:12.289 --> 00:04:14.370 to your point, Adrienne, you have to start small, 00:04:14.530 --> 00:04:18.279 like get the easy stuff done first. before you 00:04:18.279 --> 00:04:21.579 get bigger because the larger the distributor 00:04:21.579 --> 00:04:25.240 or partner, the more complex. And if you haven't 00:04:25.240 --> 00:04:28.980 mastered just the basic, get an order, figure 00:04:28.980 --> 00:04:32.259 out your proofing, get it out the door, get your 00:04:32.259 --> 00:04:36.180 invoice out and get paid at a small scale, you're 00:04:36.180 --> 00:04:37.860 definitely not going to figure it out at a large 00:04:37.860 --> 00:04:40.439 scale. Yeah. So really, really good insight. 00:04:40.600 --> 00:04:44.019 So get your house in order first before you put 00:04:44.019 --> 00:04:46.639 some of these bigger partners on your roadmap. 00:04:47.500 --> 00:04:51.319 So when you are ready to go after some of these 00:04:51.319 --> 00:04:55.079 folks, how do you decide which ones and how much 00:04:55.079 --> 00:04:58.339 of a commitment is that? Adrienne, you mentioned 00:04:58.339 --> 00:05:01.459 Halo. That's a great example. That's sort of 00:05:01.459 --> 00:05:05.339 the top of the mountain, right? Super well -known, 00:05:05.420 --> 00:05:08.500 respected group where you want to show up and 00:05:08.500 --> 00:05:12.379 not really make any mistakes. How would you even 00:05:12.379 --> 00:05:14.899 get in front of the right person at Halo to be 00:05:14.899 --> 00:05:18.360 able to know what the process is to be onboarded? 00:05:18.740 --> 00:05:21.459 So that's one thing is how do you network to 00:05:21.459 --> 00:05:24.699 find out who the vendor relations person is or 00:05:24.699 --> 00:05:27.019 who the right person is that you can even pitch 00:05:27.019 --> 00:05:29.879 your supplier company to? What do you guys think 00:05:29.879 --> 00:05:34.959 about that? I have the answer. To me, they're 00:05:34.959 --> 00:05:37.610 on LinkedIn. They really are on LinkedIn. I mean, 00:05:37.610 --> 00:05:39.990 obviously you could pick up the phone and say 00:05:39.990 --> 00:05:42.509 supplier vendor relations. First of all, just 00:05:42.509 --> 00:05:44.889 knowing that terminology is great. So it's either 00:05:44.889 --> 00:05:48.129 called supplier relations, vendor relations, 00:05:48.129 --> 00:05:51.889 and the smaller distributors may even have someone 00:05:51.889 --> 00:05:53.790 that handles it. I think it makes sense for any 00:05:53.790 --> 00:05:57.149 company to have that supplier relations person 00:05:57.149 --> 00:05:59.529 that's going to handle the communication. But 00:05:59.529 --> 00:06:02.610 it really is important to understand you've got 00:06:02.610 --> 00:06:05.350 to reach out to them and you're going. So first 00:06:05.350 --> 00:06:07.259 of all, can we just back it up? In order to even 00:06:07.259 --> 00:06:10.399 come into the industry, or at least into PPAI, 00:06:10.500 --> 00:06:12.420 you have to, and ASI too, you have to have proof 00:06:12.420 --> 00:06:15.740 of orders. So you have to already, this is the 00:06:15.740 --> 00:06:17.680 craziest part about it, and I don't recall if 00:06:17.680 --> 00:06:21.779 it's three or five, but you have to already prove 00:06:21.779 --> 00:06:24.459 that you have orders. So you can't just say, 00:06:24.639 --> 00:06:28.060 oh, I sold to Sally Sue. No, you have to have 00:06:28.060 --> 00:06:29.920 proof of it. You have to have the invoice. You 00:06:29.920 --> 00:06:33.740 have to have all of that. So the industry is 00:06:33.740 --> 00:06:36.089 protected. in that way. They don't just want 00:06:36.089 --> 00:06:39.490 anyone to come in and become a supplier. And 00:06:39.490 --> 00:06:42.189 then once you actually have the proof, and you're 00:06:42.189 --> 00:06:45.970 able to get a PPAI or ASI number, then you're 00:06:45.970 --> 00:06:48.029 going to move forward. I just want to like remind 00:06:48.029 --> 00:06:50.410 people that's really an important step. And yeah, 00:06:50.670 --> 00:06:52.870 working with consultant helps too, because it 00:06:52.870 --> 00:06:56.069 can help you to guide you to maybe kind of find 00:06:56.069 --> 00:06:58.850 other ways to do it or find clients that you 00:06:58.850 --> 00:07:01.829 can sell to right away. Lisa, sorry about that. 00:07:01.899 --> 00:07:04.699 No, no, that's awesome, awesome insight. And 00:07:04.699 --> 00:07:07.800 I think we can do a whole segment on that, is 00:07:07.800 --> 00:07:10.779 what do you need to even get in the industry? 00:07:10.839 --> 00:07:13.040 And I've gone through that myself with several 00:07:13.040 --> 00:07:16.220 of my consultant partners, and it is not easy. 00:07:16.660 --> 00:07:20.680 You really need to have the documentation to 00:07:20.680 --> 00:07:23.860 Adrian's point. So we can dive into that. And 00:07:23.860 --> 00:07:25.740 another reason to have a good strong partner, 00:07:25.959 --> 00:07:29.420 right? Like Gemline. or another or hers, you 00:07:29.420 --> 00:07:31.980 know, to help pave the way because they're already 00:07:31.980 --> 00:07:35.139 in the system and they're already selling to 00:07:35.139 --> 00:07:37.600 some of these national accounts that we wanted 00:07:37.600 --> 00:07:40.480 to focus a little bit on in this segment. And 00:07:40.480 --> 00:07:43.160 I'm realizing as we're talking, maybe it's premature 00:07:43.160 --> 00:07:46.920 to be talking about this today. Something you 00:07:46.920 --> 00:07:49.819 touched on, Adrienne, I wanted to unpack, which 00:07:49.819 --> 00:07:53.759 is sometimes it's your selling to a rep of one 00:07:53.759 --> 00:07:56.480 of these groups, whether it's a Geiger a Kit 00:07:56.480 --> 00:08:00.240 Kaser Blair, a Vernon, a Halo, and they fall 00:08:00.240 --> 00:08:01.980 in love with you. They fall in love with your 00:08:01.980 --> 00:08:04.740 brand. They love what you're doing. And they 00:08:04.740 --> 00:08:08.160 can be a champion for you with the vendor relations 00:08:08.160 --> 00:08:12.220 person at the national level. So a lot of what 00:08:12.220 --> 00:08:14.839 we're going back to is you have to earn your 00:08:14.839 --> 00:08:17.639 stripes. You have to prove yourself. You have 00:08:17.639 --> 00:08:20.839 to build trust. You have to be able to deliver. 00:08:21.199 --> 00:08:24.500 to be able to function as part of one of these 00:08:24.500 --> 00:08:27.920 bigger groups. Many of them do look for a lot 00:08:27.920 --> 00:08:30.699 of things. So I think I'd like to talk about 00:08:30.699 --> 00:08:33.759 that a little bit in terms of being ready. They 00:08:33.759 --> 00:08:38.279 do look for a lot of concessions, support, pricing. 00:08:38.899 --> 00:08:42.019 So what have you learned, Adrienne, through your 00:08:42.019 --> 00:08:44.799 processes about what these nationals look for 00:08:44.799 --> 00:08:47.720 or buying groups or franchises? What do they 00:08:47.720 --> 00:08:50.590 expect from their distributors? So they are going 00:08:50.590 --> 00:08:54.429 to expect from the supplier, you mean? Yes, the 00:08:54.429 --> 00:08:57.769 supplier. So first of all, we'll go back to from 00:08:57.769 --> 00:09:00.710 the accounting department to your customer support. 00:09:00.950 --> 00:09:03.669 So make sure all your departments are lined up. 00:09:03.970 --> 00:09:07.049 Make sure that you understand that samples are 00:09:07.049 --> 00:09:09.950 going to sell. Make sure you have a strong sample 00:09:09.950 --> 00:09:12.870 department. Consider, can you afford? What can 00:09:12.870 --> 00:09:16.529 you afford? Can you afford giving free samples? 00:09:16.629 --> 00:09:20.769 Can you afford Looking some suppliers i say if 00:09:20.769 --> 00:09:23.590 the distributor has a showroom i want space in 00:09:23.590 --> 00:09:26.429 that showroom what is it gonna cost you in essence 00:09:26.429 --> 00:09:30.250 of your giving free samples that's like. Getting 00:09:30.250 --> 00:09:32.730 space on the shelf that's something that we all 00:09:32.730 --> 00:09:35.769 have to do that's any of the food or retail right 00:09:35.769 --> 00:09:38.429 there looking for that right side same thing 00:09:38.429 --> 00:09:41.330 so you gotta make sure that you it comes down 00:09:41.330 --> 00:09:44.389 to having enough mula you have to make sure that 00:09:44.389 --> 00:09:47.370 you can. afford a rebate if that's what it is. 00:09:47.570 --> 00:09:50.429 And the rebates could be tough. You have to also 00:09:50.429 --> 00:09:54.070 make sure you can afford 45 days, 60 days. Some 00:09:54.070 --> 00:09:56.389 of these top ones, they could take that much 00:09:56.389 --> 00:09:59.990 time. Also, you have to make sure that you are 00:09:59.990 --> 00:10:04.590 able to dot every I and cross every T because 00:10:04.590 --> 00:10:07.350 distributors are going to make mistakes. They're 00:10:07.350 --> 00:10:09.350 going to have issues. They're not going to have 00:10:09.350 --> 00:10:11.669 rush orders. They're going to have wrong shipping 00:10:11.669 --> 00:10:14.769 information. They're gonna need things for you. 00:10:14.769 --> 00:10:16.950 How do you have quality control? I mean that 00:10:16.950 --> 00:10:19.350 list is so long, right? So my mind I'm thinking 00:10:19.350 --> 00:10:21.990 that is everything because the last thing you 00:10:21.990 --> 00:10:24.409 want to do as a supplier Is think that you're 00:10:24.409 --> 00:10:26.789 all set get your orders and then realize I don't 00:10:26.789 --> 00:10:28.409 have anyone checking the orders before they go 00:10:28.409 --> 00:10:32.049 into the box I mean that's serious, too. And 00:10:32.049 --> 00:10:35.830 also If you're looking to work with a halo, let's 00:10:35.830 --> 00:10:38.129 say we know halo works with some amazing theme 00:10:38.129 --> 00:10:40.820 parks You know, they may want to look at your 00:10:40.820 --> 00:10:42.600 factory. They may want to tour. They may want 00:10:42.600 --> 00:10:45.700 to see how are you giving bathroom breaks? Are 00:10:45.700 --> 00:10:47.980 you hiring 15 year olds here? And are they working 00:10:47.980 --> 00:10:51.320 like long hours like all of that? So this is 00:10:51.320 --> 00:10:54.139 something you have to have that 360 view of everything. 00:10:54.299 --> 00:10:56.240 Thank you for bringing that up. Do you want to 00:10:56.240 --> 00:10:58.340 add to that? And I was going to add it goes back 00:10:58.340 --> 00:11:00.440 to what we talked about in an earlier podcast. 00:11:00.980 --> 00:11:03.820 You have to have someone dedicated to this market. 00:11:04.159 --> 00:11:06.919 Everything that you just said is a great example 00:11:06.919 --> 00:11:10.379 of you can't just Be like hey i can put a logo 00:11:10.379 --> 00:11:14.399 on it check on in promo products right it goes 00:11:14.399 --> 00:11:18.440 back to being able to have a dedicated resource 00:11:18.440 --> 00:11:22.240 internally to be able to manage all of that external 00:11:22.240 --> 00:11:25.580 stuff with your distributor supplier whichever 00:11:25.580 --> 00:11:31.299 road but it's a lot it's a big checklist and 00:11:31.299 --> 00:11:33.480 if you're. You don't know what you don't know, 00:11:33.820 --> 00:11:36.120 right? And you don't want to, this is not an 00:11:36.120 --> 00:11:38.279 area where you want to learn on the job. And 00:11:38.279 --> 00:11:42.419 because you only get one or two chances, it's 00:11:42.419 --> 00:11:44.620 not three strikes and you're out. It's like one 00:11:44.620 --> 00:11:47.700 or two and that's it and like game over. And 00:11:47.700 --> 00:11:51.759 I have a whole podcast on that. Right. So I just 00:11:51.759 --> 00:11:55.600 think it reinforces the idea of that relationship 00:11:55.600 --> 00:11:57.779 and having. being really serious about getting 00:11:57.779 --> 00:11:59.500 into the market and understanding what you're 00:11:59.500 --> 00:12:02.100 jumping into. OK, so I'm hearing from both of 00:12:02.100 --> 00:12:05.120 my experts that really you got to be ready. You 00:12:05.120 --> 00:12:07.539 got to have your foundation built. You got to 00:12:07.539 --> 00:12:11.039 have your team in place. So I sort of want to 00:12:11.039 --> 00:12:15.490 go riff off that to sort of give. Lister is a 00:12:15.490 --> 00:12:18.330 quick list of all the things that one of these 00:12:18.330 --> 00:12:21.490 groups is gonna require from you so when you're 00:12:21.490 --> 00:12:24.450 thinking about going after a buying group a national 00:12:24.450 --> 00:12:27.730 franchise company you gotta find the right person 00:12:27.730 --> 00:12:30.320 internally to pitch yourself to. They're going 00:12:30.320 --> 00:12:32.820 to be looking for things like compliance, as 00:12:32.820 --> 00:12:34.779 Adrian mentioned. They're going to be looking 00:12:34.779 --> 00:12:37.860 for safety testing. They're going to be looking 00:12:37.860 --> 00:12:40.559 for making sure that you have your HR manual 00:12:40.559 --> 00:12:43.899 in place. I mean, it is a deep dive into your 00:12:43.899 --> 00:12:46.200 business. So you want to be prepared for that. 00:12:46.480 --> 00:12:49.299 They are going to ask you for assets and content 00:12:49.299 --> 00:12:52.379 to add to their database. And you actually have 00:12:52.379 --> 00:12:55.179 to administrate that. You have to go into their 00:12:55.179 --> 00:12:57.960 back ends and add your flyers and add your social 00:12:57.960 --> 00:13:01.960 media content. a blog post, an article. Now you 00:13:01.960 --> 00:13:05.240 might not even have those resources yet. So that's 00:13:05.240 --> 00:13:08.539 another thing to keep in mind that even if you 00:13:08.539 --> 00:13:11.779 are successfully onboarded, that doesn't mean 00:13:11.779 --> 00:13:14.779 that orders are going to roll in. At that point, 00:13:14.779 --> 00:13:18.600 you need to work the organization just like any 00:13:18.600 --> 00:13:21.879 other sales channel. So you need to stay relevant 00:13:21.879 --> 00:13:24.840 with that channel because you might be competing 00:13:24.840 --> 00:13:28.340 with several other suppliers in that channel. 00:13:28.460 --> 00:13:31.360 that sell what you sell. So what are your points 00:13:31.360 --> 00:13:33.700 of difference? What is the white space within 00:13:33.700 --> 00:13:36.720 that organization that you can fill? So staying 00:13:36.720 --> 00:13:39.820 relevant, staying present. A lot of these folks 00:13:39.820 --> 00:13:43.100 have their own shows. So that's an expense. Are 00:13:43.100 --> 00:13:45.659 you going to be able to attend their shows? A 00:13:45.659 --> 00:13:48.740 lot of them have sample boxes or subscription 00:13:48.740 --> 00:13:52.000 kits that you can add samples to, but that's 00:13:52.000 --> 00:13:55.500 an expense. they look for social media support 00:13:55.500 --> 00:13:59.200 many of them have their own vendor internal facebook 00:13:59.200 --> 00:14:02.919 pages where. You know you're going to be wanting 00:14:02.919 --> 00:14:05.639 to go in there and pitch your product or answer 00:14:05.639 --> 00:14:09.019 questions from the members who are looking for 00:14:09.019 --> 00:14:12.679 specific products so i think that the night we 00:14:12.679 --> 00:14:16.379 want to leave you with on nationals buying groups 00:14:16.379 --> 00:14:20.610 and franchise companies is. It's a big task. 00:14:21.009 --> 00:14:24.009 It's a big bite. And we're not saying don't do 00:14:24.009 --> 00:14:27.029 it. We're just saying be prepared, be ready, 00:14:27.230 --> 00:14:29.929 work with a group like ours that can help you 00:14:29.929 --> 00:14:33.330 navigate those spaces and try not to take on 00:14:33.330 --> 00:14:36.929 too many at once. I recommend focusing on one, 00:14:37.450 --> 00:14:40.269 getting yourself set there, establishing your 00:14:40.269 --> 00:14:43.690 brand, then move on to the next one. So we're 00:14:43.690 --> 00:14:46.409 looking forward to hearing your feedback on that. 00:14:46.519 --> 00:14:49.899 your comments. Do you want a whole other segment 00:14:49.899 --> 00:14:52.720 on this where you guys can dial in? We can do 00:14:52.720 --> 00:14:56.539 a Zoom event around this where we can have a 00:14:56.539 --> 00:15:00.159 fireside chat style panel discussion about what 00:15:00.159 --> 00:15:03.240 it takes to build your footprint and get sales 00:15:03.240 --> 00:15:07.519 with these types of clients. So any closing comments, 00:15:07.799 --> 00:15:11.100 Adrienne or Kim, on this sort of big topic? That 00:15:11.100 --> 00:15:13.720 was just so perfect, I have to say. I love the 00:15:13.720 --> 00:15:16.679 only thing I Just want to like recommend is well 00:15:16.679 --> 00:15:19.700 lisa said do one at a time, but also work with 00:15:19.700 --> 00:15:21.600 some smaller distributors You want to get some 00:15:21.600 --> 00:15:25.440 orders in my dad would always say break the ice 00:15:25.440 --> 00:15:29.200 Just break the ice get your first order in after 00:15:29.200 --> 00:15:32.779 you become a a member of the industry And so 00:15:32.779 --> 00:15:35.639 yes top and know that it's going to take a very 00:15:35.639 --> 00:15:38.100 long time And I love that you mentioned that 00:15:38.100 --> 00:15:40.860 you know about going into the show rooms and 00:15:40.860 --> 00:15:43.799 a lot of distributors they say We want someone 00:15:43.799 --> 00:15:46.320 to come in. They really, I just want to say the 00:15:46.320 --> 00:15:48.840 distributors want the suppliers. That's important 00:15:48.840 --> 00:15:51.919 to them. You know, and if you have someone that's 00:15:51.919 --> 00:15:54.879 championing for you, definitely ask them if they 00:15:54.879 --> 00:15:57.259 will go to their supplier relations and give 00:15:57.259 --> 00:16:00.159 your name and follow up to so that you have them 00:16:00.159 --> 00:16:01.919 in the back end. So don't think, well, I'm not 00:16:01.919 --> 00:16:03.860 going to ask them. No, you ask them when they 00:16:03.860 --> 00:16:06.200 tell you, we love working with you. That's important, 00:16:06.200 --> 00:16:10.240 but definitely get the business in from the small 00:16:10.240 --> 00:16:12.220 up. So you're literally going to kind of make 00:16:12.220 --> 00:16:14.799 a sandwich, and then the middle is going to be 00:16:14.799 --> 00:16:17.659 all your juice and your delicious bologna. No, 00:16:17.740 --> 00:16:19.000 I'm kidding. You're not going to eat roast beef. 00:16:20.220 --> 00:16:22.700 That's a great comment, Adrienne, and we will 00:16:22.700 --> 00:16:27.600 be having a podcast on our small to medium -sized 00:16:27.600 --> 00:16:31.100 distributors, how they really are the meat and 00:16:31.100 --> 00:16:34.620 potatoes or roast beef of the industry and how, 00:16:34.820 --> 00:16:38.289 as new suppliers, they... are your best friend 00:16:38.289 --> 00:16:41.570 and they are underserved in my opinion in the 00:16:41.570 --> 00:16:44.370 industry and could really benefit from fresh 00:16:44.370 --> 00:16:47.750 new products, fresh new approaches, fresh new 00:16:47.750 --> 00:16:50.289 partnerships. So we'll be working on that too 00:16:50.289 --> 00:16:52.649 in the future. And they're a great way to just 00:16:52.649 --> 00:16:56.490 sharpen your teeth and get it going, right? They 00:16:56.490 --> 00:16:58.909 can ride the wave with you. They absolutely can 00:16:58.909 --> 00:17:01.009 and you shouldn't, especially when you start 00:17:01.009 --> 00:17:04.720 out. don't underscore how powerful some of those 00:17:04.720 --> 00:17:07.019 small and mid -sized distributors can be. Yeah. 00:17:07.160 --> 00:17:10.859 And I was one of them myself for 11 years and 00:17:10.859 --> 00:17:15.440 Adrian also. So we know the power of the boots 00:17:15.440 --> 00:17:17.880 on the ground distributor. We love them. They're 00:17:17.880 --> 00:17:20.839 our favorites. Maybe you don't. I just want to 00:17:20.839 --> 00:17:23.180 do a shout out. Well, if we do a shout out to 00:17:23.180 --> 00:17:27.039 our regional associations under the PPAI umbrella, 00:17:27.480 --> 00:17:30.539 even just go be a member of your new supplier. 00:17:30.700 --> 00:17:33.859 Join the one that's closest to you. This is where 00:17:33.859 --> 00:17:36.660 you're going to get that small and juicy distributors. 00:17:37.140 --> 00:17:39.680 And this bigger ones are there too. So don't 00:17:39.680 --> 00:17:42.720 forget our regionals. They are there for a reason. 00:17:42.960 --> 00:17:45.359 I think we have our next topic. Yeah. Talk about 00:17:45.359 --> 00:17:48.819 regional shows. Yeah. So we have the idea of 00:17:48.819 --> 00:17:51.759 budgeting. How much money do you need? We have 00:17:51.759 --> 00:17:55.440 discussing regional shows, how to partner with 00:17:55.440 --> 00:17:58.400 small and midsize distributors. I mean, there's 00:17:58.400 --> 00:18:00.940 so much great stuff we're excited to share. So 00:18:00.940 --> 00:18:05.819 we'll see you next time. Thanks for tuning into 00:18:05.819 --> 00:18:09.160 the promo playbook. If you found value in today's 00:18:09.160 --> 00:18:11.920 episode, be sure to subscribe and leave us a 00:18:11.920 --> 00:18:15.319 review. Got a topic you'd love us to cover? Connect 00:18:15.319 --> 00:18:17.799 with us on LinkedIn. We want to hear from you. 00:18:18.460 --> 00:18:21.900 Until next time, stay smart, stay strategic, 00:18:22.099 --> 00:18:24.200 and keep growing your supplier success.