Welcome to the promo playbook, the podcast where
suppliers come to win in the promotional products
industry. We're your hosts, Lisa Faustek 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.
Welcome everybody to this episode of the promo
playbook. Adrienne and I are so excited to introduce
Kim Ballerine. She is part of the promo playbook
and she has been in the industry for a number
of years representing Corksicle and she's here
to talk about the idea of supplier relationships
and bringing a brand such as Corksicle into the
promotional product space. Kim, may I ask you
to introduce yourself and tell the audience a
little bit about your background? Absolutely.
Well, first, thank you ladies for having me.
I'm super excited. So my name is Kim. I am the
director of sales at Quirksicle. If you're not
familiar with the brand, we are a lifestyle brand.
We offer a line of drinkware, barware, coolers,
coffee, home, pretty much anything. They think
of that might make elevate your day and make
your moments brighter and so i've been a quick
circle since they launched in two thousand eleven.
I was in the sales and marketing role and then
i moved over to sales where i jumped. Feet first
into the promo market and that's what i'm excited
to share with you today i've been selling into
market for almost nine years now. Wow and you're
living to tell the tale i'm living to tell the
tale and i have a couple bruises here and there
but it's all good and we also have on the podcast
today adrian barker when i say hello adrian of
course of course hello hello hello lisa i'm kind
of curious so before you actually came into you
brought the brand into the promo industry where
were you selling at that time when i found you
retail yes so we are primary retail brands so
you'll find us in. a lot of boutique retailers
like your hallmark stores, your local gift shops.
We also work with big retail brands like Afflead,
Tommy Bahama. We've got a big footprint in golf,
outdoor resorts, all the above. Most of our business
is retail focused. And then we also then focus
on sort of that non -retail, which would cover
promotional products, fundraising, nonprofits,
that type stuff. Ooh, I'm looking forward to
this conversation because this is juicy. All
right, take it away, Lisa. Well, there's many
things I want to talk to you about, Kim. I think
I wanted to start with, tell us about your initial
journey. How did you decide to enter the market
and what were your first steps? Yeah, really,
we sort of haphazardly fell into the market.
We had a lot of customers who owned Quirksicles,
loved them. And then we're calling customer service
saying, hey, can you guys decorate this? I'd
love to give this as a gift to my employees or
to new home buyers. And so we really started
organically with our own customer base. And then
little by little, we're like, hey, we're getting
a lot of phone calls. And maybe this is something
we should look into. So we took the dive and
started to do some research and figure out what
is this thing called promotional products? And
how do we go after it? And it should be easy,
right? It's just slapping a logo and shipping
it out the door. And that easiness lasted about
maybe six months before we realized, nope, there's
a lot more to it than that. Yeah. Yeah. So that's
great insight for our listeners that. There's
so many layers to the promotional product space
that you might not have a clear vision of before
you do enter the market. So tell us a little
bit about what were some of your main roadblocks
in the beginning. I think for us, it's different
than it's different than retail, right? Retail
is you're putting, we did some customization
on that side, but there's really no, it needs
to be in a store by specific deadline. Right.
Everything's sort of rolling. It's a lot. It's
a lot more casual of an atmosphere. But when
you get into promotional products and where you're
looking at event business, specific dates for
gifting, there's a lot that goes into that. Like
you can't miss an order. You have to have the
stock. There's a lot of, I want to say customization
beyond just the product. But sometimes people
want things kitted where they want to put a note
in it or They want to drop ship to individual
employees or clients. Those are things that just
aren't in our core set as a retail brand, and
you can't just flip a switch and make that happen.
Understood, understood. The intricacies of decorating,
virtual proof approvals, all the layers and steps
that go into a promotional product, successful
delivery of an order. But I think, Adrienne?
So just want to say another thing that i would
think would be very difficult it's not you and
your team really selling and you're selling it
but. It's your weight you're hoping that the
distributor will also do it justice that they.
Understand how to place the order that they don't
make a mistake that they pick the right color
so i always felt as a supplier it's so like to
me that's the biggest challenge because you got
a train and these distributors can either be.
Brands thinking new and just walked out in a
networking group and someone said corks a call
there They have no clue or you have someone sophisticated,
but either way they both can kind of come with
like issues and the problem So how do you handle
that part of it when it's really the actual part
of selling is not in your hands? Yeah, no, that's
actually a great point for many brands I mean
for us and I'm assuming for many brands to is
an evolution, right? We jumped in first thinking
we could do it realized There's a lot that we
need to learn. So walk through those process
and then realize maybe we need a partner out
there. What type of partner does that look like?
Do we sell direct to a distributor? Do we partner
with the supplier? There are pros and cons to
both sides of those. And then once you make that
decision and picking a lane, then it's okay.
Now I'm going to give up some control here because
you are. It's like the Kevin Bacon, you're six
degrees away from the end user. So now as the
brand, I don't have control over that selling.
I don't really know how it's being positioned.
I don't know who else they're selling with. Am
I the only drinkware brand? Am I not? How is
my pricing? There's all kinds of questions. So
you're sort of giving up that control too, which
is a little different than when you go out on
a loan. So I think that when you're looking at
a partner, you have to think of all those questions.
But when you're first starting, you actually
don't know what questions to even ask. So I think
that's one of the things I'm excited. So with
our consulting is we've gone through that. So
we sort of know those questions to ask and we
can really help a brand of any size figure out
the best. the best route to take or combinations
of routes to take. And accelerate the journey
for them. So we're able as a brain trust here
to keep folks from making mistakes. And some
of those things that come to mind, Kim, one of
the things I was hoping you could talk about
is the difference between the lifespan of a product
in retail. and the lifespan of a product in promo
because one is shorter than the other. So can
you talk about that a little bit? Yeah. I mean,
that falls under that big umbrella of inventory,
right? And there's a couple challenges there
that are just things to be aware of. First is
just the volume that you can get out of the promo
industry. As a retail brand, we hold inventory,
certain levels of inventory, but we really We
really forecast that based on buying patterns
of our retailers. But you could get a 5 ,000
unit order that completely changes your inventory
in one day. So having a good partnership with
whoever you're using in the industry and understanding
what that volume looks like really set you up
for success just to deliver overall. But then
as a brand we have very fine cool colors and
we launch twice a year and we're constantly bringing
things in and out so a lot of our life cycle
might be six to twelve months on a product but
in rate in the promo world you really want eighteen
to twenty four because you're selling into programs
it takes a while to get set up by the time people
really know about it you're already six months
in and so. that can be challenging because you
want to hook them with the color, but you might
not have that color for very long. So being able
to find a partner who can recognize, I think
this color would do well and then make that financial
investment to buy that inventory so that you
can have a longer life cycle is really important.
That is awesome, awesome insight. And I'm wondering
as a bigger brand evolves, if they would look
at retaining certain products just for promo,
even if they're discontinuing them in the retail
space. Yes, and we have done that as well. We've
taken colors where we'll extend that life cycle,
or our supplier who is Genline will buy that
overseas and continue to bring it in the line,
even if we don't offer it on the retail. I like
to spin it as then it's an exclusive color. Yeah
the industry benefit for sure benefit for sure
yeah i mean inventory is the maker break. Discussion
all the time is do you have accurate inventory
tracking especially with multiple sales channels.
I did have a client that struggled with that
like they had so many sales channels amazon retail
direct to consumer b2b and promo that they had
trouble sort of coordinating and keeping their
inventory. spot on and accurate. Um, so I don't
know if either of you have run into that, but
that's something I keep top of mind as I work
with new brands is how do we get our arms around
that? I just want to say, Kim, I think it was
really smart of you that before that you, you
understood the industry enough to, I think that
a lot of people will jump into the industry thinking,
oh my God, this is a whole nother avenue of sales
and they don't know anything about it. But the
fact that you were saying you You did ASI before
you got the feeling. And even I recommend for
someone that's coming into the industry as a
supplier, attend a trade show. Attend a bigger
one so you can, without selling anything, just
walk the show. And really, and then there's specific
things that I have them look for to really understand
what it is, what's taking place. Listen to the
conversations. Cause I think there's a lot that
can be learned just from, don't just jump in.
It's I guess what I'm trying to say. We have
two big shows and plenty of smaller ones that
you could jump into to learn. Yes. Absolutely.
When we first went down this journey, I spoke
to suppliers. I spoke to distributors. I spoke
to end users. I went to Google, right? I Googled
about the industry. We were an ASI member when
we first jumped in. So I went to that trade show
and it's a quirky industry. It's a great industry,
but it's definitely quirky and you really do
have to know, you have to walk the walk and talk
the talk because if you don't, I think it's very
easy to make some missteps and you won't be as
successful as you probably could if you don't
understand it. Yeah, great point. So that sort
of leads me to the topic of the intricacies of
decoration and delivering on time in the beginning,
right? If you're a new supplier in the industry
and you're not set up to automate tracking and
you're not set up to automate proofs, what was
that like for you guys in the beginning? How
did you deal with your decoration? So when we
first jumped in, we actually had a partner that
we outsourced. Basically, we outsourced our decorating.
We had a pad print partner and we had a laser
game partner. Because we do customize for both
sides of our business, our promotional product
and our retail, and we do a lot of customization
and golf, outdoor resorts, that type stuff, we
ended up bringing and creating a custom shop
internally. So we actually have our own pad prints,
digital, all of that. That itself was its own
undertaking, because that's its own business.
Yes, yes. Right? The printing, like that is its
own business that we sort of we're plugging into
our retail business. And so it does give us that
opportunity to do that decoration. But for promo,
it doesn't give us really the volume, the opportunity
to have like the volume that comes through it,
the quick turn that a supplier might be able
to do. We have much longer lead times. We don't
do kidding. We don't do special boxing. Like
it's very sort of bare bones. And that's where
I think that takes you so far. And then you need
to find other avenues to continue to grow that
business, whether it's through a distributor,
a supplier, even some of the MOQ, like online
platforms, where you're selling just blank product
and they are decorating on your behalf. All good
nuggets for our audience. Yes. Different ways
that you can find sales partners to help you
grow your brand. And all of us have lived those
partnerships in different ways, which is fantastic.
So, Kim, can I direct you to talking a little
bit about how the partnerships worked out? So
you went down that road with a couple of suppliers
in the industry. So tell us sort of the pros
of that. How did that work out and what were
the gold nuggets of that process? Yeah, you know,
well, we so when we started this, I mean, eight
years, it doesn't sound really that long, but
the industry has changed so much. over the past
couple years and really think COVID just like
with so many things pushed even further stuff
to change. So we started on our own, as I mentioned,
and then we partnered with Hersh gift. So we
partnered with a really good supplier in the
industry. And we learned a lot through them.
And then we also partnered with them for a couple
years. And then we partnered with Gemline, who
we're a partner with now. At the time, we did
have two. So we did have Hirsch and Gemline together
for a little bit. And then we ended up moving
all business over to Gemline. And really, that
was just because there was a lot of overlap in
the market. And we wanted to make sure that we
didn't come down to a price war. It was a niggle
and diming, which I think is really important
and something that's overlooked as a retail brand,
right? We work really hard on the retail side
to keep a specific, to keep your brand and to
have your value and your qualities and all those
things. And you don't want to jump into the promo
market and lose all that, right? You want to
make sure to keep it because that's what keeps
you special. And so we work with Gemline right
now in the market and they're a fantastic partner.
I mean, they're a top supplier. I think they
are one of the best in terms of really presenting
the brand. They don't make it transactional.
It's not about a Tumblr or a canteen, but it's
about a story. It's about a lifestyle, which
works really well with how we position ourselves
in the market. I think as we move forward, there's
a lot going on in the industry. There's online
platforms coming. MOQ1 is becoming more important.
So I think as we sort of look at what might happen
in the next two, three, five years, I think that
strategy might change a little bit, right? We
may look at other partners out there that feed
a different audience than Gemline does. It's
a really big piece of the pie. And not one person
can cover all of it. But I think you do need
to be really strategic to find the partners to
address each of the little functions. Because
you don't want to overwhelm the market or your
partner or your partner to yeah, yeah So there's
lots of nuances to it anything on your mind Adrian.
I thought I saw your hand up for a second I'm
loving this conversation because in my mind what
I'm thinking I think it's too soon to like vomit
this all over everyone but can make it sound
like it's so easy and I'm just thinking in my
mind how many hours of conversation how many
tests they have to do and then I Exactly. Nine
years, you said, right? Nine years. Exactly.
Yeah. And it's not like we picked up the phone
and we're like, hey, Gemline, would you like
us? I mean, it was months in process. And then
it was, you're also setting up contracts, right?
And so you want to make sure that both parties
are benefiting. from those contracts and then
you're setting everything up in the system and
that takes a while and then you have to watch
and it's really a year before I feel like before
the industry knows that you're there and that
you really start to get momentum and see sort
of the power and the opportunity that's in front
of you so. I know it's always easy on these short
podcasts to be like, ooh, and we did this, and
we did this, and it was so easy. But it wasn't.
It's a lot of conversation. It's a lot of trial
and error. And a lot of patience, quite frankly.
You have to be patient, because it takes a little
bit. Yeah. So I want to dive in for a second
into the idea of adoption in the industry. Oh
my god, that's so crazy. I was just going to
say, Kim, it's like you got to give up your baby.
and say, okay, here's my baby, treat it well,
take care of it, give people the right answers,
all of that. I was gonna interrupt to say that
and then you mentioned adoption. So I can't wait,
I'm all ears. So yeah, you have to build credibility,
trust with your audience, our distributor members,
because we have to remember this is how everybody
makes their living, right? Every single order
is money in the bank for our distributors to
live their lives. pay their mortgages and take
care of their kids. So I personally feel like
this great responsibility to deliver a great
supplier experience so that my distributor partners
can make their livings. So building that trust,
that credibility, that takes time. I find it
to be over the past five years of working with
brands, a two to three to five year progression.
And it's really important to dedicate yourself
and commit to the industry. So to stand out in
the noise is a challenge like any other sales
market. I think sometimes folks come to promo
thinking it's an easier path when actually it's
a harder path and you really have to commit,
have some resources. I'm not saying you can't
bootstrap it. You can. And I did that with branded
treats. And I know, Adrienne, you've done it
with some smaller suppliers. Absolutely, you
can bootstrap success. But it's the same principles.
Focus on building your brand, whether you do
it regionally, whether you do it with a select
national group, or whether you partner with a
bigger supplier, or all of those things. It's
having a roadmap. sticking to your plan and working
your plan. But the biggest piece I find for me
is building that trust. What do you think? Okay,
so my the biggest one to me is first of all,
do your own SWAT analysis. Know your sweat and
then take a little time to imagine every scenario
of the worst that can happen and come up with
a solution because in the industry problems are
going to happen. It's how it's going to be handled
and After my thirty five years i can recall suppliers
that are very happy to put the blame right back
on you everything it's your fault that there's
plenty of suppliers that don't do that so whatever
happens you have to know how to handle the situation
correctly and that's a tough one that is to be
one of the tough one so before you go in the
industry look at everything what's gonna happen
if you sell five thousand. By the way, I got
some gifts of Corksicle and I absolutely love
them. I literally took it. I would never travel
with something, but I took to Mexico last year
because I'm like, these are so good. The only
problem with Corksicle is that I am like a mudslide
girl. And the problem is, is that I literally
had to like take off the cover. It stayed cold
and like 95 degree weather. And I'm like, I can't
even drink it. I had to let it warm up a little
bit because it really works. But anyways, you
know, what if you open up a box and all of a
sudden a $5 ,000 order and then you open it and
it's like the wrong product or the wrong imprint
or anything like that. So consider all the things
that could go wrong and get your solution and
be known as a supplier that cares enough. Don't
say we never make a mistake. Here's how we fix
the mistakes. Here's what we're going to do.
I think that's an important like bucket to have
ready. So that's my tip. Yeah, I love that, Adrienne.
And part of that is knowing how to prepare, knowing
the process, knowing how to take care of your
distributors, knowing the steps that are so crucial
to delivering a successful order on time, all
the things you just said. And the key to that
really is having someone dedicated to the market
internally. I do think that that makes a big
difference. That is my job. My job is to ensure
that our partners have everything they need that
they are responded to right away. That if we
have a challenge together, we can overcome it.
We can both compromise. We can give or take and.
having somebody internally dedicated to that,
not as an afterthought. It doesn't have to be
100 % of a person. It could be 50 % of a person,
but it can't be 5 % because you won't set yourself
up for success. And I think that's important
because you need that person to also still ride
your partners, just like on your retail side,
we ride your rep. Super insightful. Making sure
that they're selling what you have. Yeah, so
you need an advocate inside both. So within a
bigger brand, and you know, I've experienced
this in a bigger brand, is the company behind
the channel? Is the company bought in? Are they
dedicated? Or are they still in checking it out
mode, which is okay, too. But ultimately, when
your brand commits, make sure that you're truly
committing. Now, whether that's with a group
like the promo playbook or whether that's a dedicated
salary person within your organization. You need
an advocate within the bigger framework to make
sure that all of the services are executed. And
that can take time to you guys. That can take
a year, 16 months, 18 months. So we're not trying
to scare anybody. We just really want you to
be realistic about what it takes. to grow your
brand in the market. Now, if you come into the
market and you only want to maybe do 100 ,000,
add 100 ,000 to your bottom line, that's a different
conversation. But if you really want to create
a robust channel in promo, Kim, you've shared
some amazing insight on how to do that as a big
brand that has the budget to dedicate to standing
out in the industry. You've done it so successfully.
Congratulations. That's exciting. I think I wanted
to maybe direct our conversation to your successes,
what you look as the big wins with Corexical,
and then a few things that you might do different.
Yeah. So I think for us jumping in, we didn't
know, right? I wish we actually had a bit of
more of a roadmap for someone to guide us to
know what to expect. I think it would have helped
along, definitely along the way. I mean, I'm
really proud of where we are. In the space, we
are a good, I think, recognized as a really good
trend. I think Gemline has done a fantastic job
positioning us in the market. I really like how
they present us at PPAI, and you look at the
show, and I go booth to booth, and I see how
different people are, how the different suppliers
attack the market. I really am impressed of how
the Gemline team does in that. We do great volume.
I mean, it's a healthy business. Yes. Awesome.
And, you know, we're, like I said, we are retail,
but this isn't, you know, we started down this
path thinking, oh, this would be just a little
piece. It's a significant piece for us. And we're
proud of that. Yeah, congratulations. We're proud
of that fact. I think, in terms of things we
would do different, I don't know, maybe if I
had your... from a playbook to refer back to.
I would make some of those changes at different
times. I think just keeping up and understanding
the shifts in the market. I think really not
sort of resting on your morals, which I think
we did. I mean, I did. I think it was like, oh,
this is going really well. It's great. Like sit
back. And then you're like, oh, what was that
bump? Oh, wait, maybe another one. And then you
have to react. Yeah. Right. So I think even if
you're having success out of the gate, Just not
losing sight and really having your pulse on
things so that you can make changes and adapt
or explore and expand depending on what you're
sort of bringing is something that I recommend.
just really being involved in it. Yeah. And it
sounds to me like being dialed into your KPIs,
making sure that you're hitting the milestones,
having your team dialed in, whether that's your
distributor team, whoever's on your team, or
even if it's just yourself, measuring yourself
against the milestones. And trust your gut too,
right? I mean, we're in an industry that loves
black and white. and maybe blue is like, woo.
And if you get a little bit of a pattern, it's
like, hopefully go. And that's not our DNA as
a brand. But we're pushing. I mean, we push.
And Gemline's been willing to test those markets.
And we've got a walnut. We've got a pink. And
we've got now a blue and a desert and color,
actually, in the market, which is refreshing,
I think. And it's resonating well, so I think
sometimes you just if your retail brand too and
you're seeing some trends on the retail side,
don't be afraid. to push your partners to test
that too, because it does make a difference.
If anything, it sets you apart. Yeah. Yeah. And
I do believe that retail, it continues to try
and promote. Adrienne may remember in the early
days, all we had to sell was white t -shirt,
bumper stickers, and buttons. Wait, wait, jar
grips, jar grips. Jar grips. Yeah. Shout out
to me. I think my biggest takeaway of this conversation,
yeah, because I remember the one sheet, so just
the page, but the biggest conversation, the biggest
key takeaway for me that I love is that it was
the users that said, we love this product, we
want to decorate it. What is custom decorating
look? And then I say kudos to Corsical for saying,
hey, we're going to listen, we're going to hear,
and we're going to investigate because who knows
if you would be here if you didn't hear. that
call out for requests. So, and I think that's
good for any supplier that may be in the retail
and is listening to it. Don't like to ignore
it. Think about maybe, because if that's what
they're asking for, then give the people what
they're asking for. So I love that, like right
from the start that you guys were smart enough
to do that, Kim. And then of course you picked
two amazing suppliers and shout out to Gemline.
And Hersh. I love Peter. Thank you for today.
That was fantastic. We'll be bringing you back
and Kim will be part of the team interviewing
other guests and we're going to dive into national
accounts on our next session. So hang in there,
come back and visit us again and we'll talk to
you soon. Awesome. Thank you, Kim and Lisa. Thanks
for tuning into the promo playbook. If you found
value in today's episode, be sure to subscribe
and leave us a review. Got a topic you'd love
us to cover? Connect with us on LinkedIn. We
want to hear from you. Until next time, stay
smart, stay strategic, and keep growing your
supplier's success.