WEBVTT 00:00:02.309 --> 00:00:05.150 Welcome to The Promo Playbook, the podcast where 00:00:05.150 --> 00:00:07.650 suppliers come to win in the promotional products 00:00:07.650 --> 00:00:10.830 industry. We're your hosts, Lisa Faustek and 00:00:10.830 --> 00:00:13.910 Adrienne Barker, bringing you insider insights, 00:00:14.470 --> 00:00:17.190 expert strategies, and no fluff advice to help 00:00:17.190 --> 00:00:20.429 suppliers navigate the promo channel like pros. 00:00:21.190 --> 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 --> 00:00:33.280 your playbook for success. Let's get started. 00:00:34.880 --> 00:00:37.320 Well hello everybody and welcome back to the 00:00:37.320 --> 00:00:40.700 promo playbook. Today I'm super excited to bring 00:00:40.700 --> 00:00:43.960 it back to basics with our team of Adrian Barker 00:00:43.960 --> 00:00:46.939 and Kim Ballerine. Today we're going to dive 00:00:46.939 --> 00:00:50.460 into the foundational discussion of how do you 00:00:50.460 --> 00:00:53.719 set your pricing? How do you manage the sales 00:00:53.719 --> 00:00:56.740 process? And then how do you manage an order 00:00:56.740 --> 00:01:00.200 through to delivery? So I think we'll dive right 00:01:00.200 --> 00:01:04.019 in and talk about pricing. So pricing is a little 00:01:04.019 --> 00:01:06.319 bit unique in the promotional product space. 00:01:06.900 --> 00:01:09.159 Adrienne, can I invite you to share your view 00:01:09.159 --> 00:01:13.120 of how pricing works in the promo space? So yes, 00:01:13.120 --> 00:01:16.019 because as a supplier, you're pricing this not 00:01:16.019 --> 00:01:18.620 just for your distributor, but they have to sell 00:01:18.620 --> 00:01:21.739 it and maybe has to even sell again, right? So 00:01:21.739 --> 00:01:24.819 pricing it to me is probably one of the most 00:01:24.819 --> 00:01:27.799 difficult things. And I would say that you better 00:01:27.799 --> 00:01:30.980 do your research. And that means looking at your 00:01:30.980 --> 00:01:33.439 competition. So Lisa, I'm going to say to me, 00:01:33.560 --> 00:01:35.659 one of the most important things is where is 00:01:35.659 --> 00:01:38.680 the price? And if you're lucky enough, you'll 00:01:38.680 --> 00:01:41.319 walk a show. and you'll grab the other suppliers' 00:01:41.680 --> 00:01:43.420 prices if you're bringing something that someone 00:01:43.420 --> 00:01:46.480 else has. If you are having a unique product 00:01:46.480 --> 00:01:48.859 like a collars and company who has the things 00:01:48.859 --> 00:01:50.500 that you stick in your collar, something very 00:01:50.500 --> 00:01:53.659 unique and different that everyone may not have, 00:01:53.980 --> 00:01:56.459 then you'll price to what the value is, what 00:01:56.459 --> 00:01:58.700 you're bringing in, what makes sense. Nobody's 00:01:58.700 --> 00:02:01.299 going to spend $10 on a piece that goes into 00:02:01.299 --> 00:02:03.040 your collar to keep it straight. So it's got 00:02:03.040 --> 00:02:06.959 to make sense too. But first thing to do is see 00:02:06.959 --> 00:02:08.539 what other people are seeing. And the best way 00:02:08.539 --> 00:02:11.479 to do that is grab their catalog. I feel bad 00:02:11.479 --> 00:02:13.259 saying this, but you know what? We know it's 00:02:13.259 --> 00:02:15.560 happened. So this is this is no fluff. This is 00:02:15.560 --> 00:02:17.919 a truth. And because you not only have to look 00:02:17.919 --> 00:02:19.300 at the price, you're going to have to look at 00:02:19.300 --> 00:02:21.699 all the additional charges. So that's my thought. 00:02:22.539 --> 00:02:26.620 OK, great. So excellent suggestion. I would wrap 00:02:26.620 --> 00:02:29.400 that in the label of a competitive analysis. 00:02:29.919 --> 00:02:33.500 Do your homework. See who's selling something 00:02:33.500 --> 00:02:36.699 similar. See what they're selling it at. and 00:02:36.699 --> 00:02:40.860 then go from there. And Kim, I'd like to ask 00:02:40.860 --> 00:02:43.900 you from the brand side and the retail perspective, 00:02:44.539 --> 00:02:46.879 what do you see from that perspective when a 00:02:46.879 --> 00:02:50.479 brand is entering the promo market? Yeah, I mean, 00:02:50.580 --> 00:02:52.020 there's definitely no shame in finding out what 00:02:52.020 --> 00:02:56.280 the competition is doing. We all do it. You shop 00:02:56.280 --> 00:02:58.759 online to find your best price from a world that's 00:02:58.759 --> 00:03:03.240 no different. So that is key in setting your 00:03:03.240 --> 00:03:06.800 pricing. You also have to give up a little bit 00:03:06.800 --> 00:03:09.719 of the fact that... you know, you may think you're 00:03:09.719 --> 00:03:13.340 premier and are worthy of a certain price point, 00:03:13.379 --> 00:03:16.219 and you may get that at retail, but it doesn't 00:03:16.219 --> 00:03:20.500 always jive the same way in promo. And then again, 00:03:20.680 --> 00:03:23.159 depending on how you're going, you know, to Adrian's 00:03:23.159 --> 00:03:25.939 point, if you're a brand selling to a supplier 00:03:25.939 --> 00:03:28.259 who's then selling to a distributor and then 00:03:28.259 --> 00:03:31.360 selling to an end user, those are a lot of layers. 00:03:32.360 --> 00:03:35.439 So You've got to also figure out what does my 00:03:35.439 --> 00:03:39.780 pricing structure look like for my supplier customers? 00:03:39.780 --> 00:03:43.099 And then what does my pricing look like if you 00:03:43.099 --> 00:03:45.379 are going to do both work with suppliers and 00:03:45.379 --> 00:03:47.560 distributors? They can't be the same pricing 00:03:47.560 --> 00:03:49.800 because they're selling. That's a whole other 00:03:49.800 --> 00:03:52.840 layer. Right. So there's the different ways to 00:03:52.840 --> 00:03:54.879 look at your strategy. How do you want to go 00:03:54.879 --> 00:03:58.219 to market? Who is actually going to be purchasing 00:03:58.219 --> 00:04:01.180 like just out of the gate your product? And then 00:04:01.180 --> 00:04:03.500 you have to look at different pricing structures 00:04:03.500 --> 00:04:06.759 for each of those audiences, which is different 00:04:06.759 --> 00:04:09.360 than what you have on the retail side. Cool, 00:04:09.479 --> 00:04:11.900 cool. So thank you for that insight. I'm picturing 00:04:11.900 --> 00:04:14.960 it as a delicious layer cake, which could have 00:04:14.960 --> 00:04:18.339 two layers, three layers, four layers. And then 00:04:18.339 --> 00:04:23.879 how do you manage those layers? So I think the 00:04:23.879 --> 00:04:27.259 interesting thing about promo is the first layer 00:04:27.259 --> 00:04:31.220 is building in your profit margin for the distributor. 00:04:31.699 --> 00:04:36.240 And I often work with suppliers on the idea of 00:04:36.240 --> 00:04:39.300 key of key stoning against published retail pricing. 00:04:39.660 --> 00:04:42.699 And then sort of the expected profit margin in 00:04:42.699 --> 00:04:46.199 the industry is 40 percent. And then the distributor 00:04:46.199 --> 00:04:49.819 can play around with that as they see fit. Then 00:04:49.819 --> 00:04:52.720 we add a layer. If it's a supplier partnership, 00:04:52.920 --> 00:04:56.279 what does the supplier expect to take? So then 00:04:56.279 --> 00:04:59.310 you might want to have that layer built in where 00:04:59.310 --> 00:05:02.730 you might have to give up maybe overall 50 to 00:05:02.730 --> 00:05:07.329 60 percent margin total to sell through in the 00:05:07.329 --> 00:05:11.910 promo space. And so I want to just unpack codes 00:05:11.910 --> 00:05:16.050 a little bit. And we won't give away the industry 00:05:16.050 --> 00:05:20.290 secrets, but Adrienne, give us a little insight 00:05:20.290 --> 00:05:25.629 on the alphabet soup of the industry. The history 00:05:25.629 --> 00:05:27.470 of the codes is so interesting. We're not going 00:05:27.470 --> 00:05:29.610 to give the codes away, so suppliers, calm down, 00:05:29.709 --> 00:05:32.449 it's all good. But the history of it's so interesting, 00:05:32.529 --> 00:05:35.069 because the idea was for a catalog, that a catalog, 00:05:35.689 --> 00:05:38.269 you may look at it as a catalog, but us, we look 00:05:38.269 --> 00:05:41.689 at it as a tool. How else can a distributor sell 00:05:41.689 --> 00:05:44.269 someone else's product unless they have a tool? 00:05:44.629 --> 00:05:47.850 And back in the day, and I'll say it, I'm 63, 00:05:48.250 --> 00:05:51.529 started, went right out of college. Back in the 00:05:51.529 --> 00:05:53.069 day, that's all you had. That was your tool. 00:05:53.279 --> 00:05:55.759 It wasn't even a catalog, Vic. They were flyers, 00:05:56.000 --> 00:05:59.519 let's be honest. They were sales sheets. But 00:05:59.519 --> 00:06:01.660 that was the thing. So you had to know. So when 00:06:01.660 --> 00:06:04.279 you're on the road and my client's looking at 00:06:04.279 --> 00:06:06.720 a price, I would be able to say, oh, I could 00:06:06.720 --> 00:06:10.120 do a little better for you. Or maybe you don't 00:06:10.120 --> 00:06:12.279 show the sale price. Maybe the sale price is 00:06:12.279 --> 00:06:14.860 $4. But you are such a great salesperson, you 00:06:14.860 --> 00:06:17.160 were selling it for even over. Nobody ever said 00:06:17.160 --> 00:06:19.399 you had to stick to these prices and plenty of 00:06:19.399 --> 00:06:22.279 fantastic. distributors that offer value outside 00:06:22.279 --> 00:06:25.060 of the product itself, not just selling commodity, 00:06:25.199 --> 00:06:27.060 but whole like kind of like package with their 00:06:27.060 --> 00:06:29.879 ideas. Sure, they should sell the $4 item for 00:06:29.879 --> 00:06:33.220 $8, but it's a tool and those codes came out 00:06:33.220 --> 00:06:36.399 to make it easier. And the codes have, you sometimes 00:06:36.399 --> 00:06:38.680 have changed a little bit with how they do it. 00:06:38.680 --> 00:06:40.939 So that because at one point, you know, maybe 00:06:40.939 --> 00:06:43.220 you can Google it, maybe you can find it out, 00:06:43.459 --> 00:06:45.480 not telling you to do it. You'll get a virus 00:06:45.480 --> 00:06:49.040 if you do it, so don't do it actually. But it 00:06:49.040 --> 00:06:50.980 is something, and you may not even understand 00:06:50.980 --> 00:06:52.939 it either because it's more than just the numbers, 00:06:53.259 --> 00:06:54.980 but the only thing I can say, I'll stop right 00:06:54.980 --> 00:06:58.220 now and just say, it is an important tool for 00:06:58.220 --> 00:07:00.680 a distributor and a supplier has to recognize 00:07:00.680 --> 00:07:03.019 it. They have to understand their own numbers. 00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:06.600 Excellent, excellent input. Kim, do you have 00:07:06.600 --> 00:07:10.550 anything to add from the retail side? Took me 00:07:10.550 --> 00:07:12.250 a very long time to figure out those numbers. 00:07:12.569 --> 00:07:14.730 And even now, I still have to go back to my notes 00:07:14.730 --> 00:07:18.050 because there's two sets. And so you go from 00:07:18.050 --> 00:07:21.850 A to B to Z, like crazy. And you're like, wait, 00:07:21.850 --> 00:07:26.430 where am I again in the process? So it is, again, 00:07:26.649 --> 00:07:29.050 it's something that's different than if you are 00:07:29.050 --> 00:07:31.430 used to selling direct to a consumer or direct 00:07:31.430 --> 00:07:34.490 into the retail world. you're not used to those. 00:07:35.149 --> 00:07:37.709 But they are important. And that's really what 00:07:37.709 --> 00:07:41.329 drives it. Because that letter, certain distributors 00:07:41.329 --> 00:07:45.009 are focused on the letter. If they're not going 00:07:45.009 --> 00:07:49.990 to make a certain profit margin, game over. So 00:07:49.990 --> 00:07:53.170 it's critical for you to understand them, know 00:07:53.170 --> 00:07:57.910 how it can impact your sales, and just understanding 00:07:57.910 --> 00:08:01.730 the business overall. Yeah so great insight i 00:08:01.730 --> 00:08:04.170 think one of the things i've struggled with as 00:08:04.170 --> 00:08:07.250 i work with retail brands because my brain is 00:08:07.250 --> 00:08:10.730 so focused on promo is the difference between 00:08:10.730 --> 00:08:14.610 markup. In the retail world and margin in the 00:08:14.610 --> 00:08:18.670 promo world you know margin is a discount off 00:08:18.670 --> 00:08:22.009 the published price how would you describe markup. 00:08:23.389 --> 00:08:27.629 I live in both worlds. So I like, how do I do 00:08:27.629 --> 00:08:30.589 the different formulas? You know, for us, you 00:08:30.589 --> 00:08:32.509 know, for retail, when I'm looking at, when I'm 00:08:32.509 --> 00:08:36.070 looking at margin, really, it's your buy costs 00:08:36.070 --> 00:08:39.029 divided by your cost, you know, and so you figure 00:08:39.029 --> 00:08:42.389 out your margin. But when you're doing like mark 00:08:42.389 --> 00:08:49.019 up, it's just So you might sell something, you 00:08:49.019 --> 00:08:52.940 might buy something for $10 and sell it for $12. 00:08:53.600 --> 00:08:57.419 And so that's a 20 % mark up, but that doesn't 00:08:57.419 --> 00:09:01.440 necessarily mean that's 20 % margin, right? I 00:09:01.440 --> 00:09:03.240 mean, there may be some formulas you work that, 00:09:03.399 --> 00:09:06.179 hey, it's the same, like one divided by one is 00:09:06.179 --> 00:09:09.100 the same as one plus, it's one times one, but 00:09:09.100 --> 00:09:14.190 they're often different. You can get picked up 00:09:14.190 --> 00:09:16.389 in that depending on how you're looking at things. 00:09:16.850 --> 00:09:19.129 Yeah. So thank you. And I think part of what 00:09:19.129 --> 00:09:22.049 we provide as the team of the promo playbook 00:09:22.049 --> 00:09:24.990 is unpacking that for retail brands. Like, how 00:09:24.990 --> 00:09:27.750 do you translate your retail pricing into pricing 00:09:27.750 --> 00:09:31.250 that works in promo? And Adrienne mentioned also 00:09:31.250 --> 00:09:34.649 that there's ancillary charges in promo. There's 00:09:34.649 --> 00:09:37.549 other charges that go along with your pricing 00:09:37.549 --> 00:09:40.470 structure. So that might be a setup charge. That 00:09:40.470 --> 00:09:43.350 might be a PMS color match charge. That might 00:09:43.350 --> 00:09:47.269 be a drop ship charge. That could be an extra 00:09:47.269 --> 00:09:51.450 location charge. And those are often at a lower 00:09:51.450 --> 00:09:56.649 discount or margin because they're usually a 00:09:56.649 --> 00:10:00.759 one time fee and So the industry looks at that 00:10:00.759 --> 00:10:03.740 a little differently too. And as we coach and 00:10:03.740 --> 00:10:06.559 develop brands and suppliers who want to grow 00:10:06.559 --> 00:10:09.320 their footprint, we take a look at that. What 00:10:09.320 --> 00:10:12.620 is your competitive advantage there? And is there 00:10:12.620 --> 00:10:17.100 a marketing message that we can use around those 00:10:17.100 --> 00:10:22.379 ancillary charges? So pricing, a little tricky, 00:10:22.840 --> 00:10:26.759 interesting, multi -layered. There's codes involved. 00:10:26.899 --> 00:10:29.259 There's different ways of looking at the margin 00:10:29.259 --> 00:10:33.600 and markup. So just realize as a new supplier, 00:10:34.080 --> 00:10:36.779 you want to be educated on all those nuances. 00:10:37.000 --> 00:10:39.539 So you show up in the industry in a way that 00:10:39.539 --> 00:10:42.740 makes sense to your distributors and agencies 00:10:42.740 --> 00:10:46.320 that will be selling your product. Adrienne? 00:10:47.120 --> 00:10:49.139 So I just wanted to add a little pro tip here. 00:10:49.340 --> 00:10:52.379 Because I remember when it started with me, I 00:10:52.379 --> 00:10:54.179 actually had, you know, there were days I had 00:10:54.179 --> 00:10:55.919 like, I like, I had a little brain fart, like, 00:10:56.000 --> 00:10:57.919 Oh my God, where's, where's the numbers. This 00:10:57.919 --> 00:11:00.120 is obviously you can use computers right now, 00:11:00.340 --> 00:11:03.600 but for sale for the suppliers, you really need 00:11:03.600 --> 00:11:06.100 to train. your customer service, they should 00:11:06.100 --> 00:11:08.659 be on top of it. And, you know, they should have 00:11:08.659 --> 00:11:10.799 like the net prices. So there's not really a 00:11:10.799 --> 00:11:13.100 confusion because I know often sometimes that's 00:11:13.100 --> 00:11:15.159 a big problem. You know, you're a distributor, 00:11:15.779 --> 00:11:17.259 you're you're assuming that you're going to buy 00:11:17.259 --> 00:11:19.039 something for two and a half dollars and you're 00:11:19.039 --> 00:11:21.559 selling it for five dollars. You're not realizing 00:11:21.559 --> 00:11:24.799 by sides all the ancillary charges that you're 00:11:24.799 --> 00:11:26.820 actually wrong. The price that was it was two 00:11:26.820 --> 00:11:28.720 and a half dollars that you like. So there's 00:11:28.720 --> 00:11:30.720 so much. So when you are as a distributor getting 00:11:30.720 --> 00:11:34.039 a price of a supplier. Pro tip is have a copy 00:11:34.039 --> 00:11:36.379 of it, save the copy of it. You want that in 00:11:36.379 --> 00:11:39.100 writing. And suppliers, make sure your customer 00:11:39.100 --> 00:11:42.940 service people are really empowered to be able 00:11:42.940 --> 00:11:46.940 to have the prices there and even sometimes to 00:11:46.940 --> 00:11:49.700 make a discount when needed. That's my thoughts. 00:11:50.120 --> 00:11:52.460 That's an awesome point, Adrienne. Make sure 00:11:52.460 --> 00:11:54.759 your team's well trained. They understand the 00:11:54.759 --> 00:11:57.919 language. They're able to show up and empower 00:11:57.919 --> 00:12:00.639 them to give discounts if needed or coaching. 00:12:00.990 --> 00:12:04.210 around pricing. A couple other things you've 00:12:04.210 --> 00:12:07.750 touched on, AI is a great tool for your competitive 00:12:07.750 --> 00:12:11.029 analysis. So don't be afraid to use that tool 00:12:11.029 --> 00:12:14.509 to research other people in the space selling 00:12:14.509 --> 00:12:17.909 a similar product, both in promo and in retail. 00:12:18.649 --> 00:12:22.029 And you also touched on something else, Adrienne, 00:12:22.049 --> 00:12:24.389 that you've mentioned in an earlier podcast, 00:12:24.450 --> 00:12:28.169 which I love, which is around accounting and 00:12:29.120 --> 00:12:32.539 management of invoicing. So where the pricing 00:12:32.539 --> 00:12:35.500 becomes important, and we won't do a deep dive 00:12:35.500 --> 00:12:37.539 into this today because this could be a whole 00:12:37.539 --> 00:12:40.860 nother segment on how to manage your business 00:12:40.860 --> 00:12:44.159 from the accounting perspective. But oftentimes 00:12:44.159 --> 00:12:47.259 as a distributor, you might receive an invoice 00:12:47.259 --> 00:12:50.360 from a supplier that differs from what you expected 00:12:50.360 --> 00:12:52.860 the pricing to be, which Adrienne was touching 00:12:52.860 --> 00:12:56.159 on a couple minutes ago. So part of our coaching 00:12:56.159 --> 00:12:58.500 and what you'll learn through the podcast is 00:12:58.500 --> 00:13:01.860 making sure that your invoices match up. And 00:13:01.860 --> 00:13:04.740 that you're not being overcharged or sometimes 00:13:04.740 --> 00:13:07.659 you might unexpectedly be undercharged. Maybe 00:13:07.659 --> 00:13:13.539 the supplier gives you the distributor EQP unexpectedly. 00:13:13.700 --> 00:13:16.240 And we haven't even really started talking about 00:13:16.240 --> 00:13:19.580 this aspect of pricing. So it's a great lead 00:13:19.580 --> 00:13:24.000 in to the sort of expected idea in the industry 00:13:24.000 --> 00:13:27.700 that you might offer quantity price breaks. So 00:13:27.700 --> 00:13:30.320 you would have your minimum order quantity and 00:13:30.320 --> 00:13:33.860 maybe one or two quantities above that where 00:13:33.860 --> 00:13:37.080 you offer a discount to your distributor as an 00:13:37.080 --> 00:13:40.899 incentive for them to push their client to the 00:13:40.899 --> 00:13:46.309 next price level. And EQP stands for end quality 00:13:46.309 --> 00:13:49.509 pricing. Again, that alphabet soup comes into 00:13:49.509 --> 00:13:55.190 play. So EQP will come up many times in our podcasts 00:13:55.190 --> 00:13:57.830 related to different ways of growing your business 00:13:57.830 --> 00:14:01.289 in the industry. So this is just a foundational 00:14:01.289 --> 00:14:05.570 concept of EQP and quantity pricing for the moment. 00:14:06.289 --> 00:14:10.570 But that's part of your pricing strategy. so 00:14:10.570 --> 00:14:13.009 that you don't give up too much margin at the 00:14:13.009 --> 00:14:16.990 end when you're at your end quantity price. So 00:14:16.990 --> 00:14:19.830 what else can we add to pricing you guys before 00:14:19.830 --> 00:14:25.149 we move on to the more, I guess, fun part of 00:14:25.149 --> 00:14:27.230 the discussion, which is how do you make a sale? 00:14:28.830 --> 00:14:31.750 So I'll go, I'll go. I think it's really important. 00:14:32.009 --> 00:14:33.450 First of all, I just want to be clear when you're 00:14:33.450 --> 00:14:36.490 matching up your invoices, besides yours of the 00:14:36.490 --> 00:14:37.889 supply, you want to make sure that you're charging 00:14:37.889 --> 00:14:40.830 your clients and at least have an idea. You may 00:14:40.830 --> 00:14:43.350 have a salesperson out there that is consistently 00:14:43.350 --> 00:14:46.690 not charging and not amortizing. So when you 00:14:46.690 --> 00:14:50.549 amortize a price, which honestly, I was the amortizer. 00:14:50.750 --> 00:14:53.529 I really could have get Adrian the amatizer because 00:14:53.529 --> 00:14:55.429 I always thought if you amortize the pricing 00:14:55.429 --> 00:14:57.570 so you roll in the setup charge of the first 00:14:57.570 --> 00:15:00.850 color running charges and all of that and let's 00:15:00.850 --> 00:15:03.450 also have as a one time setup charge like how 00:15:03.450 --> 00:15:06.110 lovely is it every time I get a reorder I'm actually 00:15:06.110 --> 00:15:08.649 making more money because I've already paid those 00:15:08.649 --> 00:15:11.029 charges off and so you want to really make sure 00:15:11.029 --> 00:15:13.389 that you have someone in your company your accounting 00:15:13.389 --> 00:15:16.029 department should be your most important. department, 00:15:16.389 --> 00:15:18.409 you know, and like we all have to think that 00:15:18.409 --> 00:15:20.830 way accounting comes first, or thank you to Gloria 00:15:20.830 --> 00:15:23.149 Barker, who taught me that mom that always said 00:15:23.149 --> 00:15:26.090 accounting is the most important part, because 00:15:26.090 --> 00:15:28.710 you got to get the invoicing out. Because another 00:15:28.710 --> 00:15:31.970 thing is clients do not want to wait for their 00:15:31.970 --> 00:15:34.830 invoice. But with that said, another thing Lisa 00:15:34.830 --> 00:15:36.509 that I don't want to miss, and we should probably 00:15:36.509 --> 00:15:39.649 do a deeper dive into this at a later date, but 00:15:39.690 --> 00:15:41.590 know who your clients are, because what are you 00:15:41.590 --> 00:15:43.289 doing? Are you giving everyone open account? 00:15:43.370 --> 00:15:45.929 Are you giving a net 30? How are you going to 00:15:45.929 --> 00:15:48.149 be charging them? And how are they going to be 00:15:48.149 --> 00:15:49.970 paying? So if you're looking at some of these 00:15:49.970 --> 00:15:53.769 larger companies, aka like a like a halo or any 00:15:53.769 --> 00:15:55.929 anyone, they're going to have different pricing 00:15:55.929 --> 00:15:58.230 structures and how you're how you're going to 00:15:58.230 --> 00:16:00.450 get paid. So you've got to know all of this. 00:16:00.809 --> 00:16:03.409 So when we start doing these deep dives, it really 00:16:03.409 --> 00:16:04.889 gets to deep. So it's not like, oh, I'm going 00:16:04.889 --> 00:16:07.110 to just put a price out there too. That price 00:16:07.110 --> 00:16:09.210 may have to hold you. So then you have to look 00:16:09.210 --> 00:16:10.950 at everything else, right? But I just wanted 00:16:10.950 --> 00:16:14.470 to share that. That's great, Adrienne. Go ahead, 00:16:14.549 --> 00:16:16.990 Ken. I'm sorry, Lisa. Oh, sorry. Yeah. And I 00:16:16.990 --> 00:16:19.750 was going to build on that too with the sort 00:16:19.750 --> 00:16:22.370 of hidden charges. They're not really hidden 00:16:22.370 --> 00:16:25.789 because they're pretty much out there with suppliers. 00:16:26.269 --> 00:16:30.110 But it is as the brand too, it's not just the 00:16:30.110 --> 00:16:33.230 cost of your product, right? So you do have to 00:16:33.230 --> 00:16:37.809 take in mind that supplier, just whomever, if 00:16:37.809 --> 00:16:39.549 you're doing it, you're adding those, right? 00:16:39.549 --> 00:16:43.830 You're pricing it on your own as sort of the 00:16:43.830 --> 00:16:46.190 brand. But if you're working with a supplier, 00:16:46.649 --> 00:16:49.850 you have to add on it's one color charge, the 00:16:49.850 --> 00:16:52.870 setup charge, all these different layers. So 00:16:52.870 --> 00:16:55.789 I remember when we first jumped in, I was surprised 00:16:56.059 --> 00:17:00.340 when I was like, Hey, our mug is only $30 retail. 00:17:00.440 --> 00:17:04.319 Why is it 35? Like that's, that seems crazy. 00:17:04.319 --> 00:17:06.160 You're going to price this out of the market, 00:17:06.319 --> 00:17:07.900 blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, right? All the 00:17:07.900 --> 00:17:11.460 things that you freak out about. And then you 00:17:11.460 --> 00:17:15.460 have to remember, Oh, but they're adding this, 00:17:15.920 --> 00:17:19.339 all these different components on that end up 00:17:19.339 --> 00:17:22.519 bringing that price up. So even when you see 00:17:22.519 --> 00:17:26.879 that and that pricing, that sort of public, on 00:17:26.879 --> 00:17:30.339 supplier sides, it can be scary as a brand because 00:17:30.339 --> 00:17:33.279 you're not thinking about all the extras that 00:17:33.279 --> 00:17:36.579 are going into it. That's a great, great point. 00:17:37.539 --> 00:17:40.220 And Adrienne, I see your hands up. My hand is 00:17:40.220 --> 00:17:43.279 up because I love hands up. But no, my hand is 00:17:43.279 --> 00:17:45.460 up because I want to remind people. So like for 00:17:45.460 --> 00:17:47.319 the suppliers, you may think to yourself, it's 00:17:47.319 --> 00:17:49.119 a price. I'm going to give the price and that's 00:17:49.119 --> 00:17:50.839 it. I don't have to worry about it. because, 00:17:50.859 --> 00:17:53.000 you know, it's called customer service, too. 00:17:53.000 --> 00:17:54.920 And I just did an hour long customer service 00:17:54.920 --> 00:17:57.519 workshop on chatter because at the end of the 00:17:57.519 --> 00:17:59.299 day, it is so important because there is nothing 00:17:59.299 --> 00:18:01.859 worse than a distributor that has already given 00:18:01.859 --> 00:18:05.259 their price to their client and now is coming 00:18:05.259 --> 00:18:08.539 back and say, I didn't know about that. And so 00:18:08.539 --> 00:18:10.819 just don't think, oh, I have it in my catalog 00:18:10.819 --> 00:18:13.839 or, you know, I have it on the web that they'll 00:18:13.839 --> 00:18:16.099 know. So I think it's really important as a supplier 00:18:16.099 --> 00:18:18.920 that you acknowledge and make sure that that 00:18:18.970 --> 00:18:21.670 the distributors actually reading all the different 00:18:21.670 --> 00:18:24.089 prices and distributors don't just look at the 00:18:24.089 --> 00:18:25.630 acknowledgement and look at the artwork like 00:18:25.630 --> 00:18:27.329 oh i'm going to go to the second page and approve 00:18:27.329 --> 00:18:29.589 it look at all that's what the time that you 00:18:29.589 --> 00:18:32.309 pull your order out and you make sure everything 00:18:32.309 --> 00:18:34.809 is matching and all because i've seen this on 00:18:34.809 --> 00:18:37.809 both ends people are doing that that will be 00:18:37.809 --> 00:18:41.200 definitely a profit loss thank you lisa Yeah, 00:18:41.339 --> 00:18:43.859 yeah. So, you know, I want to spin this out to 00:18:43.859 --> 00:18:46.619 a little bit if we have any end users or buyers 00:18:46.619 --> 00:18:50.140 who stumble across our podcast. Hopefully what 00:18:50.140 --> 00:18:53.900 you're hearing is how much work, effort, time, 00:18:54.619 --> 00:18:58.380 due diligence, labor goes into the pricing of 00:18:58.380 --> 00:19:01.099 the products that you see when you purchase from 00:19:01.099 --> 00:19:03.319 a distributor. You know, we're only touching 00:19:03.319 --> 00:19:07.440 on some of the efforts that go into it. We haven't 00:19:07.440 --> 00:19:09.980 even touched on some of the other costs like 00:19:09.980 --> 00:19:13.220 the cost of money, borrowing money, processing 00:19:13.220 --> 00:19:17.539 credit cards, all that good stuff. So as we talk 00:19:17.539 --> 00:19:21.500 about pricing, it's a very mindful process to 00:19:21.500 --> 00:19:24.759 show up for the end user and the purchaser in 00:19:24.759 --> 00:19:28.619 a way that brings them value and a great buyer 00:19:28.619 --> 00:19:31.619 experience. So all of that gets wrapped up into 00:19:31.619 --> 00:19:36.859 it too. So I think that's a great overview for 00:19:36.859 --> 00:19:40.779 our audience in terms of the complexities of 00:19:40.779 --> 00:19:44.160 pricing. And we may unpack different aspects 00:19:44.160 --> 00:19:48.339 of that more as we build on the podcast. So if 00:19:48.339 --> 00:19:53.759 folks have specific questions, ideas, new ways 00:19:53.759 --> 00:19:56.480 of thinking that they want to share with us, 00:19:56.779 --> 00:19:59.400 please reach out to us on the promo playbook 00:19:59.400 --> 00:20:03.009 on LinkedIn. through comments on the podcast, 00:20:03.690 --> 00:20:07.869 we're all available to chat. So I thought we 00:20:07.869 --> 00:20:11.029 might segue from pricing into the sales process. 00:20:11.549 --> 00:20:13.609 Is there anything either of you wanna add to 00:20:13.609 --> 00:20:15.789 pricing before we move on or you feel like we're 00:20:15.789 --> 00:20:18.970 good? I just wanted to say, I think that even 00:20:18.970 --> 00:20:21.789 if I was a distributor and I was listening, to 00:20:21.789 --> 00:20:24.410 this I would love it because often we don't have 00:20:24.410 --> 00:20:26.890 those insights that we're sharing it's kind of 00:20:26.890 --> 00:20:28.869 like hidden you're kind of curious like how is 00:20:28.869 --> 00:20:31.569 the supplier we're not giving away any crazy 00:20:31.569 --> 00:20:34.170 secret sauce we're all going to you know be like 00:20:34.170 --> 00:20:36.369 flown up in the sky and drop down on a drone 00:20:36.369 --> 00:20:39.750 but what we're doing is really providing information 00:20:39.750 --> 00:20:42.009 that we know because we put on the distributor 00:20:42.009 --> 00:20:44.269 hat that's the supplier hat that you would want 00:20:44.269 --> 00:20:45.950 to use so I just wanted to share that I'm glad 00:20:45.950 --> 00:20:49.130 you brought that up. In the customer end user 00:20:49.130 --> 00:20:52.250 hat for six years of my career, I bought promotional 00:20:52.250 --> 00:20:55.710 products for the British beer company. So I lived 00:20:55.710 --> 00:20:59.650 the life of an end user and thought about the 00:20:59.650 --> 00:21:02.549 pricing of the items that I was buying. I had 00:21:02.549 --> 00:21:06.170 a pretty hefty budget for apparel through that 00:21:06.170 --> 00:21:10.450 job. So I can see it from all angles, which is 00:21:10.450 --> 00:21:15.619 really fun too. Segwaying onto the sales process. 00:21:15.740 --> 00:21:18.720 So once you have your pricing set, now you can 00:21:18.720 --> 00:21:20.980 start thinking about going to market. How are 00:21:20.980 --> 00:21:24.619 you going to get your products out to the world 00:21:24.619 --> 00:21:28.039 of the promotional products distributor? And 00:21:28.039 --> 00:21:31.539 there are several ways to do that. You can be 00:21:31.539 --> 00:21:34.519 on some of the search engine platforms like Sage, 00:21:34.819 --> 00:21:38.279 ASI, Distributor Central, but those aren't the 00:21:38.279 --> 00:21:43.539 only ways. I think I'm going to leapfrog that 00:21:43.539 --> 00:21:46.299 discussion for another day and just talk about 00:21:46.299 --> 00:21:50.680 the sales process from a high level. So you have 00:21:50.680 --> 00:21:54.319 your products on one of the search engines. Adrienne, 00:21:54.319 --> 00:21:57.059 I'm going to toss this ball to you. What do you 00:21:57.059 --> 00:22:01.660 think the process is for a new supplier in terms 00:22:01.660 --> 00:22:04.200 of selling their new product to a distributor? 00:22:05.339 --> 00:22:06.460 I can't wait to go to a high level. How would 00:22:06.460 --> 00:22:11.509 they do that? You're on mute right now. Oh, I'm 00:22:11.509 --> 00:22:14.289 sorry. Can you hear me? Here we go. Okay. I have 00:22:14.289 --> 00:22:17.029 to see this. That is so funny because, you know, 00:22:17.250 --> 00:22:18.849 I just want to say good luck to all the suppliers 00:22:18.849 --> 00:22:20.869 because it is so much work. So hopefully you've 00:22:20.869 --> 00:22:23.049 got someone that can turn everything into like 00:22:23.049 --> 00:22:26.170 an Excel and upload. It's that easy. It's a lot 00:22:26.170 --> 00:22:27.890 of work. I just have to put that out there, Lisa, 00:22:28.230 --> 00:22:30.609 because using any of those programs are really 00:22:30.609 --> 00:22:33.289 tough and even having your own site. People want 00:22:33.289 --> 00:22:35.309 to know inventory. They want freight. They want 00:22:35.309 --> 00:22:37.990 to know packaging. Woo. I always thought my parents 00:22:37.990 --> 00:22:39.670 should have just opened a blockbuster store and 00:22:39.670 --> 00:22:43.569 just made it like the end of the day. So first 00:22:43.569 --> 00:22:45.849 of all, how are you going to get out there? So 00:22:45.849 --> 00:22:47.829 with one of my clients, that was one of the big 00:22:47.829 --> 00:22:49.890 things. Once we had everything set up, what was 00:22:49.890 --> 00:22:52.589 that sales process going to look like? Because 00:22:52.589 --> 00:22:54.630 first of all, sales are great, but you know what 00:22:54.630 --> 00:22:57.130 you need to have happen before sales? You need 00:22:57.130 --> 00:22:59.789 to have quotes. I always say that that's the 00:22:59.789 --> 00:23:02.049 most important thing. If there's no quotes in 00:23:02.049 --> 00:23:03.849 the funnel, there's not going to be many sales 00:23:03.849 --> 00:23:06.009 that doesn't like very rare that someone's going 00:23:06.009 --> 00:23:09.059 to call up. and have no idea who you are and 00:23:09.059 --> 00:23:11.039 just like place the order though that can that 00:23:11.039 --> 00:23:13.880 does work sometimes a distributor is much harder 00:23:13.880 --> 00:23:15.819 for you but what i'm trying to say right now 00:23:15.819 --> 00:23:18.000 is that you really want to make sure that with 00:23:18.000 --> 00:23:19.779 the sale that how you're going to sell i'm going 00:23:19.779 --> 00:23:21.319 to go with the end of like how are you going 00:23:21.319 --> 00:23:24.019 to get out there how are you let's just say you 00:23:24.019 --> 00:23:27.599 feel that you have the most incredible mug or 00:23:27.599 --> 00:23:30.579 incredible bottle and this is like the best one 00:23:30.579 --> 00:23:34.660 oh my gosh i would say i i love this one but 00:23:34.660 --> 00:23:37.359 my husband so My husband has the other one, so 00:23:37.359 --> 00:23:40.720 it's so funny. Kim, the name just escaped me. 00:23:40.799 --> 00:23:43.539 I had a brain fart. The corksicle? Yeah, so he's 00:23:43.539 --> 00:23:45.319 got the corksicle. I can grab that in a second. 00:23:45.339 --> 00:23:47.640 He's got the corksicle. Don't even ask. It's 00:23:47.640 --> 00:23:50.220 just weird the way that came. So he likes a screw, 00:23:50.220 --> 00:23:53.799 and I like to sip like a baby. But I think that 00:23:53.799 --> 00:23:56.160 what I'm seeing the hardest is getting in the 00:23:56.160 --> 00:23:58.619 hands. It actually, sales process, I'm not sure 00:23:58.619 --> 00:24:01.339 if we're talking about, so we already talked 00:24:01.339 --> 00:24:03.740 about pricing. So getting your merchandise out 00:24:03.740 --> 00:24:07.019 there. Getting a multi -line rep is not easy. 00:24:07.140 --> 00:24:09.720 Are you able to afford salespeople that are going 00:24:09.720 --> 00:24:12.319 to be out there? What is that going to look like? 00:24:12.500 --> 00:24:15.579 Are you planning on joining regional associations 00:24:15.579 --> 00:24:19.779 and going out locally? That to me, when I look 00:24:19.779 --> 00:24:21.579 at it, there's so many pieces that are difficult. 00:24:21.579 --> 00:24:23.859 That's why you need to go to the promo playbook 00:24:23.859 --> 00:24:26.500 because you really just don't jump in here. If 00:24:26.500 --> 00:24:30.079 you can't swim, don't jump. Get lessons right 00:24:30.079 --> 00:24:32.400 away from the coaches because otherwise I don't 00:24:32.400 --> 00:24:35.220 know how you do it. That is the first thought 00:24:35.220 --> 00:24:37.319 is what is that process going to look like? How 00:24:37.319 --> 00:24:40.200 are you going to get in the hands? Because I'm 00:24:40.200 --> 00:24:42.019 going to email and I'm going to email all day 00:24:42.019 --> 00:24:43.720 long. They're going to get three emails a day, 00:24:43.720 --> 00:24:45.000 the distributors, and they're going to order 00:24:45.000 --> 00:24:47.740 from me. No, they're probably going to, you're 00:24:47.740 --> 00:24:49.420 not going to be on the list anymore. You're junk 00:24:49.420 --> 00:24:51.740 mail. So that's not going to work for you. I'm 00:24:51.740 --> 00:24:53.119 going to go on LinkedIn and I'm going to go, 00:24:53.299 --> 00:24:55.059 which LinkedIn can work if you do it the right 00:24:55.059 --> 00:24:56.680 way. I'm going to go on social media. I'm going 00:24:56.680 --> 00:24:59.019 to go Facebook and I'm going to promote it. That's 00:24:59.019 --> 00:25:00.559 not going to work because your buyers are probably 00:25:00.559 --> 00:25:03.509 not really on Facebook. And if they are, they 00:25:03.509 --> 00:25:06.009 may not understand what you're trying to do or 00:25:06.009 --> 00:25:09.289 the connections. So I don't even have the answer, 00:25:09.529 --> 00:25:14.089 Lisa, because it really has to look at. I love 00:25:14.089 --> 00:25:17.970 the thought process of how do you go to market? 00:25:18.589 --> 00:25:22.130 I was thinking more about mechanical like the 00:25:22.130 --> 00:25:26.069 process, but I do think that we have agreed as 00:25:26.069 --> 00:25:29.319 a team that we need to have a podcast or. several 00:25:29.319 --> 00:25:33.619 podcasts on go to market strategy. Adrian just 00:25:33.619 --> 00:25:37.319 demonstrated there's so many ways to bring your 00:25:37.319 --> 00:25:40.380 product to market. But I sort of want to refocus 00:25:40.380 --> 00:25:43.720 our talk today on mechanics, like thinking about, 00:25:43.900 --> 00:25:46.380 you know, OK, we've got our pricing out there. 00:25:46.579 --> 00:25:49.339 We've gone to market. Let's jump ahead. We've 00:25:49.339 --> 00:25:53.460 gone to market. We have some customers, distributors 00:25:53.460 --> 00:25:56.740 interested in our products. what other steps 00:25:56.740 --> 00:25:59.519 that we need to go through to show up for the 00:25:59.519 --> 00:26:03.339 distributor so they can pitch our product. So 00:26:03.339 --> 00:26:07.279 Adrian touched on some of those. Kim, let's hear 00:26:07.279 --> 00:26:10.819 your perspective on that. Yeah, I sort of feel 00:26:10.819 --> 00:26:14.980 like it's that you have some interest now what, 00:26:15.279 --> 00:26:20.140 right? So you got your pricing in place, you're 00:26:20.140 --> 00:26:23.420 on all the platforms and oh my God, someone actually 00:26:23.420 --> 00:26:27.299 called. And now what do I do? What do I do next 00:26:27.299 --> 00:26:32.859 step? And there are a lot of steps in that process. 00:26:33.920 --> 00:26:36.180 So first, you have to someone dedicated to answering 00:26:36.180 --> 00:26:38.380 that phone call who knows that you're in the 00:26:38.380 --> 00:26:41.839 promo market and can actually answer a question. 00:26:42.339 --> 00:26:45.359 So once you've got your nice pricing in front, 00:26:45.720 --> 00:26:48.619 you've got your fantastic salesperson who's welcoming 00:26:48.619 --> 00:26:51.380 them to the company and super excited for their 00:26:51.380 --> 00:26:56.250 interest. They've given pricing verbally, but 00:26:56.250 --> 00:26:59.549 did they give the setup fee? Did they give the 00:26:59.549 --> 00:27:02.329 art charge? Did they give all that? So you have 00:27:02.329 --> 00:27:07.029 this great conversation, exchange email, send 00:27:07.029 --> 00:27:09.309 out a quote. So you need to now send out a quote. 00:27:09.549 --> 00:27:11.210 Like, what? Send out a quote? Do I even have 00:27:11.210 --> 00:27:13.609 that? What does that look like? Do I have a process? 00:27:13.970 --> 00:27:16.970 Is that in my current system? How is it tied 00:27:16.970 --> 00:27:19.930 to my sales order? So you send out your quote. 00:27:20.200 --> 00:27:22.380 And they're like, hey, customer really loves 00:27:22.380 --> 00:27:25.019 it. They really want your product. Here, I want 00:27:25.019 --> 00:27:28.200 100 of your mugs. I want them with this logo 00:27:28.200 --> 00:27:31.579 on it. And they want a color logo. OK, well, 00:27:31.619 --> 00:27:34.640 then what do you do with it? Oh, now you have 00:27:34.640 --> 00:27:37.279 to put together a mock -up and send it back to 00:27:37.279 --> 00:27:39.900 them. Do you have the artwork? Do you know what 00:27:39.900 --> 00:27:42.359 a mock -up is? Do you know what your sizing is? 00:27:42.539 --> 00:27:45.619 All those things. How do you spit that back to 00:27:45.619 --> 00:27:48.500 the distributor? in a way that they can then 00:27:48.500 --> 00:27:51.460 take it and easily give it to the customer for 00:27:51.460 --> 00:27:55.339 them to approve, to then send it back. Now you 00:27:55.339 --> 00:27:58.140 finally hit the sales order where you'll get 00:27:58.140 --> 00:28:03.700 an official order from the distributor. Then 00:28:03.700 --> 00:28:06.519 to everybody's point earlier, you need to make 00:28:06.519 --> 00:28:09.980 sure that the PO that you get back actually matched 00:28:09.980 --> 00:28:12.829 the quote. and has all the things, the setup 00:28:12.829 --> 00:28:15.190 charge, the printing charge, anything that you 00:28:15.190 --> 00:28:18.690 are going to put in there so that you can actually 00:28:18.690 --> 00:28:21.490 process the order. And PS, by the way, make sure 00:28:21.490 --> 00:28:24.269 you look at the hand date to make sure you can 00:28:24.269 --> 00:28:28.230 actually deliver it on time. Love that. And then 00:28:28.230 --> 00:28:30.029 once you get it through the process and ship 00:28:30.029 --> 00:28:33.130 it, gosh, how am I going to get that? Do I have 00:28:33.130 --> 00:28:34.910 a way of getting that shipping information back 00:28:34.910 --> 00:28:37.970 to the customer? So there are a ton of steps 00:28:37.970 --> 00:28:42.279 in it. that you don't always think of until you've 00:28:42.279 --> 00:28:45.720 sort of got that first order, right? And it's 00:28:45.720 --> 00:28:48.000 going to be trial by fire. So there are going 00:28:48.000 --> 00:28:49.819 to be hiccups. I mean, let's just be honest. 00:28:50.019 --> 00:28:51.799 Your first couple orders, there are going to 00:28:51.799 --> 00:28:55.180 be some hiccups. How you respond to those hiccups 00:28:55.180 --> 00:28:58.940 will really sort of set the tone of how you're 00:28:58.940 --> 00:29:02.299 going to be in the market as a supplier. That's 00:29:02.299 --> 00:29:06.059 great. Adrian? So Kim brought up a great point 00:29:06.059 --> 00:29:08.900 about the hiccups. I kind of think of first orders 00:29:08.900 --> 00:29:10.279 are kind of like pancakes, right? You're going 00:29:10.279 --> 00:29:12.400 to throw out the first few until you get the 00:29:12.400 --> 00:29:15.859 best pancakes. So in a way, I would say that's 00:29:15.859 --> 00:29:18.500 where you want to start slow. You're going to 00:29:18.500 --> 00:29:21.359 do the virtuals and the samples, and you're going 00:29:21.359 --> 00:29:24.640 to do smaller orders. So you almost have to test 00:29:24.640 --> 00:29:26.880 the waters because you've got to test every piece 00:29:26.880 --> 00:29:28.980 of it, right? Where's your quality control in 00:29:28.980 --> 00:29:31.660 this? So just a little pro tip for all the things 00:29:31.660 --> 00:29:33.829 that Kim was saying. No matter where you are 00:29:33.829 --> 00:29:36.890 in your supplier life right now, have you called 00:29:36.890 --> 00:29:40.170 your own company and acted as a distributor and 00:29:40.170 --> 00:29:42.730 seen how the prices are? Are you getting that 00:29:42.730 --> 00:29:46.130 quote right after? Are you using a good CRM product? 00:29:46.349 --> 00:29:48.190 Like what? What? Like all of that makes so much 00:29:48.190 --> 00:29:50.650 sense. But at the end of it, Kim, I have seen 00:29:50.650 --> 00:29:52.710 suppliers. I've asked that question. I'll get. 00:29:52.890 --> 00:29:55.329 Oh, I never thought about calling my company. 00:29:55.609 --> 00:29:57.589 Yes, you really need to do that. So just a little 00:29:57.589 --> 00:30:01.130 pro tip there is great. Great, great, great. 00:30:01.700 --> 00:30:04.640 idea, Adrienne. I've not done that either. So 00:30:04.640 --> 00:30:09.220 that's really a cool idea. So I think what we 00:30:09.220 --> 00:30:11.640 should do is break this into a couple segments. 00:30:12.799 --> 00:30:16.200 So the way I think of it is there's the pre -sale 00:30:16.200 --> 00:30:19.619 process and what are those steps. And then there's 00:30:19.619 --> 00:30:22.700 the post -sale process and one of those steps. 00:30:23.099 --> 00:30:25.880 And then there's how do you interface with your 00:30:25.880 --> 00:30:28.920 production team? And then how do you follow up 00:30:28.920 --> 00:30:32.140 with the distributor to build loyalty? So today, 00:30:32.259 --> 00:30:36.319 to sort of focus on the pre -sale part, we establish 00:30:36.319 --> 00:30:39.500 our pricing, we figure out how we're going to 00:30:39.500 --> 00:30:43.420 deliver quotes to distributors, and then other 00:30:43.420 --> 00:30:46.880 parts of that process include sending out samples. 00:30:47.440 --> 00:30:50.420 So you want to be thinking as a supplier, what 00:30:50.420 --> 00:30:53.099 types of samples am I going to have available 00:30:53.099 --> 00:30:56.519 to send out readily? And we do recommend that 00:30:56.519 --> 00:31:00.420 you send samples out same day or within 24 hours. 00:31:00.650 --> 00:31:04.150 And will those be randomly printed samples, blank 00:31:04.150 --> 00:31:08.769 samples? So we can unpack that. Do you want to 00:31:08.769 --> 00:31:12.109 have a sample kit? That's phase two. How do you 00:31:12.109 --> 00:31:15.329 grow your business and sophistication after you 00:31:15.329 --> 00:31:18.269 hit different milestones? And then what the heck 00:31:18.269 --> 00:31:21.890 is a spec sample? Somebody sends you a note or 00:31:21.890 --> 00:31:24.109 an email. I'm like, hey, I need a spec sample. 00:31:24.509 --> 00:31:27.970 Well, that means you actually fire up your production 00:31:27.970 --> 00:31:31.369 facility and you print one of something. So what 00:31:31.369 --> 00:31:36.069 are strategies and pricing for that? And then, 00:31:36.190 --> 00:31:40.250 virtuals, which are digital mockups, really are 00:31:40.250 --> 00:31:43.269 the backbone of the industry. So making sure 00:31:43.269 --> 00:31:46.029 that with us, the supplier playbook, or with 00:31:46.029 --> 00:31:50.589 somebody else in your organization or other mentors 00:31:50.589 --> 00:31:53.869 that you have, make sure you understand what 00:31:53.869 --> 00:31:57.299 virtuals are, how they work, We recommend you 00:31:57.299 --> 00:32:00.720 get those back same day or within 24 hours as 00:32:00.720 --> 00:32:03.720 well. And sometimes you can have hundreds of 00:32:03.720 --> 00:32:08.299 virtual sample requests in your queue. That's 00:32:08.299 --> 00:32:11.140 a good thing. That means you have things cooking, 00:32:11.299 --> 00:32:14.720 things happening. So those are just some of the 00:32:14.720 --> 00:32:19.059 steps to prepare for an order or what it takes 00:32:19.059 --> 00:32:22.789 to capture orders in the industry. So I think 00:32:22.789 --> 00:32:26.009 we're getting to the end of our time frame today. 00:32:26.410 --> 00:32:29.549 So I'll just invite Kim and Adrienne to add any 00:32:29.549 --> 00:32:32.930 last comments. And then our next segment will 00:32:32.930 --> 00:32:35.569 unpack one of the topics we touched on today, 00:32:35.730 --> 00:32:38.930 which is pre -sale, post -sale, and how do you 00:32:38.930 --> 00:32:41.970 interface with your production team? So Kim, 00:32:42.210 --> 00:32:45.170 any last comments? Yeah. I mean, first of all, 00:32:45.309 --> 00:32:48.680 you do such an amazing job, Lisa. Keeping us 00:32:48.680 --> 00:32:53.259 on, I know I can definitely go off topic because 00:32:53.259 --> 00:32:56.259 I'm so passionate about it. So thank you for 00:32:56.259 --> 00:32:59.099 your expertise in corralling us cats and keeping 00:32:59.099 --> 00:33:04.519 us focused. It's fantastic. But I think we hit 00:33:04.519 --> 00:33:08.880 some really good points. I think pricing, I think, 00:33:08.940 --> 00:33:14.000 is one area where people sort of pause. At least 00:33:14.000 --> 00:33:16.980 brands, as they step in, they pause for a second. 00:33:17.200 --> 00:33:20.880 um till they figure out that strategy right because 00:33:20.880 --> 00:33:23.299 you may be able to make pricing work one way 00:33:23.299 --> 00:33:26.599 but you can't make it work another um and so 00:33:26.599 --> 00:33:29.299 i think understanding not only your own pricing 00:33:29.299 --> 00:33:32.259 to whom you're selling it to but really understanding 00:33:32.259 --> 00:33:37.099 where your end pricing is among your competition 00:33:37.099 --> 00:33:41.319 is also very critical because you don't you don't 00:33:41.319 --> 00:33:45.299 want to be the top or the bottom or maybe you 00:33:45.299 --> 00:33:48.049 do in which case that's great too, but you need 00:33:48.049 --> 00:33:51.390 to know that. And so I think really understanding 00:33:51.390 --> 00:33:53.950 where your starting point is and where your ending 00:33:53.950 --> 00:33:57.109 point is, is critical to help you figure out 00:33:57.109 --> 00:34:00.289 all that stuff in between too. Yeah, yeah. Thank 00:34:00.289 --> 00:34:03.869 you for that, Kim. Adrienne? Kim, you're brilliant. 00:34:04.430 --> 00:34:07.029 Okay, so I actually think, and I'm gonna talk 00:34:07.029 --> 00:34:09.929 to the suppliers right now, this is a huge responsibility. 00:34:10.230 --> 00:34:13.989 When you think about it, you are responsible 00:34:14.250 --> 00:34:17.630 for helping a distributor. You are the vendor. 00:34:18.130 --> 00:34:21.510 That is why distributors have usually a dedication 00:34:21.510 --> 00:34:24.250 of at least a minimum of one person to be a vendor 00:34:24.250 --> 00:34:27.150 relations because it is going to be about relations. 00:34:27.630 --> 00:34:31.489 So just know that and also know that as a distributor. 00:34:31.980 --> 00:34:34.800 How can I buy 500 or something unless I have 00:34:34.800 --> 00:34:37.940 a sample? This is not like Tmoo or Shine, where 00:34:37.940 --> 00:34:39.500 I'm just buying one necklace. And you know what? 00:34:39.500 --> 00:34:41.579 For the $3, if it doesn't look good, I'm OK. 00:34:41.920 --> 00:34:43.199 Because believe me, we know if you're buying 00:34:43.199 --> 00:34:46.699 something from Shine, Sheen, or Tmoo, you know 00:34:46.699 --> 00:34:47.820 it's so cheap, you're probably going to throw 00:34:47.820 --> 00:34:51.639 it away. But you have to think to yourself, these 00:34:51.639 --> 00:34:54.280 distributors need a sample. The fact that if 00:34:54.280 --> 00:34:57.400 you even charging I you know some I didn't understand 00:34:57.400 --> 00:34:59.519 that Lisa was always weird to me as a distributor 00:34:59.519 --> 00:35:02.219 Why are you making me buy the sample when i'm 00:35:02.219 --> 00:35:04.280 going to sell it? So I would definitely look 00:35:04.280 --> 00:35:06.400 forward to our talking about that and doing a 00:35:06.400 --> 00:35:10.059 deeper dive The elephants in the room guys were 00:35:10.059 --> 00:35:15.199 doing it Thanks. Yeah Great stuff, and I think 00:35:15.199 --> 00:35:17.559 adrian touches on something i'd like to wrap 00:35:17.559 --> 00:35:21.639 up with which is Suppliers do have a responsibility 00:35:21.960 --> 00:35:24.320 Our distributor partners, this is how they make 00:35:24.320 --> 00:35:26.820 their living. This is how they pay their mortgage, 00:35:26.960 --> 00:35:30.460 feed their families. This is serious business. 00:35:30.940 --> 00:35:34.079 So us as suppliers really need to show up in 00:35:34.079 --> 00:35:37.179 a way that distributors can trust and depend 00:35:37.179 --> 00:35:40.599 on us to not let them down. And sampling is a 00:35:40.599 --> 00:35:42.940 huge part of that because once your customer 00:35:42.940 --> 00:35:45.840 approves a sample, then we're all in on the same 00:35:45.840 --> 00:35:49.199 page. And that's a beautiful thing. So thank 00:35:49.199 --> 00:35:52.699 you, Adrian and Kim. This was a great conversation 00:35:52.699 --> 00:35:56.320 around pricing. I hope our audience got some 00:35:56.320 --> 00:35:59.280 nuggets from it and we'll see you next time with 00:35:59.280 --> 00:36:03.099 a deeper dive into the pre -sale process. Talk 00:36:03.099 --> 00:36:08.019 soon. Thanks for tuning into the promo playbook. 00:36:08.400 --> 00:36:11.400 If you found value in today's episode, be sure 00:36:11.400 --> 00:36:14.760 to subscribe and leave us a review. Got a topic 00:36:14.760 --> 00:36:17.340 you'd love us to cover? Connect with us on LinkedIn. 00:36:17.480 --> 00:36:21.269 We want to hear from you. Until next time, stay 00:36:21.269 --> 00:36:24.329 smart, stay strategic, and keep growing your 00:36:24.329 --> 00:36:25.289 supplier success.