WEBVTT 00:00:02.329 --> 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 Faustic and 00:00:10.830 --> 00:00:13.910 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. 00:00:21.269 --> 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 --> 00:00:33.219 your playbook for success. Let's get started. 00:00:33.719 --> 00:00:36.719 Welcome to this episode of the promo playbook. 00:00:36.899 --> 00:00:40.759 Today is a master class in promo standards. So 00:00:40.759 --> 00:00:42.799 if you're not familiar with promo standards, 00:00:42.979 --> 00:00:45.340 get a notebook, get ready to take some notes. 00:00:45.439 --> 00:00:49.259 This is important stuff. Joining me today is 00:00:49.259 --> 00:00:52.460 our co -host, Kim Ballerine and Adrienne Barker 00:00:52.460 --> 00:00:57.280 and our promo standards queen. Amy Rabidoux. 00:00:57.719 --> 00:01:00.619 So I'm going to start by having Amy introduce 00:01:00.619 --> 00:01:03.219 herself to our audience and give us a little 00:01:03.219 --> 00:01:06.319 history of promo standards. Thank you so much, 00:01:06.359 --> 00:01:09.180 Lisa. My name is Amy Rabidoux. I'm currently 00:01:09.180 --> 00:01:12.319 the VP of Client and Community Engagement in 00:01:12.319 --> 00:01:15.859 Nterra. And I've been in the industry for several 00:01:15.859 --> 00:01:18.540 years. I've worked on the supplier side, distributor 00:01:18.540 --> 00:01:21.760 side, service provider side, and currently the 00:01:21.760 --> 00:01:25.480 vice chair of promo standards and the committee 00:01:25.480 --> 00:01:27.859 chair for membership marketing and education 00:01:27.859 --> 00:01:30.560 committee, which puts on the annual promo standards 00:01:30.560 --> 00:01:35.459 tech summit each February. So thank you. You're 00:01:35.459 --> 00:01:38.849 welcome. So what type of person attends the tech 00:01:38.849 --> 00:01:41.510 summit Amy is that for anybody in the industry 00:01:41.510 --> 00:01:45.109 or is that for IT folks? Like who's a good candidate 00:01:45.109 --> 00:01:49.230 to attend that event? So our promo standards 00:01:49.230 --> 00:01:54.090 Sessions and content is geared towards more of 00:01:54.090 --> 00:02:00.430 a technology minded So I think CTOs, the developers, 00:02:00.969 --> 00:02:03.909 anyone that's responsible for digital transformation, 00:02:04.250 --> 00:02:07.890 such a buzzword in our industry. Recently, anyone 00:02:07.890 --> 00:02:12.930 that's looking at AI to streamline inside operations. 00:02:13.110 --> 00:02:15.310 I'd say we've brought in some product marketing 00:02:15.310 --> 00:02:19.009 along with some revenue operations, which is 00:02:19.009 --> 00:02:22.770 the. an up -and -coming mid -office opportunity 00:02:22.770 --> 00:02:25.909 in a lot of our larger suppliers and distributors. 00:02:26.610 --> 00:02:29.729 Anyone really in that role of looking to use 00:02:29.729 --> 00:02:33.490 technology to streamline sales operations, streamline 00:02:33.490 --> 00:02:37.810 customer service, customer success, and also 00:02:37.810 --> 00:02:43.150 anything around order management, and even accounting. 00:02:43.990 --> 00:02:46.969 One of our endpoints and services sends invoices 00:02:46.969 --> 00:02:52.180 out. through the different members. Awesome. 00:02:52.259 --> 00:02:54.860 Awesome. And I know that's a topic that Adrienne 00:02:54.860 --> 00:02:58.319 really brings us back to quite frequently, which 00:02:58.319 --> 00:03:02.500 is fiscal responsibility, fiscal health. And 00:03:02.500 --> 00:03:06.560 many of our listeners are new suppliers or brands 00:03:06.560 --> 00:03:09.560 that aren't so familiar with the industry. So 00:03:09.560 --> 00:03:11.919 a lot of my questions today will be around like 00:03:11.919 --> 00:03:14.759 who is a candidate for promo standards and how 00:03:14.759 --> 00:03:17.979 do we sort of remove the fear from you know, 00:03:18.780 --> 00:03:20.759 adopting promo standards and what that can do 00:03:20.759 --> 00:03:25.780 for people's businesses. So this might be a tough 00:03:25.780 --> 00:03:29.439 question to answer in a few sentences, but why 00:03:29.439 --> 00:03:32.620 is it important to the industry overall that 00:03:32.620 --> 00:03:37.099 folks know what promo standards is? Well, start 00:03:37.099 --> 00:03:39.180 a little bit with a little bit of history of 00:03:39.180 --> 00:03:42.060 how Promo Standards came to be, and that will 00:03:42.060 --> 00:03:46.300 show the path of how it's grown and how it's 00:03:46.300 --> 00:03:49.139 already impacted the industry. Promo Standards 00:03:49.139 --> 00:03:52.259 is a non -profit organization, completely volunteer 00:03:52.259 --> 00:03:56.639 driven, and it's committed to reducing the friction. 00:03:56.939 --> 00:04:00.860 within the supply chain, whether it's from manufacturer, 00:04:01.199 --> 00:04:04.360 supplier, distributor, and client, and the service 00:04:04.360 --> 00:04:08.139 providers that offer services in between any 00:04:08.139 --> 00:04:11.060 of those functions. It's our mission to streamline 00:04:11.060 --> 00:04:14.500 these transactions and to standardize the flow 00:04:14.500 --> 00:04:18.160 of the information. We're not programmers. It's 00:04:18.160 --> 00:04:21.120 not a product that you can purchase. It's a language 00:04:21.120 --> 00:04:23.540 to allow the different members of the supply 00:04:23.540 --> 00:04:27.199 chain to communicate more efficiently. So it 00:04:27.199 --> 00:04:31.220 started about, I would say, let's say in 2014, 00:04:31.680 --> 00:04:35.420 with a group of like -minded suppliers and distributors 00:04:35.420 --> 00:04:38.850 that got together and said, how can we... be 00:04:38.850 --> 00:04:41.949 more efficient with each other? How do we communicate 00:04:41.949 --> 00:04:45.930 better? How do we stop the madness of the phone 00:04:45.930 --> 00:04:49.850 calls? Impacted the faxes? How do we do that? 00:04:50.389 --> 00:04:52.870 Those conversations and those early meetings 00:04:52.870 --> 00:04:57.470 started back in 2014. By 2019, Promo Standards 00:04:57.470 --> 00:05:01.389 became an official non -profit. Today, as we 00:05:01.389 --> 00:05:05.290 talk, it's hard to find an integration in the 00:05:05.290 --> 00:05:09.240 promotional products industry. that has not driven 00:05:09.240 --> 00:05:14.040 or even utilizing promo standards, whether it's 00:05:14.040 --> 00:05:17.060 a direct API with a supplier between a supplier 00:05:17.060 --> 00:05:19.339 and a distributor, or it's a service provider 00:05:19.339 --> 00:05:21.759 that returns order status and order shipment 00:05:21.759 --> 00:05:25.279 notifications, chances are they're using promo 00:05:25.279 --> 00:05:28.360 standards. Great. Thank you for that insight. 00:05:28.420 --> 00:05:32.000 That was super, super helpful. It's important 00:05:32.000 --> 00:05:34.519 overall to the industry because it allows people 00:05:34.519 --> 00:05:38.579 to talk to each other. It allows the clean flow 00:05:38.579 --> 00:05:42.459 of communication, which all of us on this call 00:05:42.459 --> 00:05:45.819 know how many times a supplier and distributor 00:05:45.819 --> 00:05:49.240 touch in order. So to be able to reduce those 00:05:49.240 --> 00:05:54.259 number of touches is a fabulous thing. So I still, 00:05:54.480 --> 00:05:57.199 even though I've heard of promo standards for 00:05:57.199 --> 00:06:01.220 many years, I still have some. resistance to 00:06:01.220 --> 00:06:03.519 it because I don't think I understand exactly 00:06:03.519 --> 00:06:07.040 how the data points work and what that means 00:06:07.040 --> 00:06:10.420 and what does that mean to a supplier in distributor 00:06:10.420 --> 00:06:14.300 who want to adopt promo standards. So maybe you 00:06:14.300 --> 00:06:18.949 can talk to us a little bit about that Amy. Don't 00:06:18.949 --> 00:06:21.850 feel alone in that. We have office hours through 00:06:21.850 --> 00:06:23.930 promo standards instead of monthly and we still 00:06:23.930 --> 00:06:26.550 get questions like, how do I buy promo standards? 00:06:27.449 --> 00:06:30.290 How do I do these things? Really, there's a couple 00:06:30.290 --> 00:06:34.009 different ways that you can access the efficiencies 00:06:34.009 --> 00:06:37.970 and the effects of promo standards. If you're 00:06:37.970 --> 00:06:41.930 a supplier and you want to reduce the amount 00:06:41.930 --> 00:06:47.040 of inbound phone calls, and faxes or email orders. 00:06:47.459 --> 00:06:52.879 You can start creating endpoints that will take 00:06:52.879 --> 00:06:56.300 your inventory, your product data, your images, 00:06:56.759 --> 00:07:01.439 maybe some of your safety documents, and you 00:07:01.439 --> 00:07:06.959 can start building your data into a normalized 00:07:06.959 --> 00:07:11.220 form. Promo standards gives you best practices 00:07:11.220 --> 00:07:14.660 for that. Once you go through and structure your 00:07:14.660 --> 00:07:16.959 data and you create an endpoint, that allows 00:07:16.959 --> 00:07:21.199 distributors or service providers or decorators 00:07:21.199 --> 00:07:24.819 to pull that information in a standardized way 00:07:24.819 --> 00:07:28.300 into their product or into their ERP so that 00:07:28.300 --> 00:07:31.480 they can easily see that. Let's say a distributor 00:07:31.480 --> 00:07:33.600 wants to know how much inventory you have and 00:07:33.600 --> 00:07:36.279 what's the price, what's coming in. They're easily 00:07:36.279 --> 00:07:39.480 able to do that. Now, they can do that through 00:07:39.480 --> 00:07:42.040 building the products on their own. in their 00:07:42.040 --> 00:07:44.920 own ERP and their business practices. Our decorator 00:07:44.920 --> 00:07:47.920 can pull in order status and order shipment if 00:07:47.920 --> 00:07:51.060 goods are coming from a wholesaler before they're 00:07:51.060 --> 00:07:53.500 going to ship it and give order tracking for 00:07:53.500 --> 00:07:55.939 finished good, which they can also use promo 00:07:55.939 --> 00:07:59.740 standards and points to do. If I'm a distributor, 00:08:00.100 --> 00:08:03.279 I can make a choice. I can build my own tools 00:08:03.279 --> 00:08:06.779 with my own technology team, or I can use a service 00:08:06.779 --> 00:08:08.800 provider. There's many in our industry, so I'm 00:08:08.800 --> 00:08:12.709 not going to name them. I can't name them. There's 00:08:12.709 --> 00:08:15.029 many service providers out there that provide 00:08:15.029 --> 00:08:19.550 services like Quoti, digital proofs, digital 00:08:19.550 --> 00:08:23.730 specs, customized playbooks, all these things 00:08:23.730 --> 00:08:27.790 that you can use the data that suppliers present 00:08:27.790 --> 00:08:30.410 through their endpoints to create and to better 00:08:30.410 --> 00:08:35.789 service your clients. Kim? I have a question 00:08:35.789 --> 00:08:41.149 in just a point of clarity. When I hear that, 00:08:41.970 --> 00:08:46.029 does Chrome standards offer basically a framework 00:08:46.029 --> 00:08:51.970 or sort of a template that a distributor or supplier 00:08:51.970 --> 00:08:57.250 can then take, and then they find partners to 00:08:57.250 --> 00:09:00.509 help build and actually execute on that framework. 00:09:01.269 --> 00:09:05.929 And the benefit from that is, well, I'm using 00:09:05.929 --> 00:09:08.919 that framework. and you're using that framework, 00:09:09.379 --> 00:09:11.940 and Lisa's using that framework, and Adrian's 00:09:11.940 --> 00:09:14.480 using that framework. So when we all want to 00:09:14.480 --> 00:09:18.340 work together, it's super easy for us to go back 00:09:18.340 --> 00:09:21.940 and forth. So long -term, while it might seem 00:09:21.940 --> 00:09:26.679 a little overwhelming at first, it's really setting 00:09:26.679 --> 00:09:30.019 us up to be able to have that flawless communication 00:09:30.019 --> 00:09:34.549 as we grow and scale. Yes, absolutely. And also 00:09:34.549 --> 00:09:36.389 Piquant, which you're kind of dancing around 00:09:36.389 --> 00:09:40.009 there, but you were almost there. Almost there. 00:09:42.040 --> 00:09:46.200 No one -off integrations, right? And what I found 00:09:46.200 --> 00:09:49.240 about following the framework, as you'd say, 00:09:49.419 --> 00:09:51.580 and the best practices and the documentation, 00:09:51.679 --> 00:09:53.580 because all the endpoints are documented. We 00:09:53.580 --> 00:09:55.500 have a whole committee that talks about best 00:09:55.500 --> 00:09:58.600 practices for each of our members of our supply 00:09:58.600 --> 00:10:03.039 chain. Hey, how do I get started? What does this 00:10:03.039 --> 00:10:06.799 mean? How do I pull inventory? All of these questions 00:10:06.799 --> 00:10:09.600 are answered through our best practices committee. 00:10:10.789 --> 00:10:13.409 The most important thing is that if you're using 00:10:13.409 --> 00:10:16.230 the same language, then it doesn't matter so 00:10:16.230 --> 00:10:19.450 much as your internal business practices because 00:10:19.450 --> 00:10:21.669 what's being output or what you're receiving 00:10:21.669 --> 00:10:25.230 is in the same from one supplier to another supplier 00:10:25.230 --> 00:10:27.649 to another supplier. Or if you're sending your 00:10:27.649 --> 00:10:30.190 supplier and you're sending out order status, 00:10:30.690 --> 00:10:33.529 order shipment notification, you're putting it 00:10:33.529 --> 00:10:35.289 out there and distributors are pulling that in 00:10:35.289 --> 00:10:38.659 and using it as they want. the same with decorators 00:10:38.659 --> 00:10:41.720 and the same as service providers. There's a 00:10:41.720 --> 00:10:43.980 lot of service providers in our industry that 00:10:43.980 --> 00:10:48.940 have made a business model of presenting data 00:10:48.940 --> 00:10:51.639 for suppliers in the format because suppliers 00:10:51.639 --> 00:10:55.379 maybe don't have the internal staff to do it. 00:10:56.360 --> 00:10:58.320 So service providers will go in there, clean 00:10:58.320 --> 00:11:01.159 up their data, and host their endpoints for them 00:11:01.159 --> 00:11:03.360 so that they don't have to carry that burden 00:11:03.360 --> 00:11:08.139 themselves. Now, larger suppliers will set up 00:11:08.139 --> 00:11:13.879 their ERPs and their technology. disparate systems 00:11:13.879 --> 00:11:16.679 and use promo standards to communicate with each 00:11:16.679 --> 00:11:19.879 other and also push out to their websites. If 00:11:19.879 --> 00:11:22.860 a supplier is using the promo standards framework 00:11:22.860 --> 00:11:25.179 to present data on their website, I think it's 00:11:25.179 --> 00:11:28.100 so much easier because you're consuming the data. 00:11:28.279 --> 00:11:30.399 You're going to find things that maybe look odd 00:11:30.399 --> 00:11:32.500 and you don't have to wait for a service provider 00:11:32.500 --> 00:11:34.460 or distributor to say, hey, that doesn't look 00:11:34.460 --> 00:11:36.519 right or something's not working because you're 00:11:36.519 --> 00:11:39.100 already doing it using that data yourself and 00:11:39.100 --> 00:11:42.950 normalizing it. As far as the end points go, 00:11:43.190 --> 00:11:46.110 we have inventory, which is normally the most 00:11:46.110 --> 00:11:49.710 easiest suppliers can present. What are my livestock 00:11:49.710 --> 00:11:53.850 levels? Then we have product data, which is your 00:11:53.850 --> 00:11:56.830 basic product data that you would find in an 00:11:56.830 --> 00:12:00.929 old school catalog or on your website. Then the 00:12:00.929 --> 00:12:04.509 more difficult one would be product pricing and 00:12:04.509 --> 00:12:07.990 configuration. Think of your SKU, your part IDs, 00:12:08.250 --> 00:12:11.330 your colors, the packaging, the decoration that 00:12:11.330 --> 00:12:14.509 can go on each of those items, and how you organize 00:12:14.509 --> 00:12:19.710 that data so that the holy grail is that a distributor 00:12:19.710 --> 00:12:21.870 can send you a fully configured purchase order. 00:12:22.110 --> 00:12:24.850 that goes right into your ERP, that you don't 00:12:24.850 --> 00:12:26.909 have to get a fax, you don't have to look at 00:12:26.909 --> 00:12:30.929 a PDF email. It just flows right in. Then the 00:12:30.929 --> 00:12:33.529 benefit for suppliers for fully configurated 00:12:33.529 --> 00:12:36.409 or for distributors for fully configured purchase 00:12:36.409 --> 00:12:41.590 orders is that they don't have to wait for stock. 00:12:41.899 --> 00:12:44.919 their stock's taken immediately, especially how 00:12:44.919 --> 00:12:47.580 their artwork is sent. It can go right into order 00:12:47.580 --> 00:12:51.220 entry or artwork approval without delays. You 00:12:51.220 --> 00:12:53.919 don't have other people in there maybe causing 00:12:53.919 --> 00:12:58.019 errors or typos. A lot of the burden fell on 00:12:58.019 --> 00:13:01.279 suppliers pre -COVID. It's like, hey, we what? 00:13:01.990 --> 00:13:04.210 fully configured purchase orders and distributors 00:13:04.210 --> 00:13:06.429 kind of maybe didn't see what's in it for me. 00:13:06.789 --> 00:13:10.149 But then during the COVID situation, distributors 00:13:10.149 --> 00:13:12.070 start to feel, oh, I know what's in for me. I 00:13:12.070 --> 00:13:14.490 don't have to be on the phone 24 seven. Did you 00:13:14.490 --> 00:13:16.690 get my order? Where's my inventory? Is it still 00:13:16.690 --> 00:13:19.330 there? What's the pricing, right? And by using 00:13:19.330 --> 00:13:23.190 promo standards on both sides, you kind of eliminate 00:13:23.190 --> 00:13:25.570 some of that. Think about tariffs, right? How 00:13:25.570 --> 00:13:28.309 many times did you put an order in with the supplier? 00:13:28.759 --> 00:13:31.539 And to find out that the pricing changed after 00:13:31.539 --> 00:13:35.240 you put it in because they weren't a supplier 00:13:35.240 --> 00:13:37.659 that used promo standards to keep their pricing 00:13:37.659 --> 00:13:42.700 up to date. Right? So there's some things there 00:13:42.700 --> 00:13:47.340 that are circumstances and things that are happening 00:13:47.340 --> 00:13:50.000 economically and politically, promo standards 00:13:50.000 --> 00:13:55.090 kind of leveled the playing field for. What I 00:13:55.090 --> 00:13:58.289 might be hearing is it's the quality of the data 00:13:58.289 --> 00:14:02.889 that the supplier has organized to fit the framework 00:14:02.889 --> 00:14:07.669 of promo standards. So how does a supplier, I 00:14:07.669 --> 00:14:11.149 mean, we work with suppliers of all sizes. How 00:14:11.149 --> 00:14:15.250 does a supplier find that information, that framework 00:14:15.250 --> 00:14:18.409 that they need to follow to provide the data? 00:14:19.090 --> 00:14:23.519 So on our website. promostandards .org. We have 00:14:23.519 --> 00:14:26.340 all the endpoints, the documentation, the testing 00:14:26.340 --> 00:14:29.659 information. We also have validators where you 00:14:29.659 --> 00:14:33.320 can validate your data. Best practices can also 00:14:33.320 --> 00:14:35.980 be found there. You can also join as a member. 00:14:36.259 --> 00:14:38.539 If you'd like to get more involved in the community 00:14:38.539 --> 00:14:41.879 and be on a work group, a task force, or a committee, 00:14:42.240 --> 00:14:45.460 you can become members and actually influence 00:14:45.460 --> 00:14:48.460 the work that's being done or what promo standards 00:14:48.460 --> 00:14:50.440 tackles next or the next endpoint that's going 00:14:50.440 --> 00:14:53.940 to come out. So all of that data is found on 00:14:53.940 --> 00:14:57.600 our website. Also coming to the tech summit allows 00:14:57.600 --> 00:15:00.220 you to network in real time and get to build 00:15:00.220 --> 00:15:03.480 those relationships with the other partners you'd 00:15:03.480 --> 00:15:05.980 be shaking hands with when you have these conversations 00:15:05.980 --> 00:15:09.000 about integrations and setting up endpoints. 00:15:11.850 --> 00:15:14.870 I think I might also be hearing that your inventory 00:15:14.870 --> 00:15:18.389 has to be accurate. If you have multiple supply 00:15:18.389 --> 00:15:21.110 chains that are pulling from the same inventory, 00:15:21.889 --> 00:15:25.610 your inventory flow has to all go be up to date 00:15:25.610 --> 00:15:30.049 and be accurate before you can even think about 00:15:30.049 --> 00:15:34.250 adopting promo standards, or at least the inventory 00:15:34.250 --> 00:15:38.850 endpoint of promo standards. There's a couple 00:15:38.850 --> 00:15:42.000 of best practices that some of our suppliers 00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:44.860 in the industry have followed depending on there's 00:15:44.860 --> 00:15:47.220 some suppliers that make the product on demand. 00:15:47.960 --> 00:15:50.799 How do they show inventory when they're actually 00:15:50.799 --> 00:15:54.340 making it once it's ordered? There's some suppliers 00:15:54.340 --> 00:15:58.659 that they never want to show below a certain 00:15:58.659 --> 00:16:04.370 point in that case because they have unlimited 00:16:04.370 --> 00:16:08.169 because they make it. Or if you're a retail brand 00:16:08.169 --> 00:16:11.370 and you're like, okay, how do I make sure what's 00:16:11.370 --> 00:16:13.509 set aside, what's actually going to be there 00:16:13.509 --> 00:16:17.529 for promo industry when it comes through? A lot 00:16:17.529 --> 00:16:19.789 of times that can be regulated by different SKU 00:16:19.789 --> 00:16:22.490 numbers. There's best practices that our teams 00:16:22.490 --> 00:16:25.210 recommend in those different situations because 00:16:25.210 --> 00:16:27.769 we know suppliers in our industry go to market 00:16:27.769 --> 00:16:31.940 in different ways. Thank you for that. Kim, did 00:16:31.940 --> 00:16:35.440 that sort of address what you were asking? It 00:16:35.440 --> 00:16:39.600 does. It does. Thank you. It's just nice to know 00:16:39.600 --> 00:16:44.519 that there's a way to potentially plug and play. 00:16:44.519 --> 00:16:47.419 Let's throw like some old school tech stuff out 00:16:47.419 --> 00:16:52.179 there, right? But a way to standardize because 00:16:52.179 --> 00:16:54.399 everyone's coming at it different and everyone 00:16:54.399 --> 00:16:57.190 is at a different life cycle when within their 00:16:57.190 --> 00:17:02.830 own company when they enter promo. You need to 00:17:02.830 --> 00:17:06.150 know at least where to start. This is a great 00:17:06.150 --> 00:17:11.210 way for suppliers, for brands, for distributors, 00:17:11.509 --> 00:17:14.009 people who are getting into it to at least start 00:17:14.009 --> 00:17:18.529 to understand what needs to happen to be successful. 00:17:22.150 --> 00:17:28.500 A couple of things I'll say. So many people approach 00:17:28.500 --> 00:17:30.599 promo standards like they are approaching AI 00:17:30.599 --> 00:17:33.160 now. I want to do promo standards. I want to 00:17:33.160 --> 00:17:36.140 do AI, right? And it's almost like, okay, what 00:17:36.140 --> 00:17:39.160 problem are you trying to solve? Then, okay, 00:17:39.259 --> 00:17:42.380 let's create a path for you and how you can use 00:17:42.380 --> 00:17:44.680 promo standards. You can use AI to do that. Do 00:17:44.680 --> 00:17:46.660 I need to do all the endpoints of promo standards 00:17:46.660 --> 00:17:49.059 to be successful? Do I have to do inventory or 00:17:49.059 --> 00:17:51.339 can I just do order status or order shipment 00:17:51.339 --> 00:17:53.660 notification? Well, what's the problem that you're 00:17:53.660 --> 00:17:56.519 trying to solve? I want to stop phone calls of 00:17:56.519 --> 00:17:59.299 people or emails asking me when my order is going 00:17:59.299 --> 00:18:01.759 to ship. Okay, great. Order status is a great 00:18:01.759 --> 00:18:04.579 benefit for you that you can present that as 00:18:04.579 --> 00:18:06.980 a supplier. The other side of that is that you 00:18:06.980 --> 00:18:10.289 have to have clients. that are willing to use 00:18:10.289 --> 00:18:12.829 that information through the endpoint or are 00:18:12.829 --> 00:18:16.170 part of a service provider that can take that 00:18:16.170 --> 00:18:19.490 information and use it effectively, right? Because, 00:18:19.690 --> 00:18:21.789 and then once you do that, then when you start 00:18:21.789 --> 00:18:24.490 getting into the large buying groups or you get 00:18:24.490 --> 00:18:27.049 into the service providers, it's like, okay, 00:18:27.109 --> 00:18:29.549 a supplier says, hey, I'm giving them order status. 00:18:30.390 --> 00:18:32.710 Okay, where's the training to tell the users 00:18:32.710 --> 00:18:36.230 how to find it? Right. So there can be some complications 00:18:36.230 --> 00:18:38.609 in that process. So it's always best to say, 00:18:38.809 --> 00:18:41.369 what problem am I trying to solve? OK, great. 00:18:41.730 --> 00:18:43.750 And promo standards can help me. Great. Here's 00:18:43.750 --> 00:18:46.269 my path. Then when you see the results, you see 00:18:46.269 --> 00:18:49.410 the ROI. OK, great. Go to the next one and go 00:18:49.410 --> 00:18:54.190 to the next one. And how many is endpoint the 00:18:54.190 --> 00:18:56.970 right language, not data point? It's endpoint 00:18:56.970 --> 00:19:02.509 is the right language, Amy. So we say we've. 00:19:02.589 --> 00:19:06.630 There's data points and data fields within the 00:19:06.630 --> 00:19:09.789 endpoint. And our standards and our documentation 00:19:09.789 --> 00:19:13.250 tell you which data in which format to present 00:19:13.250 --> 00:19:16.029 through the endpoint so that it is standardized 00:19:16.029 --> 00:19:18.269 so that whoever is pulling that information through 00:19:18.269 --> 00:19:20.630 the endpoint receives the information in the 00:19:20.630 --> 00:19:23.430 way they are expecting it to. OK, thank you. 00:19:23.509 --> 00:19:28.490 Very, very helpful. So how many endpoints are 00:19:28.490 --> 00:19:32.609 there? We're up to about 10. I believe we've 00:19:32.609 --> 00:19:35.509 officially released. We have some that are waiting 00:19:35.509 --> 00:19:39.549 to be released. Think inventory, order status, 00:19:39.769 --> 00:19:42.410 order shipment notification, purchase order, 00:19:43.230 --> 00:19:47.250 invoice, product compliance. We also just released 00:19:47.250 --> 00:19:50.589 one called company data, which helps with whether 00:19:50.589 --> 00:19:55.190 you're minority owned or different kinds of information 00:19:55.190 --> 00:19:58.039 on a company that. you would want to know, especially 00:19:58.039 --> 00:19:59.920 in this day and age where clients are asking 00:19:59.920 --> 00:20:02.319 specific information, and you have to report 00:20:02.319 --> 00:20:05.319 back on that type of information. Great, great. 00:20:06.299 --> 00:20:10.119 So, Adrienne, I'm just going to ask you, as someone 00:20:10.119 --> 00:20:12.819 who works with some smaller suppliers and is 00:20:12.819 --> 00:20:15.759 fairly new to promo standards, is this all making 00:20:15.759 --> 00:20:19.400 sense? It really is, because I remember, and 00:20:19.400 --> 00:20:22.240 Amy, I mentioned the name before, is it okay 00:20:22.240 --> 00:20:25.680 to mention the name again? So I remember Scott 00:20:25.680 --> 00:20:27.759 and us to know talking about this I don't even 00:20:27.759 --> 00:20:31.500 know how many years ago and the excitement of 00:20:31.500 --> 00:20:34.259 Like understandings, I mean you've grown it's 00:20:34.259 --> 00:20:36.119 amazing like the different frameworks and the 00:20:36.119 --> 00:20:38.519 endpoints But even with the artwork, I think 00:20:38.519 --> 00:20:40.440 that was the first thing. Am I correct? Was that 00:20:40.440 --> 00:20:42.359 one of the first goals to kind of figure out 00:20:42.359 --> 00:20:46.299 the error I have Like I have just to join this 00:20:46.299 --> 00:20:48.380 conversation It's so fun to kind of be there 00:20:48.380 --> 00:20:50.480 and hear the beginning and then see where you 00:20:50.480 --> 00:20:53.339 are And I do want to just take a second to congratulate 00:20:53.339 --> 00:20:57.319 you your team your members the nonprofit organization 00:20:57.319 --> 00:21:00.140 that you have and those that are willing to Serve 00:21:00.140 --> 00:21:03.799 on a committee. I think it's fantastic And if 00:21:03.799 --> 00:21:06.339 I'm correct, I don't want to say the price unless 00:21:06.339 --> 00:21:09.880 it's okay, but I if I'm correct It's one price 00:21:09.880 --> 00:21:14.190 and it's a very fair price to have To be a member, 00:21:14.369 --> 00:21:16.710 am I correct? Oh, yeah. To be a member of promo 00:21:16.710 --> 00:21:20.130 centers, yes. Yeah, it's a very, yes. It is not 00:21:20.130 --> 00:21:24.809 a huge commitment. It gives you access to all 00:21:24.809 --> 00:21:27.730 of the member benefits and we also have our own 00:21:27.730 --> 00:21:31.470 Slack community. So as your team members are 00:21:31.470 --> 00:21:33.869 trying to implement the endpoints or pull in 00:21:33.869 --> 00:21:37.210 data or build integrations, within the Slack 00:21:37.210 --> 00:21:40.670 community, you're able to reach out to like -sized 00:21:40.670 --> 00:21:43.329 or like -minded people and say, where I'm stuck, 00:21:44.009 --> 00:21:45.950 you know, how did you solve this problem? And 00:21:45.950 --> 00:21:48.829 our community really steps up and helps because 00:21:48.829 --> 00:21:51.490 we're all trying, we all have that same goal 00:21:51.490 --> 00:21:53.890 in mind, whether that we're friendly competitors 00:21:53.890 --> 00:21:56.569 or distributors or suppliers or different members, 00:21:56.769 --> 00:21:59.490 is that we want to reduce the friction in our 00:21:59.490 --> 00:22:02.109 supply chain, right? Amy, I do want to ask you 00:22:02.109 --> 00:22:05.390 a question because in reality, as much as I think 00:22:05.390 --> 00:22:07.910 it's absolutely for everyone and it would be 00:22:07.910 --> 00:22:11.049 crazy if you were a distributor not to, my question 00:22:11.049 --> 00:22:14.789 to you is, Who would it really not serve very 00:22:14.789 --> 00:22:19.369 well? Is there the small distributor? Or at what 00:22:19.369 --> 00:22:21.849 point do you ever think, OK, maybe it's not for 00:22:21.849 --> 00:22:24.869 you? And I'm curious if you think that, if there's 00:22:24.869 --> 00:22:29.109 anything. So I get that a lot. And I do some 00:22:29.109 --> 00:22:31.710 sessions with some other service providers in 00:22:31.710 --> 00:22:33.329 our industry. It's like, when does that make 00:22:33.329 --> 00:22:35.210 sense to look at promo standards? Or when does 00:22:35.210 --> 00:22:39.349 it? makes sense to look at one of the other service 00:22:39.349 --> 00:22:43.369 providers or standards that are out there. And 00:22:43.369 --> 00:22:47.829 I think it's where you are in what size your 00:22:47.829 --> 00:22:50.930 business is, how many users that you have, what 00:22:50.930 --> 00:22:53.529 you're looking to, what your internal roadmap 00:22:53.529 --> 00:22:57.470 is for technology. Some of the barriers to success 00:22:57.470 --> 00:23:00.569 are, you know, you think about costs of internal 00:23:00.569 --> 00:23:04.250 tech teams, think about data quality, you know, 00:23:04.349 --> 00:23:06.619 how how long is it going to take me to get my 00:23:06.619 --> 00:23:10.299 data clean? Is that even something I can do? 00:23:11.519 --> 00:23:14.339 Or organization buy -in, maybe you're one person 00:23:14.339 --> 00:23:16.140 that sees the benefit of this and your whole 00:23:16.140 --> 00:23:19.559 company doesn't. Those are some things that can 00:23:19.559 --> 00:23:22.480 really get in the way of fully implementing all 00:23:22.480 --> 00:23:25.799 the endpoints. At that point, you take a look 00:23:25.799 --> 00:23:29.240 at, are there service providers out there that 00:23:29.240 --> 00:23:31.420 have already done this or could do it for me 00:23:31.420 --> 00:23:34.549 and at a reasonable cost? a fraction of the cost. 00:23:35.069 --> 00:23:37.970 There are some out there that will do that for 00:23:37.970 --> 00:23:40.569 you. Whether you're a supplier and you want to 00:23:40.569 --> 00:23:43.569 have inventory and order shipment notification, 00:23:43.710 --> 00:23:47.069 order status, and bare minimum, there's some 00:23:47.069 --> 00:23:49.170 that will do that for you. They'll just come 00:23:49.170 --> 00:23:52.690 in and do it and maintain it for you. You don't 00:23:52.690 --> 00:23:54.990 want to use a service provider to do that and 00:23:54.990 --> 00:23:59.789 you're using one of our. industry accreditation 00:23:59.789 --> 00:24:02.069 companies, whether they're for -profit or non 00:24:02.069 --> 00:24:04.609 -profit. Like I said, I don't want to mention 00:24:04.609 --> 00:24:08.130 their names, but if you're using one of their 00:24:08.130 --> 00:24:10.670 built -in products like technology partner of 00:24:10.670 --> 00:24:15.450 PPI or some of the other industry service providers 00:24:15.450 --> 00:24:17.809 out there, they're using promo standards in their 00:24:17.809 --> 00:24:21.880 tools. So just by using those tools, you're kind 00:24:21.880 --> 00:24:24.480 of using promo standards because they're also 00:24:24.480 --> 00:24:28.460 using those, right? And so that's where I would 00:24:28.460 --> 00:24:31.740 make a decision as a company. And if I'm a company 00:24:31.740 --> 00:24:34.640 owner, supplier, distributor, or decorator, right? 00:24:35.299 --> 00:24:38.160 And I'm looking to solve a problem by becoming 00:24:38.160 --> 00:24:41.440 more efficient in reducing the physical touches 00:24:41.440 --> 00:24:44.359 and the accuracy of my orders. Where does it 00:24:44.359 --> 00:24:46.539 make sense to partner with someone? Do I hire 00:24:46.539 --> 00:24:50.940 my own team? Right, or do I look at service providers 00:24:50.940 --> 00:24:53.779 and see what they can do for me at X amount of 00:24:53.779 --> 00:24:57.119 cost that can be that can be budgeted and planned? 00:24:58.119 --> 00:24:59.920 Okay, so the me one more question one more question. 00:24:59.920 --> 00:25:04.720 Sorry Lisa The killer in the industry to me are 00:25:04.720 --> 00:25:08.019 the mistakes production mistakes human errors 00:25:08.279 --> 00:25:10.700 But it seems to me with promo standards, you're 00:25:10.700 --> 00:25:12.859 really doing a fantastic job. You cut that down. 00:25:12.940 --> 00:25:15.980 Have you ever kind of looked at how much money 00:25:15.980 --> 00:25:21.400 is saved with the suppliers using this program? 00:25:22.039 --> 00:25:24.900 So there are a few suppliers that have done those 00:25:24.900 --> 00:25:28.339 studies when it comes to how much this... Think 00:25:28.339 --> 00:25:32.759 about RevOps and customer service managers. When 00:25:32.759 --> 00:25:36.700 they say, I've increased my productivity because 00:25:36.859 --> 00:25:39.880 we have reduced phone calls and emails by this 00:25:39.880 --> 00:25:42.980 much, right? And let's see the average in for 00:25:42.980 --> 00:25:45.960 suppliers that say, you know, it costs X amount 00:25:45.960 --> 00:25:50.099 of dollars to produce one order. But using promo 00:25:50.099 --> 00:25:52.460 standards and putting these practices in place, 00:25:52.720 --> 00:25:58.240 now my average per dollar is now Y. Those are 00:25:58.240 --> 00:26:01.220 things that you can measure. As a distributor, 00:26:01.880 --> 00:26:06.240 if your team is spending less time calling suppliers, 00:26:06.599 --> 00:26:08.859 waiting for inventory, order status, order shipment 00:26:08.859 --> 00:26:12.220 notification, or product data to build presentations 00:26:12.220 --> 00:26:15.900 and quotes, or media images to do product specs, 00:26:16.400 --> 00:26:21.650 then they're not selling. So there's so many 00:26:21.650 --> 00:26:26.089 ways that you can experience value by using standardized 00:26:26.089 --> 00:26:31.450 data and using these endpoints. All great information, 00:26:31.450 --> 00:26:34.509 I think, can be a little overwhelming for somebody 00:26:34.509 --> 00:26:38.349 coming new into the space. We do work with some 00:26:38.349 --> 00:26:41.529 of the smaller suppliers. However, some of our 00:26:41.529 --> 00:26:44.809 smaller clients are super tech savvy and this 00:26:44.809 --> 00:26:47.150 is sort of like a no brainer to them because 00:26:47.150 --> 00:26:50.980 they get They get it. So, Amy, what is the website 00:26:50.980 --> 00:26:54.779 to learn more about promo standards? PromoStandards 00:26:54.779 --> 00:27:00.819 .org is all things promo standards. And you can 00:27:00.819 --> 00:27:03.799 request the login and have access to certain 00:27:03.799 --> 00:27:07.420 information without becoming a member. But there's 00:27:07.420 --> 00:27:10.359 also there's more benefits once you become a 00:27:10.359 --> 00:27:13.279 member and more tools that you can use. And like 00:27:13.279 --> 00:27:15.380 I said, you get access to our Slack community 00:27:15.380 --> 00:27:19.069 and also a discount. for going to our annual 00:27:19.069 --> 00:27:22.250 tech summit. Great. Thank you for sharing that. 00:27:22.390 --> 00:27:25.369 And I know you can't mention names of service 00:27:25.369 --> 00:27:28.130 providers, but how does somebody find a service 00:27:28.130 --> 00:27:32.289 provider? Like, do they put in AI? I am looking 00:27:32.289 --> 00:27:35.589 for a service provider for promo standards. Like, 00:27:35.730 --> 00:27:39.500 how does somebody find a partner? That is a great 00:27:39.500 --> 00:27:42.319 question. And we also, we have a service provider 00:27:42.319 --> 00:27:46.000 directory at promostandards .org, where our members 00:27:46.000 --> 00:27:48.180 have filled out information about themselves, 00:27:48.500 --> 00:27:51.240 what they specialize in, and how they use promo 00:27:51.240 --> 00:27:55.160 standards. Okay, that's great. So really, the 00:27:55.160 --> 00:27:58.400 place to go is the website, and it's promostandards 00:27:58.400 --> 00:28:02.200 .org, everybody, not .com. So make sure you go 00:28:02.200 --> 00:28:08.190 to .org. One question I had Amy for you, and 00:28:08.190 --> 00:28:11.809 maybe you don't know this, but I've heard over 00:28:11.809 --> 00:28:14.190 the years that once you adopt promo standards, 00:28:14.289 --> 00:28:17.450 it does automatically open some doors, like with 00:28:17.450 --> 00:28:23.009 national accounts and other large distributor 00:28:23.009 --> 00:28:28.329 networks. I'm talking as a supplier now. Can 00:28:28.329 --> 00:28:30.970 you support that? Do you think that that is a 00:28:30.970 --> 00:28:34.400 return on investment that you sort of all of 00:28:34.400 --> 00:28:40.160 a sudden are accepted? I wouldn't say all of 00:28:40.160 --> 00:28:42.400 a sudden accepted, but I would say it's a big, 00:28:42.559 --> 00:28:46.539 I think the technology portions in any RFP, whether 00:28:46.539 --> 00:28:49.200 it's in client to distributor, distributor to 00:28:49.200 --> 00:28:52.839 supplier, or supplier to buying group, supplier 00:28:52.839 --> 00:28:56.599 to technology, all of these have a technology 00:28:56.599 --> 00:28:59.279 component now because everyone's looking to reduce 00:28:59.279 --> 00:29:02.680 touches. right, and reduce the cost of an order 00:29:02.680 --> 00:29:06.319 and reduce the cost of doing business. So I think 00:29:06.319 --> 00:29:09.319 promo standards, and as I said earlier, it's 00:29:09.319 --> 00:29:11.680 hard to find an integration in our industry that's 00:29:11.680 --> 00:29:14.039 not based on promo standards, right, in some 00:29:14.039 --> 00:29:17.779 form or fashion, right? So I think, yes, there 00:29:17.779 --> 00:29:23.180 is, you know, you become automatically more attractive 00:29:23.180 --> 00:29:30.019 by using technology to submit orders. or to pull 00:29:30.019 --> 00:29:32.640 in pricing or order SAS, order shipment notification, 00:29:33.799 --> 00:29:39.599 excuse me, because it allows the supplier to 00:29:39.599 --> 00:29:45.619 reduce their operational costs. And the distributor 00:29:45.619 --> 00:29:47.859 too, right? Because then they don't have to have 00:29:47.859 --> 00:29:51.539 a person, well, somebody still has to do the 00:29:51.539 --> 00:29:56.160 data entry though, somehow, right? If you have... 00:29:56.329 --> 00:29:59.329 being able to build an integration that allows 00:29:59.329 --> 00:30:03.329 for fully configured orders. And if you're using 00:30:03.329 --> 00:30:05.190 some of the artwork tools that are out there 00:30:05.190 --> 00:30:07.970 today, sometimes these orders go right to the 00:30:07.970 --> 00:30:10.089 production floor. I mean, think about print on 00:30:10.089 --> 00:30:16.089 demand, right? Yeah. How are the service providers 00:30:16.089 --> 00:30:19.500 and 3PLs that are out there now? how can they 00:30:19.500 --> 00:30:21.940 take an order for one piece with artwork submitted 00:30:21.940 --> 00:30:24.000 with the order and drop it right on the production 00:30:24.000 --> 00:30:29.099 floor? It's built on promo standards. So it's 00:30:29.099 --> 00:30:33.500 a combination of using a universal data standard 00:30:33.500 --> 00:30:38.400 language with your partners and then finding 00:30:38.400 --> 00:30:40.799 a way to be more efficient and using your competitive 00:30:40.799 --> 00:30:44.640 advantage in your business processes. I'm always 00:30:44.640 --> 00:30:49.980 going to be data should be The data should be 00:30:49.980 --> 00:30:52.019 free and I'll put a little asterisk on the end 00:30:52.019 --> 00:30:57.319 of that. So how we, the standard should be out 00:30:57.319 --> 00:30:59.380 there. And then how you use that data that comes 00:30:59.380 --> 00:31:01.480 through the standards is your competitive advantage. 00:31:02.160 --> 00:31:05.859 Yeah. Yeah. And then to that point, let's just 00:31:05.859 --> 00:31:08.440 say a big national is on promo standards and 00:31:08.440 --> 00:31:11.400 you're a new supplier in that community. you 00:31:11.400 --> 00:31:14.640 still have to make something happen. You still 00:31:14.640 --> 00:31:17.960 need to integrate. It's not magic. You still 00:31:17.960 --> 00:31:20.619 need to work with the tech team. You still need 00:31:20.619 --> 00:31:24.279 to match up with their data points. It's not 00:31:24.279 --> 00:31:32.970 automatic. distributor who wanted to get started 00:31:32.970 --> 00:31:35.589 tomorrow and say, okay, I have these problems 00:31:35.589 --> 00:31:38.750 that I've been hearing about during this podcast. 00:31:38.930 --> 00:31:42.650 How do I get started? I think the key is talking 00:31:42.650 --> 00:31:45.450 to your preferred suppliers that you have already 00:31:45.450 --> 00:31:50.250 and asking them, hey, how do I be more efficient 00:31:50.250 --> 00:31:53.029 with sending my orders to you? How do we work 00:31:53.029 --> 00:31:56.809 closer together in solving some of these disparate 00:31:56.809 --> 00:32:01.950 business practices? Some of that, definitely 00:32:01.950 --> 00:32:04.509 going to be technology. Some of that is going 00:32:04.509 --> 00:32:08.170 to be old school way of doing things. Think about 00:32:08.170 --> 00:32:12.890 how most suppliers set up new accounts. That's 00:32:12.890 --> 00:32:16.450 one thing technology has not been able to help 00:32:16.450 --> 00:32:19.009 that we're trying to tackle through promo standards. 00:32:20.029 --> 00:32:24.839 How do I? set up for e -commerce accounts. How 00:32:24.839 --> 00:32:29.480 do I check my order status online? What's my 00:32:29.480 --> 00:32:31.960 API credentials and my promo standards credentials? 00:32:33.160 --> 00:32:37.420 Having those conversations from a decorator or 00:32:37.420 --> 00:32:40.279 a distributor with a supplier is golden first 00:32:40.279 --> 00:32:44.059 step. If I'm a supplier and I want to know, how 00:32:44.059 --> 00:32:50.119 do I get started? Then I would ask your top clients. 00:32:51.079 --> 00:32:55.180 Hey, how are you doing this with my competitors 00:32:55.180 --> 00:32:57.619 or other suppliers? What have you seen that has 00:32:57.619 --> 00:33:00.420 worked for you? Okay, great. You're not using 00:33:00.420 --> 00:33:02.839 a service prior. Did you do your own team? Who's 00:33:02.839 --> 00:33:05.019 doing that for you? Just have that conversation 00:33:05.019 --> 00:33:07.500 because that's what I love about this industry. 00:33:08.079 --> 00:33:11.700 We can use all the technology in the world, but 00:33:11.700 --> 00:33:15.759 we're still relationship -based. I have a feeling 00:33:15.759 --> 00:33:18.759 that just having that one call and just saying, 00:33:19.000 --> 00:33:21.329 hey, how do we work together? that are using 00:33:21.329 --> 00:33:23.450 technology. Promo standard is going to be a part 00:33:23.450 --> 00:33:25.529 of that conversation. But you're also going to 00:33:25.529 --> 00:33:29.529 get a short path instead of starting running 00:33:29.529 --> 00:33:32.349 around. You're going to, oh, you already do that. 00:33:32.369 --> 00:33:36.470 Great. How can I do that? Great. Great advice. 00:33:36.690 --> 00:33:39.230 Great advice. Because I think it is a little 00:33:39.230 --> 00:33:42.609 still a little murky how this all comes together. 00:33:43.190 --> 00:33:45.089 And I don't know if you're comfortable answering 00:33:45.089 --> 00:33:48.900 this, Amy, but. who would you consider a competitor 00:33:48.900 --> 00:33:52.579 to promo standards in the industry? What other 00:33:52.579 --> 00:33:57.220 big data exchange, for lack of a better label, 00:33:57.420 --> 00:34:02.299 is out there? Normally, I wouldn't answer that 00:34:02.299 --> 00:34:04.680 question because when I think of promo standards 00:34:04.680 --> 00:34:11.119 as a nonprofit, we're our nonprofit. So when 00:34:11.119 --> 00:34:13.059 you think about other nonprofits that are in 00:34:13.059 --> 00:34:16.769 our industry, that are harvesting data, which 00:34:16.769 --> 00:34:19.829 promo standards does not. We only set the language. 00:34:21.269 --> 00:34:24.349 Your communication, your data is between the 00:34:24.349 --> 00:34:27.710 members in the supply chain. Promo standards 00:34:27.710 --> 00:34:32.710 does not. Intercept that or manage that in any 00:34:32.710 --> 00:34:36.269 way But I do a session and I'll do a session 00:34:36.269 --> 00:34:39.070 later on this month with a friend of mine And 00:34:39.070 --> 00:34:41.829 we did we had to talk in Vegas this past year 00:34:41.829 --> 00:34:48.030 about PDX which is Sage's tool for standardizing 00:34:48.030 --> 00:34:51.769 data supplier data and using it through their 00:34:51.769 --> 00:34:57.250 products and most members of our industry, right 00:34:57.250 --> 00:35:02.449 have a PPI So in Sage is their technology partner. 00:35:03.909 --> 00:35:10.110 So Dana and I talk into sessions where we, why 00:35:10.110 --> 00:35:12.969 promo standards, why PDX? When does it make sense? 00:35:13.789 --> 00:35:17.650 What are the costs? What are the competitive 00:35:17.650 --> 00:35:22.630 advantages? When should I look at doing promo 00:35:22.630 --> 00:35:24.769 standards on my own with my own team or using 00:35:24.769 --> 00:35:28.079 a service provider? Okay, that's really, really 00:35:28.079 --> 00:35:32.300 helpful. I think that clarification is important 00:35:32.300 --> 00:35:36.780 because I know with Sage, sometimes they say 00:35:36.780 --> 00:35:39.719 that they are on promo standards, but there's 00:35:39.719 --> 00:35:42.920 a whole process you need to go through. So is 00:35:42.920 --> 00:35:48.599 PDX promo standards of a different kind of promo 00:35:48.599 --> 00:35:53.599 standards? Is it completely separate? So PDX 00:35:53.599 --> 00:35:57.949 is one of Sage's products. And it allows for 00:35:57.949 --> 00:36:01.369 suppliers to send data in in certain formats 00:36:01.369 --> 00:36:06.570 that allows them, gives them similar effects 00:36:06.570 --> 00:36:09.269 to using promo standards, you know, do it once 00:36:09.269 --> 00:36:11.670 and you affect everyone that's part of Sage, 00:36:12.349 --> 00:36:16.110 right? And so whatever other tools and product 00:36:16.110 --> 00:36:18.349 features that they have and that they're selling. 00:36:19.380 --> 00:36:22.539 The underlining basis of that could be PDX, or 00:36:22.539 --> 00:36:24.619 they're also still pulling in promo standards. 00:36:24.860 --> 00:36:27.559 Okay, because I did think historically there 00:36:27.559 --> 00:36:30.539 was a component of promo standards related to 00:36:30.539 --> 00:36:37.119 Sage. Right. So their PDX is their tool that 00:36:37.119 --> 00:36:41.119 they use and promote for suppliers to submit 00:36:41.119 --> 00:36:44.980 their data in a more uniform way. Awesome. Great. 00:36:45.119 --> 00:36:49.280 I think that's a valuable insight. Let me know 00:36:49.280 --> 00:36:53.059 if I said that incorrectly. I think that when 00:36:53.059 --> 00:36:56.219 I asked that Amy is for new suppliers, if they're 00:36:56.219 --> 00:37:00.039 trying to decide, and I'll say a few names, if 00:37:00.039 --> 00:37:03.099 they want to choose distributor central or ASI 00:37:03.099 --> 00:37:06.500 or Sage, how are they going to decide who to 00:37:06.500 --> 00:37:08.800 choose if they're not big enough to choose all 00:37:08.800 --> 00:37:12.460 three, but they see the value in the standardized 00:37:12.460 --> 00:37:15.159 data and they want to hit the ground running 00:37:15.159 --> 00:37:21.579 as a a responsible supplier that recognizes that 00:37:21.579 --> 00:37:24.960 value of that and the return on investment that 00:37:24.960 --> 00:37:28.840 you can get if you invest in having your data 00:37:28.840 --> 00:37:32.699 standardized either through PDX, promo standards. 00:37:32.960 --> 00:37:36.480 I think distributor central presents that you 00:37:36.480 --> 00:37:39.280 automatically get promo standards with their 00:37:39.280 --> 00:37:43.760 tool, whatever automatically means. So I think 00:37:43.760 --> 00:37:47.260 my... one of my purposes was to evangelize promo 00:37:47.260 --> 00:37:52.559 standards for sure but also give folks the the 00:37:52.559 --> 00:37:56.219 mindset that there's different ways you can come 00:37:56.219 --> 00:38:01.280 at this topic and execute on the topic which 00:38:01.280 --> 00:38:03.900 you've been sort of alluding to all through Amy 00:38:03.900 --> 00:38:06.699 which is you can do it on your own you can do 00:38:06.699 --> 00:38:09.760 it through a service provider and maybe what 00:38:09.760 --> 00:38:13.590 you mean by service provider is Sage or Distributor 00:38:13.590 --> 00:38:18.929 Central or ASI, those are the choices. So that's 00:38:18.929 --> 00:38:21.750 super helpful. I'm going to turn it over back 00:38:21.750 --> 00:38:24.909 to Kim and Adrienne for last questions, because 00:38:24.909 --> 00:38:27.210 we're coming up, I think, on 50 minutes, which 00:38:27.210 --> 00:38:31.429 is super long for us. But super long. Really 00:38:31.429 --> 00:38:35.110 valuable stuff, Amy. So Kim, did you want to 00:38:35.110 --> 00:38:40.050 have any comments before we sign off? Yeah. This 00:38:40.050 --> 00:38:42.550 is, first, amazing. I feel like I've learned 00:38:42.550 --> 00:38:45.610 so much on it. So I almost feel like I'm more 00:38:45.610 --> 00:38:49.070 of a listener than a participant on this particular 00:38:49.070 --> 00:38:53.150 one. I think it was great and a really good way 00:38:53.150 --> 00:38:56.110 to sort of break down sort of those differences, 00:38:56.250 --> 00:39:00.130 because I do think there's confusion of, do I 00:39:00.130 --> 00:39:04.590 buy promo standards off the box? Is it a tech 00:39:04.590 --> 00:39:08.860 solution? And it's not the tech, but it is that 00:39:08.860 --> 00:39:13.260 framework in which to build from. So thank you 00:39:13.260 --> 00:39:15.940 so much for your time. I think this has been 00:39:15.940 --> 00:39:19.119 really great. I don't have any other questions. 00:39:19.239 --> 00:39:23.539 I think I'm still digesting what it all is. Cool. 00:39:23.539 --> 00:39:25.739 Cool. Thanks, Kim. How about you, Adrienne? And 00:39:25.739 --> 00:39:31.059 you're on mute, so take yourself off. Amy, fantastic. 00:39:31.340 --> 00:39:34.079 I loved every word. I absorbed it all. You dropped 00:39:34.079 --> 00:39:36.300 a lot of golden nuggets. So thank you so much. 00:39:36.619 --> 00:39:39.219 Lisa, I just have to say your moderating skills 00:39:39.219 --> 00:39:41.699 are amazing. You asked the great questions. I 00:39:41.699 --> 00:39:44.000 loved every second of it. So I feel like now 00:39:44.000 --> 00:39:46.400 all of a sudden I'm on like a vote for the stars 00:39:46.400 --> 00:39:49.679 or something. I like to give you a 10 plus. It 00:39:49.679 --> 00:39:52.900 was fantastic. So thank you, Amy, for both of 00:39:52.900 --> 00:39:56.619 you are great. Yeah, so. Amy, really, I would 00:39:56.619 --> 00:39:58.639 love to have you back. I think we would love 00:39:58.639 --> 00:40:01.500 to have you and Dana back maybe in the future. 00:40:02.039 --> 00:40:06.000 You know, we're trying to break the idea of entering 00:40:06.000 --> 00:40:09.039 into the industry into digestible bites for our 00:40:09.039 --> 00:40:12.659 audience, which, you know, runs the gamut from 00:40:12.659 --> 00:40:16.360 small to extra large, small suppliers to extra 00:40:16.360 --> 00:40:19.900 large brands. So super grateful that you gave 00:40:19.900 --> 00:40:22.099 us your time today. I think you're brilliant. 00:40:22.489 --> 00:40:26.230 and you communicate things so beautifully and 00:40:26.230 --> 00:40:29.349 I'm so grateful. So thank you so much and hopefully 00:40:29.349 --> 00:40:34.730 we'll see you out at PPAI. And to my audience, 00:40:35.110 --> 00:40:38.449 don't get overwhelmed. Take it all in. Take a 00:40:38.449 --> 00:40:42.090 cruise by the promostandards .org website. Just 00:40:42.090 --> 00:40:44.230 familiarize yourself with it. You don't have 00:40:44.230 --> 00:40:47.389 to take action. Just know what it is. Know that 00:40:47.389 --> 00:40:50.550 it's out there. and we will see you next time. 00:40:50.630 --> 00:40:55.369 Until then, stay successful. Thanks for tuning 00:40:55.369 --> 00:40:58.590 into the promo playbook. If you found value in 00:40:58.590 --> 00:41:01.409 today's episode, be sure to subscribe and leave 00:41:01.409 --> 00:41:04.630 us a review. Got a topic you'd love us to cover? 00:41:05.030 --> 00:41:06.969 Connect with us on LinkedIn. We want to hear 00:41:06.969 --> 00:41:11.789 from you. Until next time, stay smart, stay strategic, 00:41:12.010 --> 00:41:14.070 and keep growing your supplier success.