WEBVTT 00:00:02.329 --> 00:00:05.129 Welcome to the promo playbook, the podcast where 00:00:05.129 --> 00:00:07.650 suppliers come to win in the promotional products 00:00:07.650 --> 00:00:10.830 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. 00:00:21.250 --> 00:00:24.170 From marketing to distributors to mastering software 00:00:24.170 --> 00:00:27.370 onboarding, we cover it all. Whether you're new 00:00:27.370 --> 00:00:30.149 to the industry or ready to scale up, this is 00:00:30.149 --> 00:00:33.259 your playbook for success. Let's get started. 00:00:35.200 --> 00:00:37.679 Hey everybody. Welcome to this week's episode 00:00:37.679 --> 00:00:40.479 of the promo playbook. Today we're going to do 00:00:40.479 --> 00:00:44.820 a bite into the idea of supplier and distributor 00:00:44.820 --> 00:00:47.939 partnerships and what that looks like using the 00:00:47.939 --> 00:00:51.079 tools that you have through follow up customer 00:00:51.079 --> 00:00:54.520 service and all the things we do as suppliers 00:00:54.520 --> 00:00:57.799 to build relationships with our distributor partners 00:00:57.799 --> 00:01:01.640 because The truth is your distributor is your 00:01:01.640 --> 00:01:05.040 customer. They're super important to you and 00:01:05.040 --> 00:01:08.159 every single communication with them is a relationship 00:01:08.159 --> 00:01:11.079 builder. So we're going to go ahead and dive 00:01:11.079 --> 00:01:17.180 in and talk about the idea of building strategic 00:01:17.180 --> 00:01:20.459 partnerships with your distributors. Adrienne, 00:01:20.459 --> 00:01:24.140 you want to give us your thoughts on that? Yes. 00:01:25.120 --> 00:01:29.340 So suppliers. First of all, recognize that distributors 00:01:29.340 --> 00:01:34.719 talk to each other. So if you are unkind, if 00:01:34.719 --> 00:01:40.000 you are giving the information to the distributor 00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:42.939 slowly, if you're not responding completely, 00:01:43.060 --> 00:01:45.359 if you're just making the distributor's life 00:01:45.359 --> 00:01:47.900 difficult because they want to sell your line, 00:01:48.540 --> 00:01:52.620 I would really reconsider that because they do 00:01:52.620 --> 00:01:55.439 talk to each other. So I think my first tip will 00:01:55.439 --> 00:01:59.730 be, that leaders of supplier companies should 00:01:59.730 --> 00:02:03.269 be monitoring the phone calls. You should really 00:02:03.269 --> 00:02:05.370 double check, take some time. What does that 00:02:05.370 --> 00:02:09.930 phone call sound like? And before the call ends, 00:02:10.530 --> 00:02:15.330 is your supplier, company service, whoever's 00:02:15.330 --> 00:02:17.990 answering the phone, are they making sure before 00:02:17.990 --> 00:02:20.990 that call clicks off that they've answered every 00:02:20.990 --> 00:02:23.770 question? And that could be the same with an 00:02:23.770 --> 00:02:27.199 email. You wanna kind of really show at that 00:02:27.199 --> 00:02:29.039 time. It's like a doctor's office, right? Yeah, 00:02:29.099 --> 00:02:30.560 someone's gonna have to wait to see the doctor. 00:02:30.599 --> 00:02:32.979 But when you get in that office, get all that 00:02:32.979 --> 00:02:35.719 information to the distributor quickly. These 00:02:35.719 --> 00:02:38.099 distributors do understand that you're busy, 00:02:38.139 --> 00:02:40.000 but you have to recognize that they're busy too. 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:43.259 And they wanna make a sale. They wanna get their 00:02:43.259 --> 00:02:45.960 client happy with what they're offering. So I 00:02:45.960 --> 00:02:48.479 really feel that this is an important conversation. 00:02:49.500 --> 00:02:53.099 Thanks, Adrienne. So reduce friction, bye. giving 00:02:53.099 --> 00:02:56.500 as much information as possible, being clear, 00:02:56.620 --> 00:03:00.379 concise, maybe that's your FOB point, making 00:03:00.379 --> 00:03:03.460 sure your quotes are clear, that the distributor 00:03:03.460 --> 00:03:07.400 can understand what you're saying, set expectations. 00:03:09.020 --> 00:03:11.780 Kim, what are your thoughts on the development 00:03:11.780 --> 00:03:15.479 of distributor -supplier partnerships? Yeah, 00:03:15.599 --> 00:03:19.300 I mean, you really need to and you should anticipate 00:03:19.300 --> 00:03:21.800 what that next question is. Listen, we don't 00:03:21.800 --> 00:03:23.780 want to go back and forth and have email ping 00:03:23.780 --> 00:03:27.139 pong. So if something is out of stock, customers 00:03:27.139 --> 00:03:30.080 asking for, hey, I would like this tumbler in 00:03:30.080 --> 00:03:33.719 pink. Don't say, sorry, out of stock. Say, sorry, 00:03:33.800 --> 00:03:37.939 we're out of stock, but we have these items in 00:03:37.939 --> 00:03:42.680 pink, or we have that item in these colors. Here's 00:03:42.680 --> 00:03:45.699 the pricing. Here's the time frame. Basically, 00:03:45.699 --> 00:03:48.580 get it all together at one fell swoop, because 00:03:48.580 --> 00:03:50.560 otherwise you're going to toss it over the net. 00:03:50.680 --> 00:03:52.379 and say we're out of stock. They're going to 00:03:52.379 --> 00:03:54.340 come back and say, do you have any other options? 00:03:54.659 --> 00:03:56.560 Then you're going to give them options. Okay, 00:03:56.620 --> 00:03:58.719 but what is that pricing? But then what is it? 00:03:58.840 --> 00:04:02.099 And like, none of us have time for that. So take 00:04:02.099 --> 00:04:05.659 advantage of like, just be thoughtful in the 00:04:05.659 --> 00:04:09.379 literal sense of being thoughtful. Like think 00:04:09.379 --> 00:04:12.500 a couple steps ahead, get that information all 00:04:12.500 --> 00:04:16.399 at once. Because when you do that, that distributor 00:04:16.399 --> 00:04:20.060 is like, darn, she was so good. I'm gonna go 00:04:20.060 --> 00:04:22.639 back to her for the next one and the next one 00:04:22.639 --> 00:04:26.740 and the next one and now you're the go -to supplier 00:04:26.740 --> 00:04:30.800 for that distributor and That's how rain that's 00:04:30.800 --> 00:04:33.120 how you know, you start making rain. All right, 00:04:33.120 --> 00:04:37.220 uh, you know with money so Good stuff. Yeah, 00:04:37.220 --> 00:04:42.900 so so just to sort of um restate that like Give 00:04:42.900 --> 00:04:46.240 150%. Give all the information. Don't use one 00:04:46.240 --> 00:04:49.560 word replies. Like if a distributor emails you 00:04:49.560 --> 00:04:52.519 with an order or a question about stock, don't 00:04:52.519 --> 00:04:56.980 say OOS and nothing else. Say thank you for your 00:04:56.980 --> 00:04:59.660 inquiry. We really appreciate the opportunity. 00:05:00.379 --> 00:05:02.759 Restating what Kim already said. Unfortunately, 00:05:02.839 --> 00:05:05.740 we're out of that color, but we do have XYZ. 00:05:05.959 --> 00:05:09.779 Give context to your distributor partner. Say 00:05:09.779 --> 00:05:12.970 thank you. acknowledge that this is an opportunity, 00:05:13.569 --> 00:05:16.329 and build a relationship when you send back a 00:05:16.329 --> 00:05:19.050 quote, say, good luck. We hope you get the order. 00:05:19.230 --> 00:05:21.790 We're pulling for you, sending you positive sales 00:05:21.790 --> 00:05:25.129 vibes. We're all people trying to make a living, 00:05:25.629 --> 00:05:28.449 and the kindness factor is key. Thank you, Adrienne, 00:05:28.569 --> 00:05:31.930 for bringing that up. I want to talk about ghosting 00:05:31.930 --> 00:05:34.870 a little bit because that seems to be something 00:05:34.870 --> 00:05:38.970 that happens in our world today, which... Totally 00:05:38.970 --> 00:05:42.209 blows me away. I'm not a goaster. It's not the 00:05:42.209 --> 00:05:45.110 way I function. And I don't know if that's a 00:05:45.110 --> 00:05:49.069 generational thing. Adrienne, you want to chime 00:05:49.069 --> 00:05:51.550 in on that? What's your experience with ghosting 00:05:51.550 --> 00:05:55.029 and how do you feel about it? It's definitely 00:05:55.029 --> 00:05:57.649 not in my generation. I've never even thought 00:05:57.649 --> 00:05:59.750 of it, nor have I ever thought, like, I'm not 00:05:59.750 --> 00:06:01.589 going to get back to someone. My father always 00:06:01.589 --> 00:06:04.129 said, do it now. And as much as that may drive 00:06:04.129 --> 00:06:05.970 people crazy, what that really means is when 00:06:05.970 --> 00:06:10.720 an email hits your desk, Either don't open it 00:06:10.720 --> 00:06:12.980 and then close it again, mark it as unread, and 00:06:12.980 --> 00:06:14.459 think you'll go back to it. At least let the 00:06:14.459 --> 00:06:16.939 person know, I received your email, I'll need 00:06:16.939 --> 00:06:20.060 a day. I'll get back to you tomorrow. Whatever 00:06:20.060 --> 00:06:22.199 that looks like, I kind of think the same thing 00:06:22.199 --> 00:06:24.259 with a phone call coming in. It's almost easier 00:06:24.259 --> 00:06:27.300 to answer a phone call than to have to call the 00:06:27.300 --> 00:06:29.399 person back. But that we can debate too, because 00:06:29.399 --> 00:06:31.920 there's two sides of that. Lisa and Kim, how 00:06:31.920 --> 00:06:35.560 you do one thing is how you do everything. And 00:06:35.560 --> 00:06:37.980 that is so important. So honestly, if you're 00:06:37.980 --> 00:06:42.120 a goaster, I'm going to assume that every time 00:06:42.120 --> 00:06:43.620 I send you an email, you're probably going to 00:06:43.620 --> 00:06:45.259 ghost me. So I'll probably end up having to pick 00:06:45.259 --> 00:06:48.160 up the phone. So now in essence, you're costing 00:06:48.160 --> 00:06:51.360 me more time, more money. And if you're going 00:06:51.360 --> 00:06:52.860 to ghost me and then you're going to have the 00:06:52.860 --> 00:06:55.560 nerve to ask me for a discount too, on top of 00:06:55.560 --> 00:06:59.120 it, that makes no sense. We get more with honey 00:06:59.120 --> 00:07:01.500 than we get with bitter. So if you're working 00:07:01.500 --> 00:07:04.759 with a supplier, I think that And as my time 00:07:04.759 --> 00:07:08.800 as a distributor, it was always letting the supplier 00:07:08.800 --> 00:07:11.180 know that I cared. I understood. I honored them. 00:07:11.399 --> 00:07:14.339 They are important to us because I knew at one 00:07:14.339 --> 00:07:16.639 point, if anything happens, even if there was 00:07:16.639 --> 00:07:19.000 a problem that I had, that they weren't going 00:07:19.000 --> 00:07:20.939 to see me as, Oh, that's Adrian, the ghost or 00:07:20.939 --> 00:07:22.759 they would see me as, Oh, that's Adrian. She 00:07:22.759 --> 00:07:26.139 responds. She listens. She cares. So at the end 00:07:26.139 --> 00:07:28.519 of the day, what kind of reputation do you want 00:07:28.519 --> 00:07:31.129 to have? If you want to be known as the ghost 00:07:31.129 --> 00:07:33.889 or then, you know, walk through PPA with a Harry 00:07:33.889 --> 00:07:36.649 Potter invisible cloak, right? So nobody can 00:07:36.649 --> 00:07:39.310 see you because in essence you are doing nothing 00:07:39.310 --> 00:07:42.089 for your reputation. And let's be honest, this 00:07:42.089 --> 00:07:46.029 industry, it is all about the reputation. People 00:07:46.029 --> 00:07:48.910 know what you're doing. You know, they they they 00:07:48.910 --> 00:07:50.970 talk. So be careful with that. I think that's 00:07:50.970 --> 00:07:54.069 my number one piece of advice. Thank you, Adrian. 00:07:54.230 --> 00:07:58.199 Kim, anything to add there? No, I mean. I'm a 00:07:58.199 --> 00:08:02.720 zero unread email girl. Like I see that red and 00:08:02.720 --> 00:08:05.180 I see numbers and it gets into double digits. 00:08:05.279 --> 00:08:08.959 I mean, like 11 and I like start to stress. So 00:08:08.959 --> 00:08:11.860 I am definitely someone who responds right away. 00:08:12.079 --> 00:08:13.800 I mean, part of it is because if I don't respond 00:08:13.800 --> 00:08:16.600 right away, I'm never going to remember even 00:08:16.600 --> 00:08:20.019 15 minutes later. So I have to do it now. But 00:08:20.019 --> 00:08:23.040 it is it does, you know. It always surprises 00:08:23.040 --> 00:08:26.699 me when people don't respond. It even surprises 00:08:26.699 --> 00:08:29.720 me more when people don't respond and you're 00:08:29.720 --> 00:08:32.919 the person that's being helpful to them. It's 00:08:32.919 --> 00:08:35.419 like, hey, you asked for the favor or we gave 00:08:35.419 --> 00:08:37.299 you this great opportunity. We brought you this 00:08:37.299 --> 00:08:42.019 awesome order as a distributor, but you're not 00:08:42.019 --> 00:08:45.940 responding to me at all as the supplier or as 00:08:45.940 --> 00:08:50.389 the partner or whatever level it is. It doesn't 00:08:50.389 --> 00:08:52.210 make me, to your point, it doesn't make me want 00:08:52.210 --> 00:08:57.809 to do business anymore that way. You want to 00:08:57.809 --> 00:08:59.470 treat people like you want to be treated, right? 00:08:59.470 --> 00:09:00.929 Treat people like you want to be treated type 00:09:00.929 --> 00:09:04.750 thing. I always say all the lessons go back to 00:09:04.750 --> 00:09:09.529 kindergarten. And this one is like the very core 00:09:09.529 --> 00:09:12.470 of what you learned in kindergarten. Wait, but 00:09:12.470 --> 00:09:15.409 maybe we are wrong. Maybe we learned it wrong. 00:09:15.509 --> 00:09:19.990 I think it may be treat other people how they 00:09:19.990 --> 00:09:25.009 want to be treated. Maybe. I don't know if I 00:09:25.009 --> 00:09:30.690 can change my DNA to that. Kindness, response, 00:09:31.029 --> 00:09:34.110 expectations. I want to touch on something both 00:09:34.110 --> 00:09:37.490 of you are talking about is that this goes both 00:09:37.490 --> 00:09:40.789 ways, guys. If you're a distributor and a supplier 00:09:40.789 --> 00:09:42.929 is trying to get in touch with you about a proof 00:09:42.929 --> 00:09:46.409 approval or some piece of information they need 00:09:46.409 --> 00:09:49.620 to process your order, Get back to them quickly. 00:09:49.980 --> 00:09:52.179 They're holding a production space. They're trying 00:09:52.179 --> 00:09:54.799 to get you into the production schedule. Don't 00:09:54.799 --> 00:09:57.519 drag it out, you know, so it goes both ways. 00:09:57.700 --> 00:09:59.980 Suppliers don't ghost, please, and distributors 00:09:59.980 --> 00:10:02.320 don't ghost. We need each other. We need each 00:10:02.320 --> 00:10:05.519 other to keep our engine running and keep everything 00:10:05.519 --> 00:10:08.360 going smoothly. Now, sometimes that's harder 00:10:08.360 --> 00:10:10.659 when you're a boutique or a smaller supplier 00:10:10.659 --> 00:10:14.000 and the owner might be wearing all hats or there's 00:10:14.000 --> 00:10:17.570 a small team of two or three people. So a couple 00:10:17.570 --> 00:10:20.909 techniques you can use is to put on an auto reply. 00:10:21.090 --> 00:10:23.350 Like if you know you're going to be away on a 00:10:23.350 --> 00:10:27.049 different task for an afternoon, let your audience 00:10:27.049 --> 00:10:30.590 know, hey guys, my reply might be delayed for 00:10:30.590 --> 00:10:33.070 a couple hours because I'm going to be off site 00:10:33.070 --> 00:10:36.370 or whatever you is happening and is appropriate 00:10:36.370 --> 00:10:40.659 to say at that given time. manage the expectations 00:10:40.659 --> 00:10:43.519 of the person that's reaching out to you. Because 00:10:43.519 --> 00:10:46.399 we all know in our industry today, the expectation 00:10:46.399 --> 00:10:50.480 is quick, quick, quick. Got to get back to people 00:10:50.480 --> 00:10:54.519 in an hour, two hours, three hours max, unless 00:10:54.519 --> 00:10:58.200 you let them know, hey, I'm working on this. 00:10:59.720 --> 00:11:03.700 Kim brought this up. Just communicate, be nice, 00:11:03.860 --> 00:11:07.090 be kind, say it's in the works. because what 00:11:07.090 --> 00:11:09.990 happens is on the other end the anxiety level 00:11:09.990 --> 00:11:13.370 rises because they're trying to make their client 00:11:13.370 --> 00:11:17.820 happy. There's another person on the other end 00:11:17.820 --> 00:11:20.559 waiting for an answer. We can't lose sight of 00:11:20.559 --> 00:11:23.100 that, that our distributors are on the front 00:11:23.100 --> 00:11:26.379 lines with their customers who are sometimes 00:11:26.379 --> 00:11:30.320 freaking out. They are desperate for an answer. 00:11:30.500 --> 00:11:33.100 They might be at a trade show at a booth waiting 00:11:33.100 --> 00:11:36.419 for goods to arrive. They might be at an event. 00:11:36.860 --> 00:11:40.899 They're making a presentation to somebody. keep 00:11:40.899 --> 00:11:43.659 in mind that we're all humans trying to do the 00:11:43.659 --> 00:11:47.419 best job possible to represent our industry out 00:11:47.419 --> 00:11:51.519 in the real world. So I'm going to turn over 00:11:51.519 --> 00:11:56.820 to the topic of subject lines, because most of 00:11:56.820 --> 00:12:00.159 our communication in promo is done via email. 00:12:00.399 --> 00:12:05.000 I'd say 90 % wouldn't overstate it, that it's 00:12:05.000 --> 00:12:09.940 done through email communication. Kim, well, 00:12:09.980 --> 00:12:11.799 I'm going to throw this to Adrienne first. What 00:12:11.799 --> 00:12:15.039 are your thoughts on subject lines? Well, a subject 00:12:15.039 --> 00:12:17.120 line is very important for the communication 00:12:17.120 --> 00:12:21.980 to have it changed so that the person that's 00:12:21.980 --> 00:12:24.519 receiving it can understand. I think sometimes 00:12:24.519 --> 00:12:27.820 you may not get the response because you didn't 00:12:27.820 --> 00:12:30.559 tag it, urge it, or maybe in the subject line, 00:12:30.820 --> 00:12:34.240 if you change it and put, urge it, must read. 00:12:35.639 --> 00:12:38.750 And you know what, by the way, The old fashioned 00:12:38.750 --> 00:12:41.929 phone, pick it up, pick it up. There should be 00:12:41.929 --> 00:12:44.830 no reason why you're not picking up the phone. 00:12:45.129 --> 00:12:46.870 I mean, I want to just go back and say, Lisa, 00:12:47.070 --> 00:12:49.610 that if you're finding that. you know, this is 00:12:49.610 --> 00:12:51.169 something that, you know, if you did a feedback 00:12:51.169 --> 00:12:54.009 or survey, wouldn't that be amazing too? I think 00:12:54.009 --> 00:12:56.570 suppliers should really look at doing these surveys. 00:12:56.850 --> 00:12:59.309 Just get a feeling. But if you're finding that 00:12:59.309 --> 00:13:01.049 people are coming up to you and saying, you know, 00:13:01.169 --> 00:13:02.909 you're, you're, you're great company, but your 00:13:02.909 --> 00:13:05.289 customer service is, you know, lacking or I'm 00:13:05.289 --> 00:13:07.110 not getting the answer. I'm not getting the response 00:13:07.110 --> 00:13:10.730 at the right time. Or you see on Facebook, the 00:13:10.730 --> 00:13:13.070 promotional products professional 18 ,000 people. 00:13:13.210 --> 00:13:15.730 And people are writing that my gosh if i was 00:13:15.730 --> 00:13:18.929 a supplier and i saw one distributor right can 00:13:18.929 --> 00:13:20.809 someone help me get in touch because i can't 00:13:20.809 --> 00:13:24.029 find a number whatever it may be. Go back and 00:13:24.029 --> 00:13:26.610 look at your standard order processing. Go back 00:13:26.610 --> 00:13:29.049 because you got some kind of disconnect there. 00:13:29.429 --> 00:13:31.669 You should have things tagged correctly. Who's 00:13:31.669 --> 00:13:34.429 calling you? Who needs a response? Your system 00:13:34.429 --> 00:13:37.750 should make it easier. And now with all the AI 00:13:37.750 --> 00:13:40.049 agents out there, you really shouldn't have a 00:13:40.049 --> 00:13:42.669 problem. Your workflow should be incredibly smooth. 00:13:42.690 --> 00:13:45.580 And as much as I do believe that, you know, phone 00:13:45.580 --> 00:13:47.919 call is great, it does stop the process of a 00:13:47.919 --> 00:13:50.399 good workflow, right? Emails will help the workflow 00:13:50.399 --> 00:13:52.600 because that way you can get all that information. 00:13:53.220 --> 00:13:55.720 So consider, at the end of the day, if you want 00:13:55.720 --> 00:13:57.919 to do a good job as a distributor to your client, 00:13:58.480 --> 00:14:01.899 you better make sure your communication is successful 00:14:01.899 --> 00:14:05.960 with your supplier partner. Thank you, Adrienne. 00:14:06.340 --> 00:14:10.200 Kim, thoughts there? Yes. So we are talking, 00:14:10.399 --> 00:14:13.549 you asked about changing subject lines. And when 00:14:13.549 --> 00:14:16.389 we were prepping for this call for this podcast, 00:14:16.389 --> 00:14:18.350 I was like, I never changed my subject lines. 00:14:18.970 --> 00:14:22.129 And then I had a whole new world in front of 00:14:22.129 --> 00:14:26.690 me when I learned, hey, don't take the most recent 00:14:26.690 --> 00:14:31.289 email you receive from client A and respond about 00:14:31.289 --> 00:14:34.549 a topic that is totally different than what that 00:14:34.549 --> 00:14:37.929 email is. First of all, you'll never find it. 00:14:38.169 --> 00:14:40.610 And two, the person receiving it may never actually 00:14:40.610 --> 00:14:43.740 realize that you're that you have a different 00:14:43.740 --> 00:14:46.179 question. Maybe they think that that original 00:14:46.179 --> 00:14:50.179 topic was done. So when you're responding, because 00:14:50.179 --> 00:14:53.379 it's so easy just to search Lisa, and I'm going 00:14:53.379 --> 00:14:56.259 to take the last email from Lisa that I got and 00:14:56.259 --> 00:14:58.860 say, hey, what do you want next week's podcast 00:14:58.860 --> 00:15:03.039 topic to be? But meanwhile, that thread was all 00:15:03.039 --> 00:15:05.740 about one of our clients. She's not going to 00:15:05.740 --> 00:15:07.759 make that connection and we're never going to 00:15:07.759 --> 00:15:10.879 be able to go back to it. So I can either start 00:15:10.879 --> 00:15:16.059 a new email, or simply change that subject to 00:15:16.059 --> 00:15:19.500 new podcast topic. And now we're all on the same 00:15:19.500 --> 00:15:23.620 page and we can all respond back and forth and 00:15:23.620 --> 00:15:28.220 know exactly where things are in our inbox. So 00:15:28.220 --> 00:15:31.059 while I personally had not practiced that, it's 00:15:31.059 --> 00:15:34.419 not been one of my, you know, general practices. 00:15:34.639 --> 00:15:37.100 It is something that I don't know why it took 00:15:37.100 --> 00:15:40.500 until our prepping of this call. it's really 00:15:40.500 --> 00:15:43.320 great to do. So I certainly encourage those of 00:15:43.320 --> 00:15:46.340 you who do not already do it to make the subject 00:15:46.340 --> 00:15:50.039 line match the actual content, immediate content 00:15:50.039 --> 00:15:53.580 in which you're asking. Thank you so much, Kim, 00:15:53.580 --> 00:15:56.899 for putting that into like easy digestible way 00:15:56.899 --> 00:15:59.580 to do it. You know, just change the subject line 00:15:59.580 --> 00:16:02.980 to reflect the context of the email. Fabulous. 00:16:03.480 --> 00:16:06.240 So because we want to keep this as a bite. Oh, 00:16:06.379 --> 00:16:08.779 Adrian. I do, I do. Sorry, sorry, sorry. Yeah, 00:16:08.919 --> 00:16:11.100 guys. Listen, listen, listen, this is important. 00:16:11.879 --> 00:16:15.399 Your signature, add your phone number. I don't 00:16:15.399 --> 00:16:17.740 get a flip phone if you have to. You gotta have 00:16:17.740 --> 00:16:20.460 a way to get people. And then I want you, everyone, 00:16:20.580 --> 00:16:22.320 I want everyone listening right now, go back 00:16:22.320 --> 00:16:25.019 to your emails. Do your replies have your phone 00:16:25.019 --> 00:16:28.019 number or is it like 20 replies now that they 00:16:28.019 --> 00:16:30.759 have to find it? Because this is a one thing 00:16:30.759 --> 00:16:33.259 that is so irritating. And let me tell you again, 00:16:33.340 --> 00:16:35.000 how you do one thing is how you do everything. 00:16:35.320 --> 00:16:37.850 If you're doing this to suppliers, Are you doing 00:16:37.850 --> 00:16:39.970 this for your clients? Do they have to look up 00:16:39.970 --> 00:16:41.669 your number every time they want to call you 00:16:41.669 --> 00:16:45.690 and have a number? Your replies should cancel. 00:16:45.850 --> 00:16:47.490 So the reason why I'm saying that your signature 00:16:47.490 --> 00:16:49.830 line is one thing, but when you reply, you may 00:16:49.830 --> 00:16:52.350 have that removed. So either add it back or just 00:16:52.350 --> 00:16:55.190 add your name and your phone number. But my gosh, 00:16:55.490 --> 00:16:57.529 don't be afraid to give your phone number out. 00:16:57.710 --> 00:17:00.070 It's so important to do business. And you know, 00:17:00.070 --> 00:17:02.210 by the way, there's some people that won't do 00:17:02.210 --> 00:17:04.009 business with you unless you actually have a 00:17:04.009 --> 00:17:05.750 phone number and you make it easy to contact 00:17:05.750 --> 00:17:08.690 them. That's it. Great. No, great. And I'm not 00:17:08.690 --> 00:17:11.710 going to wrap up yet. I have a couple more topics, 00:17:12.329 --> 00:17:16.390 but I want to thank you for expanding this conversation 00:17:16.390 --> 00:17:19.750 into client facing. Like, how do you interact 00:17:19.750 --> 00:17:23.210 with your clients? What is your etiquette when 00:17:23.210 --> 00:17:25.569 you're getting back to clients. What are the 00:17:25.569 --> 00:17:28.509 expectations you set with your customers? So 00:17:28.509 --> 00:17:32.269 I wanted to segue into sort of our last topic 00:17:32.269 --> 00:17:35.809 of expectations. Like in your opinion, Kim, what 00:17:35.809 --> 00:17:39.230 have you seen are the expectations of a distributor 00:17:39.230 --> 00:17:43.829 from a supplier in terms of communication? Promptness 00:17:43.829 --> 00:17:47.970 is probably the top, right? You know, distributors 00:17:47.970 --> 00:17:51.539 are looking for information yesterday. I mean, 00:17:51.680 --> 00:17:55.619 usually just it's a fact of life. It is a rare 00:17:55.619 --> 00:17:58.779 occasion that a distributor has a long runway 00:17:58.779 --> 00:18:02.180 before they need to present something. It's usually, 00:18:02.799 --> 00:18:05.200 can you get back to me in 24 hours because I 00:18:05.200 --> 00:18:11.579 have to present in 36. Being able to respond 00:18:11.579 --> 00:18:16.200 and get all that information again in one email 00:18:16.200 --> 00:18:20.700 makes it easy for the distributor. So I think 00:18:20.700 --> 00:18:23.819 distributors do have that expectation and it 00:18:23.819 --> 00:18:27.900 unfortunately, for good or for bad, right or 00:18:27.900 --> 00:18:31.200 wrong, it is an industry that there's almost 00:18:31.200 --> 00:18:35.319 always a fire, right? It is always a very quick 00:18:35.319 --> 00:18:38.420 turnaround. It's event -driven, it's state -driven, 00:18:38.859 --> 00:18:42.460 all the things that make it awesome, but also 00:18:42.460 --> 00:18:47.640 chaotic, and having the ability to quickly accurately 00:18:47.640 --> 00:18:52.460 and fully and thoughtfully respond can really 00:18:52.460 --> 00:18:56.460 set you up for great success or hold you back 00:18:56.460 --> 00:18:59.880 from growing that business. Excellent. And I'm 00:18:59.880 --> 00:19:02.480 so glad you mentioned the word success because 00:19:02.480 --> 00:19:05.839 this whole topic is around helping distributors 00:19:05.839 --> 00:19:09.759 and suppliers be successful. And what does it 00:19:09.759 --> 00:19:12.980 take? to make that happen in the speedy, speedy 00:19:12.980 --> 00:19:16.200 world that we live in that's so information driven. 00:19:16.940 --> 00:19:18.839 So Adrienne, I'm going to ask you to take that 00:19:18.839 --> 00:19:21.720 from the supplier perspective. What does a supplier 00:19:21.720 --> 00:19:25.660 need from a distributor to do what Kim is describing? 00:19:27.359 --> 00:19:31.980 Communication. As simple as that. They need you 00:19:31.980 --> 00:19:35.539 to respond. They need you to communicate everything. 00:19:35.869 --> 00:19:38.890 You know, don't say, oh, I'm looking for blue 00:19:38.890 --> 00:19:42.549 shirts that are short sleeve that may have four 00:19:42.549 --> 00:19:44.309 or five buttons. I don't know. Maybe they won't 00:19:44.309 --> 00:19:47.410 have any buttons. Like be clear in your communication, 00:19:47.650 --> 00:19:50.990 reread what you're writing. Does it make sense? 00:19:51.369 --> 00:19:53.430 Are you making sure that there's like that they 00:19:53.430 --> 00:19:55.970 can reply back with everything you need? Give 00:19:55.970 --> 00:19:58.680 them the event date. give them the enhance date, 00:19:58.980 --> 00:20:01.460 give them the ship to address. You can do all 00:20:01.460 --> 00:20:03.359 of that even without an order if you're just 00:20:03.359 --> 00:20:07.259 looking for a quote. That is so important. Distributors, 00:20:07.359 --> 00:20:10.539 you know what? Anticipate your client's needs 00:20:10.539 --> 00:20:14.039 so that you can communicate effectively to distributors. 00:20:14.240 --> 00:20:17.019 If I could just say this, everyone, Prime Day 00:20:17.019 --> 00:20:20.259 is coming up or Black Friday, get the book Unreasonable 00:20:20.259 --> 00:20:23.940 Hospitality. Learn how to anticipate your client's 00:20:23.940 --> 00:20:27.109 need. If you can anticipate your clients need, 00:20:27.269 --> 00:20:29.089 you're going to be able to communicate that to 00:20:29.089 --> 00:20:31.869 a supplier. They're going to be able to communicate 00:20:31.869 --> 00:20:35.910 how they can help your client with what they 00:20:35.910 --> 00:20:38.109 need. And you're going to have a much smoother 00:20:38.109 --> 00:20:41.390 process. And guess what? You'll look like you're 00:20:41.390 --> 00:20:44.130 amazing. And God forbid, I always think of this, 00:20:44.470 --> 00:20:47.890 if anything ever happens at the end of an order, 00:20:47.950 --> 00:20:50.650 so as a supplier, If you're working with a distributor 00:20:50.650 --> 00:20:52.509 and you know what? These things are always like 00:20:52.509 --> 00:20:55.309 fire, a big fireball because you know, you're 00:20:55.309 --> 00:20:56.809 not getting all the information. You've tried 00:20:56.809 --> 00:20:58.289 to pull it. Like you're all of a sudden your 00:20:58.289 --> 00:20:59.970 client's a dentist and you're like having to 00:20:59.970 --> 00:21:02.509 pull their teeth on them to get all this information. 00:21:02.509 --> 00:21:05.509 And now guess what happens? Something goes wrong, 00:21:06.289 --> 00:21:08.710 right? The suppliers irritated because they're 00:21:08.710 --> 00:21:10.430 going to go back and go, God, I never really 00:21:10.430 --> 00:21:12.210 got all that information. They're going to be 00:21:12.210 --> 00:21:14.170 mad at the distributor for not really providing 00:21:14.170 --> 00:21:16.750 it. And as distributors, don't be so quick to 00:21:16.750 --> 00:21:19.750 ask for a discount. because that may not work 00:21:19.750 --> 00:21:22.950 for you this time around. So be clear. Look at 00:21:22.950 --> 00:21:25.069 every order and think to yourself, if there was 00:21:25.069 --> 00:21:27.470 a problem with this order, would it come back 00:21:27.470 --> 00:21:30.970 and affect me? Because you know what? Distributors, 00:21:31.069 --> 00:21:33.869 some of you do make mistakes and you should pay 00:21:33.869 --> 00:21:35.650 for your mistake and you shouldn't try to blame 00:21:35.650 --> 00:21:38.549 it on the supplier. And it goes the other way 00:21:38.549 --> 00:21:42.009 too. So that's a whole other topic, which is 00:21:42.009 --> 00:21:44.829 conflict resolution once something does go wrong. 00:21:45.630 --> 00:21:49.789 But just to recap, for distributors, be clear. 00:21:49.890 --> 00:21:53.369 Do your homework. Make the subject line reflect 00:21:53.369 --> 00:21:56.670 what you're asking about. If there's an SO number 00:21:56.670 --> 00:22:00.329 or a PO number, include it. If you're asking 00:22:00.329 --> 00:22:02.910 for a quote, remember to state the quantity. 00:22:03.150 --> 00:22:05.549 the dates if you know them. I mean, we know you 00:22:05.549 --> 00:22:08.730 don't always know all these answers, but the 00:22:08.730 --> 00:22:11.269 more info you can give to your suppliers so they 00:22:11.269 --> 00:22:14.210 can check inventory even in advance before you 00:22:14.210 --> 00:22:17.750 even quote a customer and help you close the 00:22:17.750 --> 00:22:20.750 sale by giving you good information. What's the 00:22:20.750 --> 00:22:25.190 type of imprint? And also do your homework, distributors. 00:22:25.349 --> 00:22:28.250 We know your spread then. Suppliers know that 00:22:28.250 --> 00:22:31.849 you're running six ways to Sunday. You are trying 00:22:31.849 --> 00:22:34.250 to play a twister game of keeping it all together. 00:22:34.250 --> 00:22:37.029 We're there for you. But help us out a little 00:22:37.029 --> 00:22:40.650 bit by going to our website. Don't just say, 00:22:40.650 --> 00:22:45.049 I need something in blue. What silhouette, what 00:22:45.049 --> 00:22:48.250 color do you want? Yes, we can come back to you 00:22:48.250 --> 00:22:52.410 with an overarching response, but help us help 00:22:52.410 --> 00:22:56.589 you by doing a little bit of homework and giving 00:22:56.589 --> 00:22:59.609 us as much as we can to go on. So we love this 00:22:59.609 --> 00:23:02.200 topic. We're all in it together. This is the 00:23:02.200 --> 00:23:06.359 key. We're all in this together. It's a symbiotic 00:23:06.359 --> 00:23:09.480 environment. We all help each other. All the 00:23:09.480 --> 00:23:12.940 boats rise together. So we love this topic. We 00:23:12.940 --> 00:23:16.460 wish everybody success over the next couple of 00:23:16.460 --> 00:23:20.220 weeks as we cruise through cruise Q4. Hopefully 00:23:20.220 --> 00:23:23.539 everybody's buzzing and things are popping and 00:23:23.539 --> 00:23:25.779 we will look forward to talking to you next time. 00:23:25.900 --> 00:23:29.200 We're so grateful for our audience and wishing 00:23:29.200 --> 00:23:31.509 you I don't know if this will drop before or 00:23:31.509 --> 00:23:35.069 after Thanksgiving, but we're so grateful, sending 00:23:35.069 --> 00:23:40.829 you gratitude. Talk soon. Thanks for tuning into 00:23:40.829 --> 00:23:44.150 the promo playbook. If you found value in today's 00:23:44.150 --> 00:23:46.910 episode, be sure to subscribe and leave us a 00:23:46.910 --> 00:23:50.329 review. Got a topic you'd love us to cover? Connect 00:23:50.329 --> 00:23:52.690 with us on LinkedIn. We want to hear from you. 00:23:53.180 --> 00:23:56.880 Until next time, stay smart, stay strategic, 00:23:57.180 --> 00:23:59.180 and keep growing your supplier success.