Strategic Growth for Promo Distributors | skucast Ep 364

"Checking in is for hotels, and we should never be doing that in sales or business."

— Maria Acquarola

"We could spend an hour going back and forth, we could spend a whole day going back and forth, and now the customer still doesn't have a solution, and we're all upset with each other."

— Maria Acquarola

"It really doesn't matter what you're selling, it matters how you're selling it."

— Maria Acquarola

[00:00:00] [Intro music]

[00:00:06] Bobby: Invest in people, help them win, and the sales will follow. That's exactly how today's guest went from sales support to running national accounts in the industry. Welcome to the skucast, the podcast for innovators and maverick thinkers in the promotional product space. My name is Bobby Lehew. I'm glad you're here.

[00:00:25] Maria Acquarola spent eight years on the supplier side, climbing from sales support to Director of Strategic Accounts and managing some of the biggest national distributor relationships in promo. And we're thrilled that she recently crossed over to the platform side as Outside Sales Director here at commonsku, bringing all that industry experience to us as she works with clients.

[00:00:44] She's also co-founder of Sales Gals, an online community sharing quick sales tips for a new generation of buyers and sellers, and a Nationals dance team coach. Join us as we talk with Maria about sales advice like the multi-channel mix that beats email fatigue, some supplier and distributor relationship advice like why "whose fault is it" is the wrong question when a project goes sideways, and Maria's reframe for solving challenges.

[00:01:07] Plus, the early career mistake every young salesperson makes in this industry, and the pro pivot move to better results and richer relationships. Today's episode is brought to you courtesy of us at commonsku. Over 900 distributors powering 1.8 billion in network volume rely on commonsku's connected workflow. Process more orders, connect your team, and dramatically grow your sales. To learn how, visit commonsku.com.

[00:01:25] Now here's my chat with Maria.

[00:01:34] Bobby: Maria, thank you for joining us on the skucast.

[00:01:37] Maria: Thank you so much for having me. I am so excited to be here.

[00:01:41] Bobby: Now in the intro, I shared your journey from supplier sales and then working over to commonsku, and we are so thrilled to have you on the team. But I have a question about this journey — your whole sales journey. You went from sales support to Director of Strategic Accounts as a supplier, which is a fantastic leap. And what did that journey teach you about sales specifically to this industry?

[00:02:05] Maria: Yeah, I mean, I think I was lucky enough to learn from so many amazing people in this industry, which really is what the promotional industry is all about. But I think part of learning from other people made me realize that this industry, and all sales, are really so relationship-based. So people buy from people that they like, that they trust, that they want to work with.

[00:02:28] And I think it taught me a lot about not just pushing product or solutions or what it is, but really understanding other people and finding out how you can be true partners. And that's where really effective sales happen, and where I really started to see momentum in my own business and get promoted a few times — because you have to invest in people and understanding their needs and their strategy and how to help them win so you guys can win together.

[00:02:56] And ultimately I found that the sales naturally follow.

[00:02:59] Bobby: Maria, as a little sidebar, you do dance coaching. Help me understand what it is that you're doing because it sounds like it's a great parallel to what you do in sales.

[00:03:09] Maria: Yeah, and it's so interesting because I think I've learned things in sales that I've been able to translate to coaching dance team, and vice versa — things that I have learned coaching that I've translated back to sales. I was lucky enough to be the coach at La Salle here in Philadelphia for a few years, and right now I am the Nationals coach at my alma mater at Millersville in Pennsylvania.

[00:03:31] And it really teaches you to meet people where they're at, which sounds so simple — like something that people say all the time, "meet people where they're at." But truly, I think in any relationship, whether I'm coaching dance team, whether I'm coaching in the sales world, or whether I'm working with customers, meeting people where they're at and adapting to their style makes that person feel comfortable with you.

[00:03:55] And it's almost like you need to take control of the person and the situation to understand who they are and how to work with them. That's where I've seen the most effective coaching coming out of. You know, these girls are working so hard, they are doing so much. They're going through a time in their lives in college where everything feels really big.

[00:04:17] It's so rewarding to see them win, but it's not one size fits all. And I think that has translated back to sales in a lot of ways: not everybody works the same way and not everybody has the same thing that's most important to them, or the same struggle or challenge that they're working with. And how do I find that middle ground with every single person and really help them succeed, whether it's coaching on the floor or whether it's in business and it's, you know, someone's livelihood at stake.

[00:04:44] Bobby: I can see how that would apply to our industry in particular, because you have distributors who have all kinds of ranges, all kinds of types and sizes. And you went from working with distributors probably in a one-on-one perspective, all the way to working with maybe some larger distributors who were part of an aggregate group of some kind.

[00:05:02] So I can see where you have different levels of distributors. And when you say meet them where they're at, I totally understand that. But also, this industry has, in as many similarities as it has, there are so many differences in terms of their business model, who they serve, the clients they have. That would be huge. I can see how as a coach that would be ideal.

[00:05:20] Maria: Yeah, I think that is a big piece of it. And I think the other piece is, you know, this is still sales. I want to win. That's how I coach my girls: how do we get in this winning mindset? How do we win together? How do we celebrate our successes? And all of those things are really, really important in business too, because we want to win together.

[00:05:37] And it's that same thing about the first point of: how are we partners? How are we working together? How are we coaching each other, whether it's in dance or in business? So I think it's kind of helped me grow in both senses, because I've learned a lot in business and leadership training, working with a team, working on a team, managing a team, managing different buying group relationships.

[00:05:58] And a lot of that has filtered over into how do I better coach these girls and get more from them and see their success. So it's been really rewarding on both ends, I would say.

[00:06:08] Bobby: We're gonna drop into some tactical ideas on working with suppliers and distributors in a minute, so we'll come back to this conversation. But for the moment, you and your friends started Sales Gals. What is that? I'm having you describe it. I know what it is, but I'm having you describe it.

[00:06:24] Maria: Sales Gals really started from this desire. Me and one of my coworkers were talking about how do we better connect with the people in our industry, because everyone is email fatigued. We're at this point where virtual meetings are constant, and it's just so much to manage. And we really wanted to say, okay, there's really two channels of Sales Gals that we wanna do. The first channel:

[00:06:49] We wanna share some of these things that we've learned as younger people in the industry that have really helped us along — some fun sales tips, but in under two minutes, because no one wants to spend all of this extra time when there are these huge industry educational resources like skucast, like things with PPAI that are amazing and that is really serving that function.

[00:07:12] So how do we give quick tips online where people have a couple minutes at lunch and they can maybe learn something or maybe get excited by something that we can share product-wise, solution-wise, sales-tip-wise? And then the second avenue was really meant to just be light and fun. How do we bring more positivity?

[00:07:30] How do we give you a little break that's fun, that's relatable, that's something in our industry that everyone is like, "Oh, that happens to me every single day"? And just being a positive light, 'cause there's so much "we don't like this" or "this isn't great," and there's a lot of challenges that people deal with in their day-to-day.

[00:07:46] So how can we be relatable and fun and just keep things light, and also — now that we're kind of all in different places — how do we stay connected in the promotional products world as a group as well?

[00:07:57] Bobby: This is a great topic for us to dive into because the industry was built on more traditional selling models and lots of shows and calls. And this wave of buyers now — we have distributors who are working with our customers in Slack. We have distributors who are working with our customers via chat. What does this next wave look like to you? How do you think about bridging that divide? You have spent a lot of time in re-imagining what communication with customers looks like in the future. What did you learn through that process?

[00:08:25] Maria: I think it's very similar to meeting people where they're at, 'cause right now in our industry, we're looking at not only a lot of different distributors, but they're looking at a lot of different buyers on their end as well. We're starting to see that shift where there are a lot of millennial buyers.

[00:08:41] There are a lot of millennial distributors, but now we're starting to see Gen Z come in and we're starting to see these people behave a little bit differently than maybe some of our traditional promo people that have been in it for a long time and do it really successfully. Those people still love to be called, to connect on the phone, to have more of that traditional sales model, and that's really important.

[00:09:04] Still showing up in person, making those calls, keeping those personal connections. We find that the personal connection piece hasn't changed, but the younger generation maybe doesn't wanna be on calls. They're overloaded with emails, and it feels intense and like a lot. So can we create these spaces online?

[00:09:22] Can we connect on LinkedIn where we're commenting on each other's posts, and we're sharing projects that they've shared that they're really proud of, and saying, "Oh my gosh, this is so cool, and I love this and I wanna share this to more of the industry"? It builds that relationship and trust online. And I'm even thinking of just some small examples since we started Sales Gals.

[00:09:42] You know, we've been at events and we see these other people that are doing things that are similar, or maybe even bigger than we're doing online. And we'll see 'em at events and they're like, "You guys are Sales Gals." And we're like, "We know you," whether it be Promo Kate or JQ or anybody else that's doing these really big things online.

[00:09:58] It's almost this separate community that's starting to form — this group that's in so many different companies and so many different sides, you know, service provider, supplier, distributor — and everyone's collaborating online for that same goal. So I think that's been a really cool way to connect with people and see this next generation of sellers and buyers really connecting in new and different ways that we're finding valuable.

[00:10:21] Bobby: We're seeing a lot of transition from folks that are subscribers to a show they might be watching on YouTube or something to clip watchers. And so a successful show might have, I don't know, I'm just throwing numbers out, but 100,000 successful subscribers, or 10,000, or 1,000 if it's a B2C model. But what they have exponentially are clip watchers — people that are just watching in droves and clips. There's also something you're touching on here: there's this consumption capacity we're reaching as an audience because of the incoming influx of messages that we get from working with our customers and suppliers.

[00:10:56] So we have Slack, we have email, we have chat, we have so on. We're reaching a capacity now. Thankfully AI's building some tools that are gonna help us sift signal from noise. But it's really cool because of what you're talking about with Sales Gals — is cutting through that clutter and giving them something they can reach into for a quick hit.

[00:11:11] One of the sales topics you cover is a cadence approach. You sort of perfected this, if I could, when you were a supplier — this whole cadence approach or drip marketing, whatever you want to call it. For distributors who are still sort of winging their follow-up or maybe not even doing a real intentional follow-up campaign, what does a good sales cadence look like for you? And maybe we'll get into commonsku in a minute, but how that parlays into your work now.

[00:11:35] Maria: Yeah, I think, you know, everybody has this big idea when you go anywhere — whether you have a network built already, or you're maybe starting with cold outreach, which is certainly much more challenging — that we're gonna send this compelling email. Maybe we had AI help us write it, and it's amazing, and we're gonna get immediate response, and schedule meetings, and have sales blow up. And of course, that's what we all want to happen. But the reality is that everybody is doing the same thing. So it takes, on average, seven unique different touches to actually reach somebody before they're going to respond. And that's even when it's warm.

[00:12:13] So even more — it could be even more if it's cold and you don't know that person. So I always say in a cadence approach, if you're gonna reach out once, you probably shouldn't reach out at all, because it's going to just fall to the wayside. You have to be that consistent voice. So I think consistency in your cadence approach — a multi-touch approach, at least seven touches — and mix them up.

[00:12:37] Seven emails in a row is just going to be email, email, email to somebody that's looking on the other end. Send an email, follow up with connecting with someone on LinkedIn, maybe following up with them by liking or commenting on one of their posts and engaging with them in a different way. Not just, "Hey, I wanna have a meeting with you."

[00:12:56] And I think we all fall victim to that when we have certain quotas to meet, or we have to have meetings, or we're really excited to share something new, and we push that so hard instead of just really building those foundational steps in our cadence approach. First of: how do we connect on this human level? What do I have that might help you, that I can start giving you some information and tidbits on? And then how do I learn what's going to work for you? I'm gonna send you a few emails, I'm gonna try and connect on LinkedIn, I'm probably gonna try and call or text you — and then you're finding out, okay, this is how I'm learning how each person works.

[00:13:31] But also, we all know sometimes sales is right place, right time. So if you're not doing that cadence approach, and you're not checking in on a regular basis with valuable content — it cannot be checking in. I had a sales leader that always told me, "Checking in is for hotels, and we should never be doing that in sales or business."

[00:13:50] And that really resonated with me, because when we're doing a cadence approach, it's not just, "Hey, I'm here again. Hey, what's up again?" How am I providing value to you? Why should you on the other end be giving me your response, your time? Because how are we, again, building that relationship that's symbiotic for both of us, where we're getting something out of this?

[00:14:10] So I think where people do struggle with the cadence approach is they're like, "I did send 10 touches and I got no response." But what's really the value behind those responses in your cadence approach? And thinking through it, I think, is the critical piece.

[00:14:23] Bobby: Absolutely. You managed some of the biggest supplier-distributor relationships in the industry. Like you were managing big groups, like buying groups, like Reciprocity, Premier Group. To dive more into specifically supplier-distributor relationships — because one of the unique POVs that you have is working with distributors and how we can improve the supplier-distributor relationship — what makes this supplier-distributor partnership work versus being just transactional?

[00:14:52] Maria: Yeah, I mean, I think there's definitely a time and place for transactional work. We all know that at certain times, end users ask for something and one person has it, and we have to complete the transactional work in the right way, and we have to keep orders on time and answer emails. That is part of the job. But the supplier-distributor relationship really is meant to be something where there is trust there. They know that if they run into a problem, it doesn't matter whose fault it is, they wanna know they can reach out to partners that want to help them, that are gonna find the solution, that also are going to creatively help them grow their business and be strategic and plan with them and not just be reactive.

[00:15:31] So I think in working with some of these groups, the coolest thing for me is that it's all about collaboration. How do we share more information about what's working, about what's not working candidly? 'Cause that can be a scary thing when you don't have trust — to share things that aren't working in your business and to feel like, did I share this with the right person? Is this going to come back to me in a negative way?

[00:15:48] So I think that trust and the ability to get recommendations from other people on the same side. On supplier sides, you know, I had so many people always reaching out to me like, "Hey, I know you guys don't do this, but do you know anybody for X, Y, Z?" And that's, again, because I trust you and I know that you're gonna give me a recommendation from your network that I can also trust.

[00:16:07] And that's the biggest thing — is this industry. You know, Mark was saying it the other day: it's like high school. Everybody wants like a friend of a friend, and "who should I use for this?" And if you're not spending that time really building the relationship, showing up at events and being present, actually making connections, not just standing behind your booth and going to bed at night — all of those things. It's hard to put an ROI ticket on building relationships, but it's truly the thing that grew my business the fastest was finding these people on the supplier and the distributor side that are willing to collaborate, that wanna help. And you'll find that so many people in this industry just want to help everyone else succeed.

[00:16:53] And it's becoming less about this competition and friction, which always exists, you know, for certain end-user customers. But really those groups are about: how do we information share? How do we lift up the industry as a whole? How do we all collaborate and work together? And I really enjoyed doing that. It helped me shift my mindset from product to strategy. 'Cause at the end of the day, it really doesn't matter what you're selling, it matters how you're selling it.

[00:17:18] Bobby: Speaking of, I would be remiss if I didn't talk about problem resolution when it comes to suppliers and distributors. You know, we just left CEO Summit. We had some of our best customers there talking about just the challenges in the business. And the topic will always come up about dropped projects, in-hand dates that were missed, inventory misses. The industry is so complex and complicated that there are so many volatile things that can happen in the span of a week. One distributor friend said this: "At the beginning of the day, you can feel like a hero. At the end of the day, you're so exhausted by doing problem resolution."

[00:17:50] Maria: Oh no.

[00:17:50] Bobby: Let me ask you this, Maria. How can we be better on the distributor side when there are problems that inevitably happen in orders or projects, and how can we be better on the supplier side?

[00:18:02] Maria: You know, interestingly enough, I think that the answer is the same. I think that there is always this natural thing that happens where it has to be someone's fault, because whoever's fault it is, it's their job to fix it.

[00:18:15] Bobby: Right.

[00:18:15] Maria: And that's, to me, that is some of the most counterintuitive thinking when you're talking about partnership. And I think from both sides, if you are the person that's wrong, maybe just be upfront and honest and say, "This is what happened, and this is where we need to go." I find when we're talking about a problem, we all know it's not really about the problem — we need to find the solution. So we could sit and run around: whose fault, who approved the wrong color, who wrote the wrong color, why it missed the in-hand date, this ship that got stuck here.

[00:18:48] It's not anyone's fault, it's UPS's fault. Of course. At the end of the day, our goal is really to serve the end-user customer, whether you're a supplier or a distributor. We want these products to get to end users, for people to be happy, for people to be excited to keep and use and reuse these products. And that fuels our entire industry forward on the purpose of branded merch.

[00:19:09] So I think when it comes to problem resolution, let's all just be as upfront and as clear as possible on: here's what the issue is, my client's upset, what is the ideal solution, and how do we both do our best to get to that solution without cutting someone's margin completely or telling someone they're totally on their own. You know, at the end of the day, we all want happy customers. We want repeat business, we want repeat orders. And I think when we just level-set on what is it that happened and what is it that we really want and need in terms of a solution, we're gonna get there a lot faster than arguing over whose fault it is.

[00:19:48] Because at the end of the day, somebody is at fault. And I think we spend too much time in that area instead of really getting to the root of what's gonna make the customer happy at the end of the day, and how can we collaborate and work together to get to that solution where it doesn't impact either one of us too hard. Unless, of course, there's certain instances where it's totally a supplier's fault, in which case, as a supplier, sometimes you just have to say, "This is a great customer and this is great business, and we need to fix this as quickly as possible." And you have to do that as a supplier and you should, because these people are counting on you for that business. A lot of distributors are working on commission only, so this really is cutting into their ability to grow with that customer if we don't solve the problems.

[00:20:29] Bobby: I love what you said because: solve the problem. Assign responsibility for who's responsible for the file later, but let's fix the problem so we get the customer taken care of. And, you know, this happens all the time. I mean, you know —

[00:20:39] Maria: Yes.

[00:20:40] Bobby: — more than I do, but it can be the client left something off the order, put the wrong suite number for the address, or whatever it might be. Or it can be multi-ship destinations and one of them got screwed up. There's so many variables. But you gotta solve the problem. Solve the problem, take care of the customer right now, and then we'll fix who pays for what later.

[00:20:56] Maria: You know, it really is. Because at the end of the day, what does the customer need? We could spend an hour going back and forth, we could spend a whole day going back and forth, and now the customer still doesn't have a solution, and we're all upset with each other — instead of, "Okay, we've fixed this for the client. Now let's figure out how we're going to come to the best resolution together."

[00:21:12] Bobby: There's so many problem resolution tips that we could probably share with this. We could have a whole episode around this.

[00:21:18] Maria: Yes.

[00:21:18] Bobby: I know there are people going, "Okay, but I've got this problem right now and this is what's going on." So maybe we can return to that someday. You draw this distinction between selling product and building partnerships, which is kind of interesting because we're an industry that sells product — but at the end of the day, we're also a very tightly networked and knitted-together industry of partnerships. Do you do both? Because, you know, when you were a supplier, your job was to sell that product, but you also had these major national relationships to nurture.

[00:21:50] Maria: Absolutely. There's definitely a fine balance, because people still do want product information. They don't wanna say, "Okay, Maria's my promo bestie, and we chitchat every single week, but I have no clue what's new and I don't know what the capabilities are." So we do still need to, as suppliers — if you're on the supplier or distributor side — you need to talk about product to some extent.

[00:22:12] And I think building those strategic relationships of "here's what I can do as a sales rep to fuel your business, to help you grow, to support you in general" — that's the foundation. And then having them come to you — "so I'm working with this healthcare client, what's really trending here?" — and that's when you kind of shift into the product solutions or those case studies and sharing some of those examples. I think that is where that distinction happens. When we are leading with product, even if we have the best product, the reality of our industry is that a lot of people have the same kinds of products, albeit maybe not the same exact thing, but a lot of us can provide the same solution, so to speak.

[00:22:56] So how am I helping you capture more reorders? How am I helping you prospect new customers? How am I helping you go straight to a sale with the next product for a great customer that didn't order with us? How am I really being your strategic partner, with the layer of "these are my best product suggestions, these are why I love it, this is why end users love it. I use this product personally" — which I did use a lot of our products personally, so it's really easy to recommend them — but that's what people wanna hear, is how am I seeing it in my day-to-day life. How are other people using it? Who else is buying it, and what results are they seeing?

[00:23:32] They're counting on you as the supplier to give them that information so they can be the expert to their client. So nothing that I said was specific to any one product. That's the key — you need to be their resource for the end user, 'cause they're not seeing everything that you're seeing. They're working maybe with one or two huge national brands that they need to be specific for events. And they don't know what everyone else is now getting for golf events, or what's new and what's trending. They don't know what everyone gave out for Nurses Week this year that was received really well.

[00:24:10] So I think them counting on you of "this person always gives me great information, I always get good case study examples, I understand the value of these products and how to position them to my customer" — that's the value that we are bringing in the industry, is how do we help you succeed. It is just the most relationship-based industry I've ever experienced, and people want to work with you when they trust you. And, unfortunately, that does take time.

[00:24:36] So I think for new sales reps, it really is about how do you earn that trust and how do you build those relationships so you can start being that go-to.

[00:24:45] Bobby: You spent nearly eight years on the supplier side, and now you've crossed over to the platform side at commonsku. So what made you take that leap?

[00:24:53] Maria: Oh, that was a hard decision because I had a really great experience on the supplier side. I was able to move up multiple times. I was working with some of the most delightful people in the industry. My customers were amazing. It was a lot of fun, and our product was so fun. But I think for me, one thing that really challenges me is pushing myself into new things.

[00:25:19] How can I also get that next step in my career where I'm being challenged, where I'm learning something new, where my sales skills are kind of being taken to this next level? And I think there was a point where — product is so fun. It really is, and I did love it. But I think there's this differentiation between: are you gonna go down this route of you're gonna be this product expert, you're gonna continue to work on the project level? Or do you wanna work on this strategic level where you are truly helping businesses scale, grow — kind of being almost that consultant side to them of how do we get to the next level in our business?

[00:25:51] And that is a big shift, but to me that was just so exciting. And I think when this opportunity kind of came across my lap — and funny enough, it came across from another person in the industry that was a good mentor to me, and was like, "I think this is just such a great fit for something that would challenge you and excite you." And it was just such a different opportunity that I have not experienced before, that I think I was ready for.

[00:26:16] So I will say it was probably one of the most bittersweet changes, because I had such a great experience and I really was ready to take some sort of next big step and really help these people that I've known in the industry grow and scale and see them succeed. And this company here at commonsku is just moving in this direction that is so exciting for: how are we going to be the leader in the technology space for promo? How are we gonna help distributors grow their business faster? And these are the problems that I hear from my customers every single day.

[00:27:00] So I was just really compelled to say, "This is something a little bit bigger that I can jump to and be part of and really help." Our industry feel comfortable with tech, which can feel scary to a lot of people, and bridge that gap. So I think there were just so many things that were really exciting to me. But it's also scary to make a big change like that when you're really comfortable and quite happy.

[00:27:17] Bobby: So well said about how much joy you get out of helping people with the strategic side of their business and —

[00:27:22] Maria: Yeah.

[00:27:23] Bobby: — that next leap forward. You told me that every distributor wants two things: they wanna grow revenue and they wanna make their lives easier. Right?

[00:27:29] Maria: Yes.

[00:27:30] Bobby: That's the basic. I love the basics of that. How does that insight change the way you approach conversations with potential customers with commonsku?

[00:27:38] Maria: You know, I think it is the foundation of what the platform does. And maybe from a supplier side, I didn't fully understand the capabilities of the commonsku platform until you're really in it. And I think my first couple of weeks here, every day I was like, "Wow, this is so cool. Oh my gosh, this is revolutionary."

[00:27:56] If I had this tool when I was on the sales side, I would have been able to grow my business even faster, because this is just so streamlined, it's so specific to our industry. I was just so excited and impressed. And I think when you're selling to distributors, they do want those two things.

[00:28:13] At the end of the day, this is a business and we need to grow revenue and we need to grow sales, and we need tools that are gonna help us do that effectively and efficiently — quickly. And we also want our lives to be easier. There's so much manual data entry and copying things over. And, you know, I even experienced that in my own sales world where I'm like, "I'm spending so much time on some of these transactional things, and how can we get these off our plate?"

[00:28:38] And I think that's a question a lot of businesses are asking themselves. So really just having these open, candid conversations — that's where it starts. "Where's your business at right now?" Because, quite honestly, there's probably not a lot of huge problems with people's business. They're probably not like, "My business is failing, and we need this solution." That's really not where this industry's at.

[00:29:00] But it's, "Okay, tell me how you're running your business now," and opening their eyes — just like my eyes were opened when I got here — of how can you do it more efficiently, how can you remove some of those manual steps? Imagine what your sales team could do if they weren't spending time re-keying information and they were spending more time on reorder opportunities or new business development.

[00:29:23] That's where we're seeing that increase in revenue. And I think just some of the statistics, like when I first got here, just learning that commonsku users are going three times faster than other users on different platforms. That, to me, if I was a business owner, is really compelling. So I think just sharing some of those things, you know, in that way — like, "I've just learned this, I am so excited about this, love to talk to you about your business and what's working and maybe what's a little bit challenging or how we can help you grow faster," not "how we can" — you know, "your business is in a detriment." So I think sometimes people think you're only looking for a solution when there's a big problem.

[00:29:58] Bobby: Yeah.

[00:29:58] Maria: When really it's about, if you have something great, how can we make it even better? How can you grow even faster?

[00:30:03] Bobby: It's such a great point because in this industry, you're constantly making iterations on your business. So as a distributor owner, principal, manager, or sales leader, you're constantly making iterations. So you might think after six months or the first four months of this year, you've made improvements — business is growing, you're up 10%, you're up 15%. But there's nothing critically broken to where everything's falling apart. Sometimes that happens, and you realize you need to fix something. Maybe you lost a big client because of services or whatever. But it's a really good point that most people have reached a point, especially with technology, they've layered in enough solutions — but they don't quite realize what they don't know.

[00:30:50] They don't know that distributor A is able to handle a project load 10 times the size with far fewer touches than distributor B, but distributor B doesn't really know that because they've made iterative improvements in their platform all along. Therefore, they think that they've made these improvements. They don't know any different. And we both know this industry — you are sort of in your own world. I know that was my challenge as a distributor: I couldn't see any other world but ours. We were making improvements and we were growing, and margins were relatively healthy. So it's a really good point about that.

[00:31:15] Maria: Yeah, I love that point of "you don't know what you don't know."

[00:31:19] Bobby: Right.

[00:31:19] Maria: And people are really, I think, everybody is really trying to find new tools and make things easier and work with great partners where they can have administrative support that's maybe outsourced to take some of that load off their sales team. And all of these things are so great. But I think when you're looking at it from far away, you're like, "Wait, we are using 10 different things." And there are so many places where just realizing, "Okay, if we were to connect half of these things, it would save us this much time." And where could that time go and where could it be spent?

[00:31:52] So it's usually not that distributors are failing or they're broken, or their business is plummeting and now they need to find this solution. And I think that sometimes is a harder sell of: "What is the strategy behind this? How do we help you grow faster? How do we get you the results that you want even faster? How do we take this off your team so they're happier?"

[00:32:08] You know, we all know that it's always like sales versus the world that every company — they need all of these things. And when they're not happy, everyone's not happy. But the reality is that if your salespeople are able to do this relationship-building that we wanna do with them, with their customers more often than monitoring the transactional work or following up for ship dates and tracking and all of those kinds of things, we are gonna see business happen faster, and we're gonna see growth happen faster. And that is really what everyone wants to see.

[00:32:34] Everyone wants a successful business. They want happy and healthy salespeople that are making great margins, and that have margin visibility, and that are able to connect with their customers and win them and wow them. And that's also a lot to manage. So anything we can do to make that easier, I think, is just what really excites me about commonsku, because I've heard all of these complaints, or struggles, or things people wished were better from every partner that I've ever worked with. Like, "Oh, if I could do this, then I would be really telling," or "Everything would be great." So I think there's a lot of things that happen like that where you're like, "We can help."

[00:33:16] Bobby: Last commonsku transition question I have for you. We have mutual friends at Reciprocity. You mentioned when you joined, virtually every Reciprocity owner reached out and said — and basically said, "You are in great hands joining commonsku." Probably had other customers reach out and say what a great move. What does that kind of unsolicited endorsement tell you about how people feel about commonsku and the platform?

[00:33:38] Maria: I think from my perspective, Mark and Catherine have just done an unbelievable job of building their brand. There is so much trust there. So whether people are on the platform or not, they are aware of commonsku. They have that name recognition, but they have that brand trust. People know that they are good people to work with and that they're doing business in the right way. And to be someone joining that kind of culture and that team and that reputation that precedes them is really an incredible thing.

[00:34:03] It is just something that's really exciting. It made me feel really secure, even though I was already 100% set that this was the right decision for me. Having those people that I really respect and worked with for so long — especially in a group like Reciprocity that really cares about partnership — truly, those owners are friends outside of work and they spend time together and they share information. So just to have those kinds of people that I really trust and respect and admire reaching out to me saying, "This is just such a great move. I know that this is a business that's going to do things in the right way, that is going to look out for their customers and make changes for people that are gonna help their business" — truly, I think that trust, you know, it's earned. So clearly there's something that's been going on for a long time to earn that kind of reputation and to solicit that response from my own customers and my own network. And it was just really an exciting and incredible thing, especially, like I said, from people that I really trust and admire to say, "This is gonna be so great for you. You are in the best hands."

[00:35:14] Bobby: Last question for you, Maria. You had eight-plus years, a journey in sales so far, and you skyrocketed from just entering the industry and going, "What is this?" to managing national accounts. So this is no small leap, what you did. You are now with commonsku, and is another leap for you, so you're helping customers strategically think about their future. What do you wish you knew about selling now that you wish someone had told you in the early days when you first joined the industry?

[00:35:56] And the reason why I ask it is because for two reasons. One is, I remember Sandy Gonzalez. Speaking of Reciprocity, I remember her and I talking about the character traits that someone shares — the similarities between day-one salesperson and a day-100,000 salesperson, that there are similar characteristics, right? There's confidence, there's courage, there's all these things there. Those of us that have been doing it a while can learn from folks that have just had this meteoric rise in the business.

[00:36:12] So it's a question not only for people that are new, but for folks like me that need to rethink how I'm selling. So I'll let you answer the question, but what do you wish you knew?

[00:36:20] Maria: You know, there's a couple of things that I wish I knew. I wish when I first started, I understood the industry, I guess, a little bit better. We don't always get such a great crash course into what this very unique world is. And I think I did lead so quickly with, "Oh, we have these great features," or "We have this great thing that we can do." And it just really was not very sticky. I was not gaining traction.

[00:36:41] I was so lucky to have a sales consultant brought in for our team probably midway through my career that really changed my perception on everything of: how do we start the conversation with what matters most to who we're talking to, and understand them as a person and understand them as a business owner or as a salesperson, and understand their challenges. And, you know, dig deep into that, and really learning and pausing before we start pushing solutions, before we start shoving product.

[00:37:11] And I think we all do get so excited about that, but in our industry, people wanna feel heard. They want to feel like you understand them. And I think when I really started shifting that, I started seeing a lot of momentum from my end. When I really started leaning into "okay, let me understand these buying groups and how they're different and what matters to people in each group, and how I'm going to be a little bit more intentional," to say, "Okay, this is what other Reciprocity Road customers are doing, are buying, are using." I mean, really understanding these people and their customers and what they need.

[00:37:56] Icebox is a great example. You know, I took over Icebox from Rory Young, who is at DCX and is well-known and well-respected in the industry. And when I worked with him, he was very well-known and very well-respected. It was a tough transition for me with Icebox. They didn't trust me right away. They knew Rory and they loved him.

[00:38:16] Bobby: Right.

[00:38:17] Maria: As a young salesperson, we're like, "But I'm gonna get your order there on time, and I'm gonna show you all these things." But it took me taking a step back to say, "Hey, let me get to know you guys. Let you guys get to know me," before they really started trusting me with projects — 'cause these are their customers that they've known forever. And just sending them things out of the blue, I felt like I was being so intentional and so proactive, and they felt like I didn't understand their clients' brands or what they really wanted. And that was so true, and I didn't know that when I was young.

[00:38:49] But I also think, you know, leaning into your network, building your network outside of just your customers, is something that I wish I would've been told from the start.

[00:39:00] Bobby: Hmm.

[00:39:00] Maria: That really helped me skyrocket as well. I mean, I have been so fortunate — I could name 50 people off the top of my head that have in some way helped propel me forward in my business, in my career, in my career development. And I wish I would've known the importance of that. 'Cause when I first started going to shows, I was so fixated on making my booth so amazing and showing them all the product and getting all these sales and showing the ROI. When really, if I had spent even part of that time making more connections with other suppliers and building my network, I could have grown a lot faster. 'Cause I learned that a little bit later, that those people were going to be the people that were actually gonna help me, and they weren't as big of my competitors as I thought they were when I got there.

[00:39:36] Like, "Oh, I have to win business from all these people." You know, we all do different things, we all have different strengths, and so many people have helped me, especially on the supplier side, in building that supplier network. So I wish I would've known how important it is to really take that part seriously and not just be so fixated on winning sales. Because this industry, that is what it's all about — is just making connections and helping people grow their business, no matter what side they're on.

[00:40:13] Bobby: A great point, Maria. Thank you. We are commonsku — I think most of our listeners know this, but proudly built by promo for promo. And just having you on the team, especially with your supplier-side experience, all these relationships, is just fantastic. I mean, honestly, you might not know that we now have three former distributors on the team — if you include Mark and Catherine as one, and they have myself and then another distributor customer success team member, former distributors now on the commonsku team. And having your perspective both from the supplier, but also working deeply with distributors and understanding their business — so I'm glad that we as a brand and a company still continue this "by promo for promo." And you are a huge benefit to our team for this POV that you have and for your insight. So thank you, Maria, for joining.

[00:40:55] Maria: Oh, well, thank you for saying all that. I am so excited to be here. This team is incredible. The platform is amazing, and I'm just excited to see where everything is gonna go. So thank you so much for having me.

[00:41:07] Bobby: You bet.