Success Stories Ep 88 - “The Promo Nomad”

If you've read any business books in the past few years, you'll know that a lot of them advise you to do things differently. Well, our guest today on the Success Stories podcast not only does things his own way, he authored a book to outline what he believes in, and why it should resonate with you, too. 

Of course, I'm talking about Ryan Schraffenberger with Promotions Guy! 

On today's show, we'll find out what it's like to be in a sales nomad. Focus on sustainability first, and take a Jerry Maguire moment and write a book called Retail Responsibly. If you need more sales, then this is the episode you should be paying attention to right now!

Transcript

Marshall Atkinson 
If you've read any business books in the past few years, you'll know that a lot of them advise you to do things differently. Well, our guest today on the Success Stories podcast not only does things his own way, he authored a book to outline what he believes in and why it should resonate with you, too. Of course, I'm talking about Ryan Traffic and Burgers with a Promotions Guide. On today's show, we'll find out what it's like to be a sales nomad. Focus on sustainability first, take a Jerry Maguire moment, and write a book called Retail Responsibly. If you need more sales, then this is the episode you should be paying attention to right now. So, Ryan, welcome to the Success Stories podcast.

Ryan Schraffenberger 
Thanks for having me.

Marshall Atkinson 
Yeah, I like what you're doing. And you've got some things that talk about trailblazing and doing things your own way. You're that person, right? And I think that's going to be a lot of fun to dig into later. So I'm kind of envious, a little bit. We'll see about that. So let's just start the whole story. Kick everything off, right? Let's hear about how you started in the industry. After all, everybody always wants to know how somebody has joined this crazy circus. Right? So what led you to do this?

Ryan Schraffenberger 
Yeah, circus is definitely the right word for it. So it was about 15 years ago that I moved down to the Florida Keys after graduating from college. Maybe it's been more than that. Now, I don't know. But I got a job at a marina and dive center, doing a lot of different work there. But I needed another job because you have to have three jobs to live on the keys. So I was helping out at a local laser engraver and embroiderer. And I worked there for about four years. I believe it was a little less than that, but I really enjoyed it. I was doing a lot of artwork. I was working in CorelDRAW and having a lot of fun. And then he wanted to retire, so I had the opportunity to purchase the business. And I wasn't really interested in exactly what he was doing. So I passed on it and just bartended more, and I had a DJ company as well. I was doing a lot of weddings there. So I went off and started my own. About a year later, I was doing screen printing. I bought some equipment from Ryan and Manuel Press and rented some space from a sublease from a realtor friend of mine. And started screen printing in a place they probably really shouldn't have more of a luxury office.

Marshall Atkinson 
A lot of people do that. Man it's their basement. It's an office. It's a storage shed.

Ryan Schraffenberger 
Yep. And I ended up getting some more equipment. We needed more room. I bought another six colors. Yeah, six-color forestation is used on Craigslist. So I put in a spiral staircase and used an attic. And somehow I still don't know how I got to six fours and a dryer up there. I still don't know how he did it. But getting it back out was terrible. I don't recommend taking up spiral staircases, but it just continued to grow from there. I ended up opening another office in Michigan, and things just kept growing. And now we just kind of focus more on having partners around the country for printing purposes than doing it ourselves. So we can be better for our customers. That makes sense.

Marshall Atkinson 
And yeah, and how long have you been doing this? So

Ryan Schraffenberger 
I've had promotions guy, it'll be 10 years in July.

Marshall Atkinson 
Okay. And who are your customers that you serve the most?

Ryan Schraffenberger 
Yeah, so we serve customers all over the country. Most of our customers are in the tourist industry. That would definitely be our segment. zoos, aquariums, restaurants, resorts, theme parks, and things like that.

Marshall Atkinson 
Okay, and you're doing the apparel plus the like, promo style merch kind of stuff.

Ryan Schraffenberger 
Yep. Yeah, we do a lot of promotions as well. Very involved in that space. We try to do anything we can to help brands, push other people's businesses, and help them get their sales up with a focus on sustainability. It's not about things being recycled; it's about things being longer-lasting. We want quality products; we don't sell crap.

Marshall Atkinson 
Well, I love this sustainability feature. And that's one of the reasons I think I wanted you on the show, because, you know, that appeals to me; I'm a sustainable, sustainability-minded guy. It's hard to say today for some reason, but I love it, you know, and the two shops that I ran, I both got them to be sheepy certified, which is the Sustainable Green Printing Partnership, which is a third-party audit. You know, they got a guy that comes in and slips around and gives you a little checklist, and if you don't pass, you don't get the certification. And I was happy to be not only the first apparel decorator to be certified, but the 50th because I own companies, right? And so, that was a lot of fun. And, you know, frankly, it really gives you a better shot. Because you focus on improving things and proving your process, It's all about measuring and doing things better. And which kind of feeds into the whole, like the Lean Six Sigma part of things, right? And just like making things better and not being satisfied with anything, we're always improving—continuous improvement, all that stuff, right? So when you're looking for a partner, right, that, you know, we want to offer sustainability, is that their process? Is it their quality? Is it there? They source things locally, which is closer to your customer, so you don't have to ship as far for the whole carbon footprint thing. Give us your philosophy on that a little bit. Yeah.

Ryan Schraffenberger 
When it comes to apparel, which is more of what we're talking about here, when we source stuff, we focus first on the apparel—you know, where are we getting the item from? How is it made? What is it made of? We focus on organic cotton; I think we can all agree that's the best source today for materials. And then we worry about how it's made. And where it's made. There's a lot of facilities out there that don't do it, right? And there's a lot that do it right: they take care of their people, they're not cutting corners, and they recycle scraps from the floor. Having visited some of these factories, you can see the differences. So that's really important to us. And then, when it comes to actually printing the garment, it's going to be what we're looking for: the closest proximity. You know, a lot of the waste in this is going to be shipping; a lot of the waste is going to be on the customer waiting till the last minute, which is very normal in our industry. So if we are getting it produced locally, we don't have to ship it overnight; we could ship it ground, and it takes one day. There's a lot of different logistical things that we look at when we're partnering with a printer or a supplier, you know, even in the promotional space. But definitely, location is really important for us.

Marshall Atkinson 
Right? And have you started doing more with online stores, because this really feeds into sustainability? Because, let's say, a customer is having an event or something. So instead of printing 500 or 1000 shirts or whatever, there's an online store where somebody who's attending can sign up, and then they get the shirt to their size. And so it's an exact count. So you're not overprinting; you're doing only what's needed for the event. Are you doing stuff like that?

Ryan Schraffenberger 
Yes, we have done stuff like that. I'm not going to say we do it enough. But one thing we have started doing over the last couple of years is more live printing. Because it's easy, because it is incredibly difficult, and honestly, it's not very fun to do. It does really reduce waste when we can actually print what we need and keep the blanks for the next event. Yeah,

Marshall Atkinson 
Well, I know a lot of people have switched from doing screen printing live events to doing heat press live events because it's a little easier to manage. Right if you try.

Ryan Schraffenberger 
Well, we custom-built one color, one station. Press. Riley Hopkins, it's working really well. We've done water-based on it, and water-based has its own problems too. But it's been really good at shows that we just use a flash. And here's fast. Everything's been good.

Marshall Atkinson 
Right? Okay, good, right? So that's great. And so I know you kind of outsource some—a lot of your work or a good chunk of your work, right? So you have guardrails in place for the people that you work for, for their processes and how they do things for sustainability, and what they do with there's a million fastest ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle, right? Or energy usage, or whatever. Right? So do you go there also?

Ryan Schraffenberger 
Yeah, I am on the road all the time, which I think we're gonna get to

Marshall Atkinson 
talking about it. Yeah, visit traveling there. But oh, no, I

Ryan Schraffenberger 
Visit these places. Okay, actually show up. I want to see how they're doing things. And I want to meet the people doing this. Because it is really important to me that they are doing a proper job, a really big one, you can tell almost immediately when you walk into a shop, you know, if it's clean or not. If it's a filthy shop covered in lint, we know that they're probably not practicing very sustainable processes there.

Marshall Atkinson 
Yeah. What am I as a coach? I go to shops all the time. What I tell them is to go to the employee's bathroom in the shop. And if it looks like a really awful truck station or gas station thing where it's just a mess, you know that they've got apathy and care problems in the shop that are going to show up later, right? Because if you can't get them to throw a paper towel away, right, or clean up after themselves, how are they going to do anything with an order? Right? Absolutely. Yeah. So all right, well, great. And so before we get to the next question, right, I want you to tell me where you are right now recording this. Where are you talking from?

Ryan Schraffenberger 
I am in St. Augustine, Florida.

Marshall Atkinson 
Yeah, but specifically, where are you standing? Oh, I'm in my RV. You're in your RV. Right? So this is the craziest thing. Okay. So I want you guys to listen right now. Right? Ryan is a sales nomad. So instead of doing everything from his office, or his house, or whatever, like some promo folks do, right? He's in an RV, traveling the country, meeting people, meeting clients, and doing stuff. Right. So that's what I meant earlier by sales nomad. Right. So tell us, first off, how that even happened. You know, and then why is this really a tool in your arsenal that works?

Ryan Schraffenberger 
Yeah, so I like being on the road. It is not for everybody. I have a wife and two kids that are seven and three, which make RVing very difficult some days, but they're with you. They are. Yeah, they're outside riding bikes right now. But that's why you don't hear them in the background. Otherwise, you'd hear screaming, but it is it is; if you're into it, it is a cheat code for sales. And if you're open to showing up and visiting places, just for example, this morning I was actually in Savannah, meeting with a potential client, and yesterday I was up in Boone, North Carolina, meeting with customers.

Marshall Atkinson 
So he shows up, it's kind of like it's a celebrity, right?

Ryan Schraffenberger 
Tomorrow, we head to Orlando. On Monday, I fly up to Chicago to meet with other customers. And it's all over the place all the time. And it is a logistical nightmare at times, you know, planning for what airport I'll be closest to as well. But I love going to the customer's home base and meeting them where they are.

Marshall Atkinson 
Yeah, how many of your customers come out to the RV to check it out?

Ryan Schraffenberger 
They're all interested in it, but I don't usually bring it to their place. Oh, because there's like, well, we have cars to it because you

Marshall Atkinson 
got a car behind the RV. Drive

Ryan Schraffenberger 
separate. It's very taken.

Marshall Atkinson 
Yeah, I'm just thinking of some sort of Chevy Chase thing where you're like, you show up in the RV and you're like, Hey, we're here to sell you. Yeah.

Ryan Schraffenberger 
You know, it's funny, because my goal in the beginning was to be ridiculous like that and just do something like, almost, a road show. Yeah. And I realized how many extra questions you get when you're in an RV park. And I just didn't really want to deal with it. Right.

Marshall Atkinson 
So, like, is your wife driving and you're in the RV working in the back? I mean, how does it work while you're, like, taking a call while you're on the highway?

Ryan Schraffenberger 
I mean, no, we travel about once a week, every other week, or even once a month. Sometimes we'll move our RV, but usually I drive our car, my wife's car, to wherever I'm going to go visit customers. So I drove her car up to Charlotte yesterday and went visit customers and stuff. Oh, I

Marshall Atkinson 
see. So you're in St. Augustine. Right.

Ryan Schraffenberger 
I left the family there. They could be in the sunshine This way everyone wins.

Marshall Atkinson 
Okay, great. Well, that's cool. And like, how did this idea happen? You just like one day go. You know what? Let's be on the road. Yeah,

Ryan Schraffenberger 
I was just bored. Being at home. And I didn't want to do that anymore. I asked my wife, and she said, No, she thought it was an insane idea. So I used my favorite sales tactic, which we call anchors. So I said, Hey, you know what? I'm going to offer something way more ridiculous. How about we sail the world? That's what I want to do. I want to buy a yacht and sail the world. And then she decided that we should go RVing.

Marshall Atkinson 
that's great.  That's great. So let's throw something out there. That's so crazy. Now what happens is that you say, Well, yeah, let's go sail the world. Then what are you doing? Are you sailing?

Ryan Schraffenberger 
So okay, so I actually do want to do that. So I set out an even bigger anchor now that I live in a place like Africa in the winter. So once I dropped that out there, we support several orphanages and Uganda. So I have always wanted to spend the winters out there with them and actually, like, be a part of it and teach and be involved. And my wife is afraid of doing that. So if I drop that out there, then she'll probably be into sailing.

Marshall Atkinson 
So you just kept backing the notch down till she should? Yes, you should.

Ryan Schraffenberger 
Yes. Yeah. That's the idea. That's

Marshall Atkinson 
great. And your home bases Michigan, though, right?

Ryan Schraffenberger 
It is. Yeah. We bought an RV park two years ago in Traverse City, Michigan. So we spend the summers there? Yeah.

Marshall Atkinson 
Okay, so you're all in? Yeah. Yeah.

Ryan Schraffenberger 
This is us. In law, you're

Marshall Atkinson 
traveling around? Have you met other salespeople that are doing what you're doing.

Ryan Schraffenberger 
So I've met other people who want to do what I'm doing but are afraid to let go of home. They're afraid of letting go of the community, the things that they have, and the comforts of life. It is not for everybody. I am not going to try to sell anyone on it. Because there are hard times, but there are also great times. I love being able to go outside when the weather's good. And if it's not, we could go somewhere else. We don't want our neighbors to leave.

Marshall Atkinson 
So I know that, like my friend Charity Gibson, who's in the promotional industry. She would during COVID. She rented an RV for a couple months. Or maybe she bought it; I don't know. But she would always like to report, Hey, I'm at this park today. And I'm doing some work, and then I'm going kayaking. And I'm like, Man, that's just the way

Ryan Schraffenberger 
It is great. I love it. It takes a weird look at an organization, though, because the logistics of it can get pretty finicky. Yeah,

Marshall Atkinson
that's great.  Once you hear so much, be sure to subscribe so you can get the latest from Success Stories. And now here's Zach shortly with the SMS spotlight. If you've never

Marshall Atkinson 
Let's switch gears and talk about your book. So I've written several books. So I know what it's like. It's a slog, right? And I read your book, and your book is great, right? So it's called retail responsibly. You should pick it up, by the way. But I want to talk about, like, you know, not everybody has written a book or even thought about writing a book, and War has the audacity to write a book because it's a huge project. You know, it's a term paper that lasts for five months. I mean, it's just endless. Okay. So what made you do it? What was the process like? You know, did you say I'm going to write 500 words a day until I'm done? How did you do it?

Ryan Schraffenberger 
So no, I do not do 500 words a day; I am ADHD. So I just spent too many weekends in a hotel. And but it wasn't done exactly like that. I spent about a year, I guess, assembling the pieces, just jotting down ideas when they came, you know, for chapters for subjects to discuss, as I'm sure anybody that's done, this would do. And then once I had those ideas—you know, 50 ideas or whatever—that's when I went to a hotel in a quiet space to just work through them with a bag of books, you know, and for references. Right.

Marshall Atkinson 
So and so. Probably some people listening haven't read the book. So what is it about? And what's your kind of viewpoint? Yeah, so

Ryan Schraffenberger 
It's called retail responsibly; the focus is not. So it's focused on people purchasing, but really any consumer could be helped through it. I wrote this for the sake of our customers and our future customers. When we exhibit at trade shows, we talk to a lot of people that don't necessarily understand our industry. So this is to help them understand where things come from and how things are made. And just, it highlights the overconsumption that we go through in the West and helps with some suggestions on reducing that. I think it helps everybody, right? Let's say so. Did

Marshall Atkinson 
why did you feel that book was needed?

Ryan Schraffenberger 
Yeah. So there wasn't one that I could find in this space; I found some that were a little bit older about how the t-shirt is made, like journeys of the t-shirt or something. I have a lot of them. I am an avid reader; I love to read. I read about 75 books a year. And none of them are fiction. None of them are Harry Potter. Yeah, what everybody else would find to be very boring, but I handed them to my wife at the time. And she has stacks on her desk because this is silly. Why did you read this? But through reading some of those, I just felt like there was a gap, I guess. And knowing our customer base and our usual leads, we don't know how our business works. I kind of wanted to be educated. So that when we do exhibit at trade shows, we do about six a year for promotions like zoo shows, aquariums, and things like that. And science centers to have a platform to speak as well, you know, which has been really great. And the engagement is way up through that, as you know from my writing as well. It's a great lead generator.

Marshall Atkinson 
Oh, yeah. And what's really great is that if you've written a book, you're now an expert. Because, let me tell you, you know, a lot of people won't read your book, but the fact that you write a book—I mean, you've written one—they all thought the guy had the answers. He wrote a book; here you go, right? I use it as a business card now. Yeah. And, you know, my books are just downloadable from my website, so I buy and sell them all the time, right? And they're all mainly about apparel stuff, you know, because that's what my thing is. Right? And so, it was really good. And what I like about them is that the work was done several years ago, but I'm still making money. Yeah. And so, that's kind of cool. Right? And it's awesome. And so, what has been the reaction to the book? Has it been favorable? If people can wow, this is really great. If you get sales out of it, talk about that. It's

Ryan Schraffenberger 
been, it's been very favorable. I'm actually working on some other ones right now, too, because I'm not going to say I love the process, because anyone who's ever written a book can attest that the process isn't that great. But, you know, then you kind of miss it, I guess, right? You've written how big seven? You said?

Marshall Atkinson 
Well, I've got a couple that I sell. But I've also ghostwritten books for some suppliers. So they have books where my name isn't on them, but I wrote them.

Ryan Schraffenberger 
Yeah, so, but you kind of miss it. Once it's done, It's like that—that journey is over. So the results have been great, though. Like I said, you see it as a business card. When you show up and have your name on the cover, People are like, Oh, I guess I should listen. I guess this guy isn't going to waste my time. Right?

Marshall Atkinson 
Yeah. And so how I write is that there's an outline, just like your English teacher taught you to do, right? There's something, and I kind of have what I want to say. And that's broken down into chunks, otherwise known as chapters, right? And each chapter has, you know, what salient points we are going to be discussing, and those are broken down into 12345. And then I just start with Chapter One with the first point. Write it, you know, and the main thing about writing a book is to get the first draft done. Because the first draft is going to stink. You just have to get your ideas down on paper and out of your head. And then I like to just stick it in a drawer or whatever for, like, a week or so. And then I reread it, and I go, Oh, my God, what was I thinking? And then you start the editing process. And then, if you're smart, you will hire a professional editor to edit it for you. Okay, definitely. Yeah. And so I have a book that's coming up. And, you know, I just got through with that process, and the editor just edited my next book. And now I have to put it all together. So that's the art layout, hook thing, in. So that's the next phase of it—putting it all together. And in the middle of everything you've got going on, all this is happening. So you've got to carve time out for the work, whether it's an hour a week, an hour a day, or whatever you want to commit to it. And then that's done. And you think about a book. Now they're 50 to 80 to 120,000 words, right? So how many words a day can you write and do the math? That's how long it would take us to write it. We're not even all the other parts, right? It takes a good chunk of time. And, of course, your book can only be 30 pages long. And we call it a book. Right. But you know. So you talked yourself into the room and had one pizza delivered? It just kept banging on it, right?

Ryan Schraffenberger 
Yep. Just got focused, went crazy.

Marshall Atkinson 
We're, you're in your stream guy. Right? It's all

Ryan Schraffenberger 
100% Yeah. to a fault. Right. Right.

Marshall Atkinson 
And so since the book was published, you know, once you've written it, it's like your birth, your baby, right? Is there something you forgot to put in or something you wish you had said differently? Or?

Ryan Schraffenberger 
You know, I hadn't thought of anything yet. That has bothered me. Thankfully, I did have an editor. Because I've been kicking myself about a lot of things. Had I not done that. So that's good. Yeah. Right. Right. Well, cool. And

Marshall Atkinson 
Then my last question today is really about how you work. Right? So you know, you're a promotion company, right? So I like to call that handing off the football, right? So you're going to send your PIO, you're going to send your art, and you're going to have the shirts delivered? Or you're doing magnets, pins, cups, or, you know, padfolios, or blankets—whatever you're sourcing, right? Somebody else is going to be handling all that, right? What are your best practice tips for doing that? Because my entire career has been spent. Before I became a consultant, I was running the shops, and there were contract apparel decorators, specifically focused on the promo folks. And I can tell you, there were 18 clients who had everything super-buttoned up. And then there were what we'll just call the other guys who, sometimes they're very problematic, and what they did, and they were always last minute, and their pricing was always wrong, and we never got anything. And it was just, it was just constantly pulling your hair out to the fact that, you know, sometimes these people fired themselves because the shop couldn't take it anymore, right? So what are your best practice tips for outsourcing this stuff? Because I know, probably there's some people right now who are doing that. And not only are you doing that, but you're in an RV traveling all over the United States, right? So you're compounding the issue because you're not just right there. Tomorrow he's in Georgia, Miami, or wherever. Right? So tell us, what's the secret? Yeah,

Ryan Schraffenberger 
I would definitely say the most important thing is artwork. Making sure the artwork is tip-top  all the time. Our artists are really, really good. And we make sure not to send anything that can be screwed up. We have several eyes that look internally before something actually goes out.

Marshall Atkinson 
So that's a proofing process. Yeah,

Ryan Schraffenberger 
It's a big proofing process because I am a firm believer that our customers don't even look at the proofs. They prove them. Like they actually look at

Marshall Atkinson 
them.  So I think you're right with that. So is it like checklist-based, like, look at the size check lists? Get the colors; check misspelled words, Jack, you know, just like you're checking some things off.

Ryan Schraffenberger 
Yeah, we have a checklist. And then there's also three of us that do it. I am one of them. And I'm not the one who sees it. So I go first. But there's way more detailed people that take looks, and then we send them. So when we do partner with somebody, we have that expectation of them, too. And they catch things as well, especially once it gets into production. Whether we're printing a water bottle or, you know, whatever it is, we expect them to stop it too. It's not. That's just as important to us that on press, if something is found if the color feels off, or it just doesn't show up, right, or, you know, this detail got washed out, the expectation is there for that to

Marshall Atkinson 
God, I think it's really important for folks that are selling to understand the production process of what you're doing, whether that's printing a t-shirt or embroidering a polo or whatever, to really know how the thing works. What are the limitations for size and color? How would you color-match? What is it like? What are the guardrails? What's the plan? How far are we going? Right? I've done some really crazy things over my career, right? Where people are really, really, really, really picky about color. And they got other people; they're like any rattle; do we don't care? Right? Yeah. And I think the sales process has to, like, uncover that. Because there's landmines, and either way you go with that, So if you don't really have a process for color, you know, you can step in because that's a brand color. And you know, somebody is going to open up a box and pull something out of the middle, never the top. And they're going to whip out a Pantone book, and either it's going to be right or it's wrong. And then that's the first step into your next nightmare. Yeah,

Ryan Schraffenberger 
and I think the best skill that I ever learned would be, you know, more, even as a business owner, as a salesperson, more important than knowing accounting or finance is doing artwork. I never would have thought that it would be this important in sales and actually delivering a final product. But it is far and away the most important skill I've learned.

Marshall Atkinson 
Well, yeah, it has to pass the eye test. Right? Yeah, like right out of the gate, right? Does it look crooked?

Ryan Schraffenberger 
Yeah.

Marshall Atkinson 
You know, does it look off-center? Is it like you're supposed to be three inches down from the bottom of the neck? And it's five? For some reason, you know, and I think having a really good production partner for this stuff really matters? Oh, it definitely is; anybody who has a detailed process is going to do it. Right. And I think from the get-go, if you're outsourcing work, you should be asking about their defect ratio and their process for quality control on what they do. And you know all that stuff, right? And, you know, I mean, like, you know, I was running a shop; we had a Six Sigma number we were hitting; you know, we measured everything, right? And I think that's, like, the key to really handling this stuff the right way, especially if you're doing stuff by volume, is to understand the processes involved. And where are the light landmines, and like, can we defuse the bomb before it goes off? Yeah. And because they're everywhere, right? It's with colorise was searched out, showing up, and UPS lost something. And you know, you've got a 15-inch piece of artwork, but you have 10 inches of space on the hoodie. So, what are you doing? Yeah, you know, a lot of that comes from sales, but a lot of that comes from just really understanding what you're doing.

Ryan Schraffenberger 
Yeah. What, go ahead.

Marshall Atkinson 
Yeah, I was just going to say, so I was going to ask you, so what is your process with working with a client to outlay the expectations about what is possible? Because I think some people, you know, just have this notion that we just snap our fingers and things happen, but there's a lot of work that's involved. And some of it, we can't do what you're wanting.

Ryan Schraffenberger 
Yeah, it is important to actually lay out the expectations before you get into it. You know, what? Another one of those landmines that you talk about in apparel is Underbase. So when somebody wants, you know, a green shirt, they want a Kelly green shirt. Yeah, you could order that Kelly Green shirt from anywhere, but if they don't put another bass on it, prints are not going to look great. You know, educating the customer is required here. And it's going to cost a little bit more, so sure, you can go buy it from them. You can buy it online, or you can get it shipped overseas; that's fine. But it's going to not have an underbase. And probably one pass, and you're not going to be impressed. So laying out how it's done. And again, everybody that is selling this kind of stuff should probably go through a screen printing class, start watching some videos, and see how the process is actually done. Because if you don't know how it's done, it's really hard to sell it.

Marshall Atkinson 
I'll tell you a funny story. So I usually do shop tours practically every day. Right? A customer comes in. And you know, hey, we'll show your stuff, right? And we're walking around, and the guy goes, Hey, what's that light? What's that light there on the press? I go, Oh, that's the flash unit. So the shirt is the Underbase is printed. And then that isn't really a light. It's a heating element in his gelling the ink. So the other colors could go on top. He's like, Oh, is that the flash charge that I've been paying for all these years? That is funny. Yes, of course it is. Yeah, right. And, you know, so there's, there's

Ryan Schraffenberger 
so many elements and so many landmines within the process. It's not just art. It's not just production. It's everything you mentioned. That's another great one: there's nothing wrong with UPS, FedEx, or USPS. But managing expectations there too is something that we have to do. I think at least three times a week I have an issue.

Marshall Atkinson 
Yeah. Well, here's something: if you're a conch, if you're in the promo, and you're contracting stuff out, here's something that I really want you to pay attention to, right? You're shipping these goods to your decorator, right? And because of the availability of whatever shirt was chosen, you're shipping these from three different warehouses, and they're going to the same place. One of the warehouses is several time zones away. And it's not going to get there until after the event date, but you're too cheap to pay for the overnight freight to get there. And then now it's blamed on the decorator because they can't hit the event date when those 30 mediums don't show up. Right? So this is why I think you should partner with your decorator, really understand when things have to happen and how, and give them the tracking numbers. So they can find that problem. Because every day that goes by, there's another day they can't solve it. Right? And I just think it's people; sometimes they just don't pay attention. I don't know what that is. But yeah, well, it goes.

Ryan Schraffenberger 
down to your values of your company, or how you feel about it, because if your values are customer first, you're going to pay overnight for that several time zones away to make sure it gets there. Yeah, if it's about saving money, if it's about making money in your business, and if it's not about having fun and making your customers happy. You're probably going to disappoint some people.

Marshall Atkinson 
Right? And if you're in promo, and you're in if you've ever said this to a decorator, like, well, I know your price has to be more, but I've already quoted my client. I can't charge them more. Yeah. Okay, well, that your decorator needs to charge you more because there's more work with something. You know, they didn't know that those 1000 shirts are all in polybags and have to come out; they didn't know that the bandanas that you sent have this crazy crease down the middle, and every single one of them has to be ironed before it can be printed. Okay. That's not their fault. You've got to give them a little slack, you know. And so I'm an operations guy, and I've lived that nightmare. So you know, one more

Ryan Schraffenberger 
A tip that I always do is take samples. I love sending samples to customers before we print. And I'm not talking about spec samples; I don't necessarily need to do a printed sample, but sending them a sample of the garment or having the product before we go to print.

Marshall Atkinson 
Suppose a fully decorated item

Ryan Schraffenberger 
It usually depends if it's a huge run, you know, for running 10,000 of something. Sure, I'll send him a fully decorated one that's

Marshall Atkinson 
called an insurance policy. Absolutely.

Ryan Schraffenberger 
But even if it's 72 pieces, I still don't mind sending them a blank sample of the tote bag before we do it. And three times yesterday, I had a customer get the sample and say that wasn't what I was looking for. Like, oh, thank you. Oh, my goodness. You know, that's thousands of dollars or three arguments, whatever it is. Yeah. Avoided.

Marshall Atkinson 
Yeah, I love that. I love that. And so when you're communicating with your vendor, right? Do you follow up? Do you, as your vendor, have a position to follow up? Who's the one that has to be in the communication more?

Ryan Schraffenberger 
We take responsibility for everything. So we are the leaders all around, whether it's our customer, vendor, or whatever. We are the follower-upper; we over-follow up; we've gotten to the point where I think we actually know people.

Marshall Atkinson 
That's good. I would like to follow up on Are you doing vendor scorecards? Where are you rating people on different things?

Ryan Schraffenberger 
Well, like do you mean internally, because so

Marshall Atkinson 
You're using cell after cell to do whatever they're doing for you? Right? So you could have a scorecard for customer service and quality and speed and blah, blah, blah, and intangibles; maybe they offer something that somebody else doesn't. You know, are you rating them and doing that on a quarterly or semi-annual basis?

Ryan Schraffenberger 
We haven't done anything like organize in that way. I definitely focus on looking for partners who, you know, are practicing sustainable processes, but also who want to work with us, who want to grow up with us, and who care about us as much as we care about them. That's just as important to me. Because if they don't have faith in us, then it's that's, and that goes both ways. Right, I think, right?

Marshall Atkinson 
Where do you think this industry is going? Are we heading down more sustainably drilling things? You know, I see a lot of interest in that. But I see a lot of people who just don't care about it. Right. So what are you seeing out there in your RV? Because you talk to probably a gazillion more people than I do. Right? So, what are you seeing?

Ryan Schraffenberger 
I see a little bit of both. But I will say it leans towards people that carry, and that was the push for writing retail responsibly, because I am not the greenest person in the world. I'm not the most eco-friendly person in the world, but I'm sure to try. You know, there are small things that we can adjust to do better. And that's the expectation: just doing little things. And as screen printers or as purchasers through companies, the difference that we can make is way, way more vast than that of the average consumer.

Marshall Atkinson 
Yeah, well, you know, like, you know, Danny Rosen and Robert Five Ash, you know, they coined the term brand, Phil, right, which is, you know, doing a stress ball or something that you know, about a half a second after you give it away at the trade shows going right to the right to the Lyle, right, and why not do something that's going to garner more attention and get more engagement and be more valuable? And then from the apparel side, right? Can we decorate something that it's becomes that clients of the end consumer or whatever, their favorite shirts? Yep. And then you did something for an event or a trade show? Or, you know, whatever. And then they're wearing that out when they go out on a date. That's when, you know, you really hit it, you know?

Ryan Schraffenberger 
Absolutely. You know, we want to be the first bug they grab out of their cupboard, not the one in the back. Right? What's the point of even printing that? What's the point of putting your logo on it? I literally just had that. I mean, I have that conversation almost every day. But I had a bigger level in a conference room yesterday about that. Where we were talking, they wanted the cheapest possible shirt; they're ordering a lot of them. But what's the point? You want them to wear something with your logo on it that is going to just end up at Goodwill or Salvation Army? You want them to wear it again, right?

Marshall Atkinson 
Well, think about this, right? What does your company stand for? You know, so let's just say I'm just picking a brand on thin air, and it will say your Mercedes-Benz, right? Is Mercedes-Benz giving away a, you know, really cheap promotional weight t-shirt with a one-color crappy print on it? What does that say about Mercedes to their customers? Like,  we learn how much we value you, right? Instead of, you know, $115 Polo with a really cool silicone little cool, little tonal, really elegant little piece that you could tell a creative person put a lot of thought into it. Right. You know, I think that says a lot more than just giving it away. And then, when they go to the club, that's what they're wearing. Yep. You know, and yeah, that thing was probably 100 times more expensive than that T-shirt, but they just bought a $200,000 car, right? I think they could be spirits. So I think it's like, What are you? Are you in alignment with what your customer expects? X. Yeah. Right. And I think a lot of, and I've said this before, marketing and advertising decisions cannot be made by somebody in accounting, right? They just don't understand it. People buy emotions; they don't buy on a stat; they'd all buy the cheapest thing. They buy what makes them feel good. 100% Right. And so, what are we offering? That's going to be better? Where are they going to get several uses that show up? Or is it going to just be something that's crammed into a junk drawer, and then five years later, you throw everything out? Because nothing will fit anymore? You can't put one more Chinese menu in that drawer. It's all going to go. Right.

Ryan Schraffenberger 
So along with 100, koozies that are in there, right? Yeah,

Marshall Atkinson 
yeah.  Koozies: I like a good Koozie, but here's the thing: I've been using the same koozie when I drink beer since college. I'm 60 this year. Wow, who's got a lot of exposure, we'll say. years.  This is like one of my favorite things. In fact, I was. I was watching a football game the other day, and I couldn't find my koozie. It was like he thought I lost my favorite baby blanket or something. I was looking all over the house, but I couldn't find it because I've had this thing forever. Right? Yeah, it was like, you know, I'm a guy. I'm a simple dude. Right? There's a couple of things that I really like, and that's one of them. You know? So when I get handed a koozie, I say, Okay, I'm never  using it." Yep. But thanks. Anyway, I appreciate it if I can, and I'll give it away to somebody else, but I might use it, right? Yep. Now I do have spare koozies in my travel cooler for other people. Sure. All right. Well, that might fit into that pocket. I'm not using it. Anyway, alright. So any last words for us on the show today? Yeah,

Ryan Schraffenberger 
sure.  The book is free. So if anybody wants it, you can go to our website promotion page. And there is a link there for us.

Marshall Atkinson 
timed out for two seconds for your connection. Can you say that whole thing over just to make sure I get it clear? Yeah.

Ryan Schraffenberger 
So if anybody is interested in retail responsibly, the book that I wrote last year is available for free at our website, promotions.guy.com. Feel free to go out there and just fill out the quick form. And we will send you a copy at no cost. Or you can download a PDF if you want to be more green.

Marshall Atkinson 
Yeah, great. And so, thanks for sharing your story of success today, Ryan. So if somebody out there wants to get a hold of you, right, what's the best way to contact you? Or maybe figure out how to even work with you?

Ryan Schraffenberger 
Yeah, so you can give me an email, Ryan, at promotionsguide.com, or go to our website and go through that. But yeah, emailing me is as good as a text today.

Marshall Atkinson 
That's good. You don't make people spell your last name because there's

Ryan Schraffenberger 
no I'm not going to try to do that.

Marshall Atkinson 
You know, my name was lacking, which is eight characters for each. Is that 16 characters, and sometimes there's not enough space? Yeah. You know, so a lot of times, I'm Marcia, because they cut the ELLs off. Yeah.

Ryan Schraffenberger 
Yes. 15 In my last name. Yeah. There's a lot in there.

Marshall Atkinson 
All right, Ryan, well, hey, we'll travel safely. They can really appreciate you coming on the show today. Good luck with your book and everything, and keep pounding that sustainability thing on the drum. I think we need more of it. I appreciate that.

Ryan Schraffenberger 
Fully. Thank you for having me.

Marshall Atkinson 
Well, that's our show today. Thanks for listening. And don't forget to subscribe so you can stay up-to-date on the latest Success Stories episodes. Have any suggestions for future guests or topics? Send them my way at marshall@marshallatkinson.com, and we'll see you next time.