Acquisition costs are up, ad costs are up, and retention is a core focus of 2026 and beyond for distributors. On Darn Good Distributors, host Kyler Nixon brings on friend of the show and business partner Jeff Felten from Forward Studios to talk about going deeper inside your existing house file and getting second, third, fourth, and fifth orders from customers you already acquired.

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They focus on warm, consent based email lists that sit in tools like MailChimp, HubSpot, or Klaviyo and walk through three ways distributors are using email to drive retention in 2026. Jeff explains why segmenting customers as inside the buying window or outside the buying window lines up with real B2B buying behavior, how to match the right message to the right person at the right time, and why simple text based emails that feel like they came from another person can quadruple conversion rates. If retention, LTV, and AOV are front of mind, this practical conversation keeps your brand top of mind for business buyers.

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👤 Guest Bio

Jeff Felten is a friend of the show and business partner to Kyler Nixon. Together they run Forward Studios, where they help distributors leverage email marketing to improve retention, increase LTV, and increase AOV. Jeff works in the weeds with clients on warm, consent based email lists and practical campaigns so distributors can capture more high intent buyers and drive second, third, fourth, and fifth orders from customers who already purchased.

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📌 What We Cover

• Cold email versus warm, consent based email and why this conversation is only about the list you already own
• Why standard demographic segmentation by vertical, job title, or engagement delivers an incomplete picture of B2B buying behavior
• Segmenting customers as inside the buying window or outside the buying window based on real buying signals and behavior
• How to hit customers inside the buying window with product recommendations, category recommendations, direct promotions, and clear brand positioning that help them move faster
• Nurturing customers outside the buying window with helpful tools, resources, blog posts, PDFs, checklists, finder tools, and off season examples like golf courses in Wisconsin
• The piggy bank picture of email marketing, balancing deposits of nurture content with moments when it is time to sell
• Why business buyers tune out flashy, heavily designed promos that feel like ads and respond to short text based emails that look like person to person messages
• Key metrics for email driven retention like revenue per recipient, revenue per campaign, conversion rate, AOV, and how stronger email can lift organic and direct revenue

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🔗 Resources Mentioned

• Forward Studios
• Kyler Nixon on LinkedIn
• Jeff Felten on LinkedIn
• MailChimp
• HubSpot
• Klaviyo