PromoKitchen Podcast

Join Mark Graham, co-founder of commonsku and fellow PK chef and long time collaborator, Danny Rosin, co-President of Brand Fuel.

In today’s episode, we take a hard look at one of the most prominent yet controversial tools used to source promotional products today: the RFP (commonly known as the Request for Proposal).

Like them or hate them, RFPs now define how many end clients source promotional products. At their best, RFPs create a level playing field where the best distributor wins the business. At their worst, they serve as a way for end clients to slice distributor margins to the bone. In my nearly 20 years in the industry, I have not run into a distributor that doesn’t have a strong opinion about the RFP, one way or the other.

As RFPs create so much confusion for distributors, we wanted to dedicate this episode to uncovering why RFPs exist and how to manage them effectively. To help us with this, we wanted to talk to someone who has written countless RFPs and counseled end clients on how to negotiate with their vendors.

Please let us introduce Tom Beaty.

Tom is the founder and CEO of Insight Sourcing Group and SpendHQ. His company works across all industries to provide targeted cost optimization and procurement-related services. Their end deliverables are measurable cost reduction and performance improvement. Tom previously worked for Deloitte Consulting and Procurian (now owned by Accenture). His client roster includes Univision, Johnson Controls, LuLuLemon, LPL Financial to name a few.

Needless to say, Tom brings a fabulous perspective for those of us looking to understand how buyers think.

To provide some industry context, Steve Pons, National Sales Director at Staples Canada, joins us to talk about how he approaches RFPs from the distributor perspective. Steve is a long time friend of Mark's and a past contributor to the PromoKitchen blog.

You are all in for quite a treat today!

Join Mark Graham, co-founder of commonsku and fellow PK chef and long time collaborator, Danny Rosin, co-President of Brand Fuel.

In today’s episode, we take a hard look at one of the most prominent yet controversial tools used to source promotional products today: the RFP (commonly known as the Request for Proposal).

Like them or hate them, RFPs now define how many end clients source promotional products. At their best, RFPs create a level playing field where the best distributor wins the business. At their worst, they serve as a way for end clients to slice distributor margins to the bone. In my nearly 20 years in the industry, I have not run into a distributor that doesn’t have a strong opinion about the RFP, one way or the other.

As RFPs create so much confusion for distributors, we wanted to dedicate this episode to uncovering why RFPs exist and how to manage them effectively. To help us with this, we wanted to talk to someone who has written countless RFPs and counseled end clients on how to negotiate with their vendors.

Please let us introduce Tom Beaty.

Tom is the founder and CEO of Insight Sourcing Group and SpendHQ. His company works across all industries to provide targeted cost optimization and procurement-related services. Their end deliverables are measurable cost reduction and performance improvement. Tom previously worked for Deloitte Consulting and Procurian (now owned by Accenture). His client roster includes Univision, Johnson Controls, LuLuLemon, LPL Financial to name a few.

Needless to say, Tom brings a fabulous perspective for those of us looking to understand how buyers think.

To provide some industry context, Steve Pons, National Sales Director at Staples Canada, joins us to talk about how he approaches RFPs from the distributor perspective. Steve is a long time friend of Mark's and a past contributor to the PromoKitchen blog.

You are all in for quite a treat today!

Not sure there are words that could adequately intro what you are about to hear. PromoKitchen Chefs Jason Lucash and Mark Graham roundtable with industry troublemakers Renya Nelson, Chris Ferriter, and Stephen McFadden for this mind-blowing third episode in the Rebel Edition of the PK Podcast.

Listen. Learn. Engage.

Also, a heartfelt thank you to SanMar for their generous financial support of this PromoKitchen Podcast.

Not sure there are words that could adequately intro what you are about to hear. PromoKitchen Chefs Jason Lucash and Mark Graham roundtable with industry troublemakers Renya Nelson, Chris Ferriter, and Stephen McFadden for this mind-blowing third episode in the Rebel Edition of the PK Podcast.

Listen. Learn. Engage.

Also, a heartfelt thank you to SanMar for their generous financial support of this PromoKitchen Podcast.

Mark Graham and Danny Rosin co-host this very special episode.

When we started PromoKitchen in 2011, our mandate was to create an open dialog about the white elephants in our industry. Over the past 100+ episodes of this podcast, we have looked at everything from the incursions of Alibaba and Amazon to supply chain disruption to the changing behaviors of end clients. We pride ourselves on addressing topics that bring people together on challenging issues.

We continue this theme in today’s episode as we discuss one of the darker sides of the human condition: drug and alcohol abuse, and the ways it can wreak havoc on individual lives and as well as those lives around us. In particular, we are going to focus on issues facing the promotional products industry.

We are incredibly honored to welcome Amanda Delaney to the PromoKitchen podcast today. Some listeners may be familiar with Amanda as she worked in the industry as a supplier rep for 15 years. In 2016, she left the industry and checked into rehab after coming to terms with her addiction to drugs and alcohol.

Amanda has been very open about her story and her path to sobriety on her blog www.askmylittlemonster.com. After reading her blog and realizing this was a very personal and sensitive topic, Danny and Mark approached her to see if she was comfortable sharing her story with the PK community. Amanda responded with great interest. Our goal is to shine a light on this difficult, yet important subject matter so we can create greater awareness about drug and alcohol abuse in our industry – and perhaps, help people who are currently struggling with the challenge of addiction.

We included Jason's Isbell's song Traveling Alone as part of our intro and outro music. Isbell has been quite open about his struggles with addiction and we felt this was the right way to complement this episode.

Mark Graham and Danny Rosin co-host this very special episode.

When we started PromoKitchen in 2011, our mandate was to create an open dialog about the white elephants in our industry. Over the past 100+ episodes of this podcast, we have looked at everything from the incursions of Alibaba and Amazon to supply chain disruption to the changing behaviors of end clients. We pride ourselves on addressing topics that bring people together on challenging issues.

We continue this theme in today’s episode as we discuss one of the darker sides of the human condition: drug and alcohol abuse, and the ways it can wreak havoc on individual lives and as well as those lives around us. In particular, we are going to focus on issues facing the promotional products industry.

We are incredibly honored to welcome Amanda Delaney to the PromoKitchen podcast today. Some listeners may be familiar with Amanda as she worked in the industry as a supplier rep for 15 years. In 2016, she left the industry and checked into rehab after coming to terms with her addiction to drugs and alcohol.

Amanda has been very open about her story and her path to sobriety on her blog www.askmylittlemonster.com. After reading her blog and realizing this was a very personal and sensitive topic, Danny and Mark approached her to see if she was comfortable sharing her story with the PK community. Amanda responded with great interest. Our goal is to shine a light on this difficult, yet important subject matter so we can create greater awareness about drug and alcohol abuse in our industry – and perhaps, help people who are currently struggling with the challenge of addiction.

We included Jason's Isbell's song Traveling Alone as part of our intro and outro music. Isbell has been quite open about his struggles with addiction and we felt this was the right way to complement this episode.

In this episode, Mark Graham of commonsku is joined by fellow chefs Dale Denham of Geiger and Bill Petrie of PromoCorner.

For those of who are tuned into industry social media, you have likely seen your feeds dominated by LEAD, PPAI’s Legislative Education and Action Day. Dale and Bill were among the dedicated group of volunteers that took to Capitol Hill to speak to members of Congress about our industry.

We were curious about LEAD and, given that Bill and Dale are prominent chefs, felt there was an opportunity to sit down with them to try and understand more about this initiative, why it matters, what success has come from LEAD and how more people can get involved.

Please be sure to thank our friends and supporters at SanMar for helping us bring you this episode.

In this episode, Mark Graham of commonsku is joined by fellow chefs Dale Denham of Geiger and Bill Petrie of PromoCorner.

For those of who are tuned into industry social media, you have likely seen your feeds dominated by LEAD, PPAI’s Legislative Education and Action Day. Dale and Bill were among the dedicated group of volunteers that took to Capitol Hill to speak to members of Congress about our industry.

We were curious about LEAD and, given that Bill and Dale are prominent chefs, felt there was an opportunity to sit down with them to try and understand more about this initiative, why it matters, what success has come from LEAD and how more people can get involved.

Please be sure to thank our friends and supporters at SanMar for helping us bring you this episode.

In today’s podcast we delve into the world of product safety, why it matters and how we can get people to truly care about it. I must admit that when I first spoke to Tim about doing a product safety podcast, I was concerned about it coming across as dry and boring. After all, everyone knows that product safety is important, but many distributors in our industry often think of the landing the business first vs thinking of the mechanics of the product. After all, isn’t that the supplier’s job?

However, I felt that if anyone could shine a bright light on product safety, and make it interesting and relevant to the average distributor, it was Tim Brown.

Tim Brown is the Executive Director of Operations, at the Quality Certification Alliance (commonly known as QCA). In this role, Tim is responsible for the overall direction and operational oversight of QCA. He is focused on increasing QCA’s visibility both within the supplier/distributor community as well as more broadly outside the industry to ensure QCA remains a responsive organization in terms of educating its participants on issues related to responsible sourcing.

We are also joined by Cliff Quicksell. Cliff has been involved in the promotional products and sportswear industries for the past 33 years. During this tenure, he has been a mainstay on the education circuit at PPAI, ASI and several regional associations. Cliff’s perspective on product safety comes from his supplier and distributor backgrounds, not to mention his many years observing industry trends.

A hearty thank you to our friends at SanMar for their generous support of this episode. Find them on the web at www.sanmar.com

In today’s podcast we delve into the world of product safety, why it matters and how we can get people to truly care about it. I must admit that when I first spoke to Tim about doing a product safety podcast, I was concerned about it coming across as dry and boring. After all, everyone knows that product safety is important, but many distributors in our industry often think of the landing the business first vs thinking of the mechanics of the product. After all, isn’t that the supplier’s job?

However, I felt that if anyone could shine a bright light on product safety, and make it interesting and relevant to the average distributor, it was Tim Brown.

Tim Brown is the Executive Director of Operations, at the Quality Certification Alliance (commonly known as QCA). In this role, Tim is responsible for the overall direction and operational oversight of QCA. He is focused on increasing QCA’s visibility both within the supplier/distributor community as well as more broadly outside the industry to ensure QCA remains a responsive organization in terms of educating its participants on issues related to responsible sourcing.

We are also joined by Cliff Quicksell. Cliff has been involved in the promotional products and sportswear industries for the past 33 years. During this tenure, he has been a mainstay on the education circuit at PPAI, ASI and several regional associations. Cliff’s perspective on product safety comes from his supplier and distributor backgrounds, not to mention his many years observing industry trends.

A hearty thank you to our friends at SanMar for their generous support of this episode. Find them on the web at www.sanmar.com