GABE GOTAY
Hello everyone, welcome to this bonus episode of Promo Perspectives. This is a companion piece to the full episode we just did with Jessica Del Rio and Halayne Tiberius, talking about mastering trade shows for business growth. I’m joined today by Ryan Hanchey. Ryan, can you go ahead and introduce yourself?
RYAN HANCHEY
Sure, hello Gabe. Thank you for having me. My name is Ryan Hanchey. I’m the Director of Distributor Sales at SAGE. I’ve been here since 2010, so going on 15 years, and I love trade shows. So, I’m excited to talk to you about this topic.
GABE GOTAY
Yeah, you know, we had – with Jessica and Halayne – they’re on the kind of more organizational side of trade shows, and then they run some of the SAGE technology side of things when we go. But you come from more of a sales world. So, before we even really dive in, can you just give me a little bit of your background with trade shows, either here at SAGE or anywhere else before?
RYAN HANCHEY
Sure. Yeah, so I had never worked at a trade show prior to joining SAGE. And when I started, there were about eight of us on the sales team, so we traveled to a lot of shows. I hit the ground running. My first show I went to was in Chicago, and it it was not quite what I expected, but it was a lot of fun. So, for us at trade shows, we’re wanting to connect with new distributors and new potential customers, but also just to be able to put a face with the name and shake hands with people that we’ve spoken to for years. It’s such a big benefit. And then depending upon the show, we might have a big release right before that. Suppliers similarly, they might have a new product line that they’re releasing at like a big show or something. So, we all kind of have the same objective in regards to that. So, yeah, shows are shows are fun. The networking events are fun, and I’m sure we’ll get into some of that. But overall, yeah, it’s just it’s a business development event.
GABE GOTAY
Yeah, and it’s cool to get to work in, I mean, I know all industries have some side of this, but it’s good to get to work on the side of the field where you get to have these business reasons to go on these trips and experience all these things. So, I’m going to kind of run through some of the things that Jessica and Helaina talked about. You might end up reiterating some of the things, which will kind of help help cement them in the minds of our audience, but also get some of your own perspective on them. So, when we kicked off the show, Jessica kind of explained to us the difference between national shows and regional shows and virtual events and webinars, and she kind of talked about some of the benefits of the national and the regional associations. Is there anything that springs to mind you have on that?
RYAN HANCHEY
Yeah, I mean, a lot. I’ve done a lot of regional shows, and while they’re smaller, and this varies region to region, some of the regionals are so well organized and just really good relationships within the regionals. And prior to to us starting, I was I was thinking about that. I was thinking about the different types of shows there are, and I think people overlook regionals sometimes because they might be afraid that they’re going to be in there with their competitors. But I think for the seasoned distributors, they really understand that there’s enough business out there for everybody, and a rising tide raises all ships. And if we can all work together to better our our regions and build relationships amongst it with with multi-line reps or local suppliers, it can really help. And something I’ve seen at some of those regional events, which I think are really cool, is I’ve seen distributors work together with a multi-line rep or a supplier to go in on an order together to work on the price point, for example. So, um, you know, I’ve I’ve seen and been a part of a regional event where there is a show and then there’s like a lunch lunch component, which is which is pretty frequent.
And that happens at a lot of these events. Um, and at the table, I’ve seen conversations like that develop. And um, you know, I think that’s really cool. And you’re not going to get that by not attending that event. So, I don’t know, I like regionals because there’s just such good relationships there, and uh, people are eager to introduce me to other people, which I really like.
And then on a national level, I mean, you just get to meet people you wouldn’t normally meet and meet suppliers you wouldn’t normally meet. And I always think it’s interesting at a really large show how some distributors go there to only see people they currently do business with. And then you talk to people that go around and they’re like, “I’m going to meet people I’ve never met before.” And while both strategies serve their purpose, I just, if you’re going to go to a show where there’s a lot of suppliers that you’ve never met, why wouldn’t you go see what they have to offer?
GABE GOTAY
Absolutely, like, you know, there’s something to be said about face time. But if you already know a person, you can connect with them over email or Zoom at any point. If this is an opportunity to meet new people, you should take advantage of it.
RYAN HANCHEY
Yeah, and see new product lines for sure. And and and if anything, solidify for yourself that you’re working with the best supplier. You know, um, and I don’t know if this is the time to get into this, but it’s also shocking to me how people will only go to regional shows and not go to larger shows. And there’s so many ancillary benefits outside of just seeing new products and meeting new suppliers. It’s the education these shows that go on. Um, and it’s not just education over you know, software and SAGE and things like that. It’s education on like how to upsell apparel, for example, and how to um, you know, what comes to mind is uh Cliff Quicksell was doing a session, and he was talking about selling these high-end sport coats to this executive.
And this wasn’t in the plans, but he had gone and bought some really good quality hangers and had them laser engraved with this executive’s signature. And the hanger is what sold the sport coat because the guy was so enamored by this fancy hanger. And I don’t remember what he what the price point was for the hanger, but he added that as an add-on to the sport coat and like significantly increased his profit margin. Um, he had a bunch of really cool stories along those lines and really out-of-the-box thinking that again, you’re not going to get by not speaking to other distributors or speaking to other industry experts. And you get that at these shows. And so, I can’t recommend enough to show up to those shows early and attend those education sessions.
GABE GOTAY
That is great advice. And something that kind of touches on when we were talking about before the shows, like you’ve picked out the shows you’re going to go to. What can you do to prepare for them? And one of the biggest things we talked about were all of these kind of extracurricular events, the education sessions, the networking luncheons, and happy hours, the golf tournaments. Can you kind of touch a little bit more on, you were already talking about the importance of those, um, and then if you have any really memorable experiences from those kinds of things that you’d like to share?
RYAN HANCHEY
I mean, I have a ton of memories, but most recently, I went to NALC this year, which I had never been to. And it was a lot of education, which was great. They had some really awesome speakers um at the NALC event, which is through PPAI for those listening. If you’ve never heard of NALC, it’s the North American Leadership Conference. And it’s it’s a awesome. It is so many big names within the industry were there. Um, but then the speakers were phenomenal. But my best, my favorite part was the networking. So, like we did a dinner round one night, and I sat with people I’ve never met before that have been in this industry for a long time. Um, and I sat with people that I have known for 10 plus years, but I’ve never really connected with them. It’s just always been very much like we shake hands and you know, we’ve been a part of a group before. Uh, but I built some relationships at that event several months ago that I was not expecting to have built. And we’ve kept up since then.
And so, you know, I love that. I think the networking is one of the best parts of trade shows. And I mean, I’ll keep going if you don’t mind. Like at Expo this year, uh, there was a breakfast that I took part in, and we stood around at a cocktail table eating breakfast burritos, uh, two distributors myself and a supplier, and just had such a great conversation. And it it always it, I’ve never been to a networking event where everyone going there knows they’re at a networking event. So, it’s not awkward to just walk up and insert yourself into a conversation.
And I love listening to distributors, especially share ideas and bounce ideas off of how they handle certain situations, and everyone can learn from everyone. So, those are my favorite parts. And I bet, you know, for those of you that are listening that have done something like I’m talking about, you’re probably nodding your head going, “Yeah, I agree with that.” And for those of you that have never been a part of something like that, I can’t encourage you enough to take part in the networking events that happen at trade shows.
Even at smaller shows, there’s usually some sort of happy hour afterwards or a lunch or something. And I know that a lot of people will go, “I’m just going to go get on my computer back in my hotel room or wherever, and I’m going to respond to emails.” But you will make and have some of the best conversations and aha moments by attending those networking events. And I just I can’t, I can’t stress that enough. It’s been it’s been such a blessing for me. Just for me hearing stories that I can go retell to other people. Um, it’s such a benefit, such a benefit.
GABE GOTAY
Something interesting you kind of touched on there that we didn’t really talk about in the main episode is the balance of your day-to-day work with trade shows. ‘Cause we’re busy people in this industry. How do you kind of reconcile those two worlds where you’ve got all this stuff that you’ve got to take care of in your day-to-day, but now you’re going to be spending two to three days traveling, networking, and working a show floor?
RYAN HANCHEY
Yeah, I think you just have to accept that you’re going to be exhausted. But that’s fun. I mean, that’s fun. And especially if you’re doing it with other people, that makes it more fun. Like especially if you have the benefit of traveling with a coworker or another distributor or supplier that you get along well with, it’s fun to be exhausted together. You really feel like you accomplished something. But some things that I’ve seen people do, which I personally don’t do, but I think it’s a really great idea, is share what you’re doing on your social media channels.
So, you know, I follow a lot of distributors and suppliers on LinkedIn, especially. And I love it. Like at Expo, for example, I love the selfie videos that they post of the entrance and how they’re telling their customers that they’re out there looking for new product and whatever, like on their half. And then asking for feedback from their customers. I think you can leverage that.
If you’re going to be attending some sort of exclusive networking or exclusive industry event, tell your top customers you’re going. See if they are looking for something. It’s a great, an easy excuse for another touch point on your customers and an easy way to connect to them through social. Is let them know what you’re doing, so they understand why you’re out. But also, you might gain some intelligence about a future event that they have that you can actually be on the lookout for. So, yeah, just that’s a very long answer. But I think be be exhausted, wake up early and work, stay up late and work. And yeah, that makes it fun.
GABE GOTAY
Absolutely. So, talking about the customer and the client side of things. So, some of these trade shows are end-user friendly, some of them aren’t. And that’s going to kind of change your strategy a bit. But when you are talking, when you and the other, you know, distributor advisers are talking to these distributors, do you give them any particular advice for the actual show floor and preparing, like for creating walk lists or coming up with suppliers they know they want to visit or kinds of products they know they want to look for?
RYAN HANCHEY
Yeah, 100%. Um, definitely creating a game plan, seeing what suppliers are there. Um, you know, everyone thinks like, “I’ll just show up, and I’ll get all my questions that I have in my head answered.” But no, it doesn’t work out for any of us. Like, we need to go in with a plan. If you’re looking for particular products, don’t think you’re just going to remember it. Like, write it down. Have an agenda. But utilizing things like SAGE Mobile to develop a walk list prior to going to a large show, especially, is invaluable because you can walk in with the game plan and make sure you accomplish everything you want to accomplish. But you can also track everything within that tool.
So, you know, we joke around a lot here about like when I first started in 2010, almost every show, people were carrying suitcases like they had some sort of wagon. It was like the apocalypse where they were just like carrying all their belongings along with them. Um, because they were just grabbing everything they could. Everyone was carrying padfolios and taking all these notes. And it’s it’s fun to see the progression of it going more digital because it’s so much more efficient. Not to mention, you don’t have to worry about shipping everything back or carrying things home on an airplane from a trade show if you traveled to it. Um, but putting together a walk list in advance of a show is is is definitely great.
And along with that, it’s understanding the networking events. Making sure that if there’s some sort of paid component to it, like I’ve been to shows where there’s like a dinner cruise or something like I did that one time in Vancouver. And it was unbelievable. Like, so glad we did that. Um, but we went out on a boat and had dinner, and it was a networking event. And yes, it cost money, but it was amazing. Like, I can picture right now the Olympic torch on the on the water uh from that event. Um, so yeah, I mean, plan for it and and utilize those tools and then track things while you’re there.
And something else I encourage people to do also, especially when dealing with new suppliers, is ask them, like, “You’re not going to get it unless you ask.” So, ask them what it takes to to get special pricing. What would it take to get EQP with we like, what’s the what’s the threshold I have to get? And just in asking that, they might say, “You know what, you’ve never ordered from us before,” and extend you some sort of offer. So, you know, I think that’s something that’s probably overlooked as well. Um, it’s challenging the suppliers, I think, asking suppliers what their top product was last year and why, you know.
From my experience in in talking to distributors, they want suppliers to give them all of this information, and then they don’t ask for it if they don’t get it. And I think that’s, you know, no ask, ask this. And put yourself in the supplier’s shoes. If you’re exhibiting at a show, it’s a it’s a lot, like a lot of times, there’s a lot of people you’re trying to touch as many people as you can. You’re trying to get, you know, they’re trying to get leads uh for themselves. And you know, they rush it sometimes too. So, I think if you go in with a mindset of of, “I’m going to get the most out of these conversations as I can,” you know, run that conversation, set yourself up with some questions you know you want to ask, and ask for a deal.
GABE GOTAY
That’s great. So, that’s great for planning ahead of time and then making the most of it while you’re there. How do you follow through on that after the show and get the most out of your experience, both with following up from the networking events, following through on things you learned at education, and then following through on the discussions you had on the actual show floor?
RYAN HANCHEY
I mean, that’s a really great question, and I don’t know if I have the best, I mean, I can obviously say some advice on it, but that’s hard. I mean, we all, we all do that. We all go somewhere, we get inspired, we want to take action. Then we get back, and we don’t actually do it. So, I think it’s just a matter of when you leave, before you leave to go to whatever event, put time on your calendar to consolidate and look through everything that you accomplished. And then prioritize what you want to what you want to do. I mean, I think that’s, I think that’s big. I’m a big fan from a networking perspective of um, when I meet people, I go connect with them on LinkedIn. And I think that’s a good call to action for myself because um, once they’ve accepted that, well, first of all, it makes me keep a list and know. And I’ll go connect with these people. But then when they accept my connection on LinkedIn, for example, I get notified. So, then it prompts me to actually remember what that connection was about um and reach out to them, which I think is is is big.
Something else that I really like is when you’re at, especially if you’re using SAGE tools and using our presentation publisher, for example, take pictures in the booth of products that you could use in the presentation. So, in our presentation publisher, you can have more than one picture of every product listed. So, why not have a live photo? Like say that you’re looking at apparel and the sales rep for the supplier is wearing the polo you want to show to your customer. Take a picture, ask them first, you know, and don’t make it like a a creepy picture from the backside, and they’re like looking over their shoulder like, “What’s happening?” But ask them, “Can I take a picture of this?” And try to get good quality photos that you can use in your marketing efforts and in presentations. Uh, you can do the same thing with video and share those videos with your customers directly. So, I think, you know, going in with a, yeah, “I’m trying to learn some information, but also capture some marketing um images and content that you can use,” I think is something that’s that’s also overlooked.
GABE GOTAY
That’s awesome. So, before I move on to kind of the lightning round of more fun personal experience questions, we’ve kind of covered the before, during, and after the show. Is there anything that came to mind that you feel like you didn’t have a chance to talk about there?
RYAN HANCHEY
Um, no, you just said, you know, the the fun stories, and immediately, I’m like, “Well, I’m not sharing any of my favorite memories.” But uh, no, I don’t know. I just I can’t encourage people enough to go to shows. Make time to go to a national show. It’s also like, I’m, and when I say that, I’m really thinking about Expo and PPAI. It’s my favorite time of year because it’s so motivating. It’s just, it’s my favorite part. Like, we all go, we get exhausted, you know, for us here at SAGE, we have education days before the show. We have breakfasts. We have the full show day. And then immediately networking all night. And then that kind of turns into team building. And you know, there’s there’s little sleep. But you come back so motivated from all the conversations. So, and and and I have many great relationships with distributors and suppliers alike. And we all have the same feelings on it. Like, if you can make it there, you need to go because it’s such a great way to start off your year. I I can’t say that enough.
GABE GOTAY
Love it. All right, so let’s move on to some of the more personal, fun tips, tricks, and the memories you’re willing to share. Uh, so as far as memories, you’ve already kind of mentioned a few, like the cruise dinner, um, your experience at NALC. Are there any other really memorable kind of set pieces or events that stick out to you?
RYAN HANCHEY
Well, I don’t know necessarily who our audience is right now. If it’s suppliers or distributors that are going to be listening, I I would imagine it’s mostly distributors. But um, whenever you first said that, you know, there’s there’s you have to set up your booth as an exhibitor, and often times that’s a giant pain. You know, I’m sure some of you that are listening to this have been to a trade show as a distributor and you see an empty booth or you see someone standing there and they don’t have any material set up, and they’re just trying to make do with paper handouts. But you know, you have to ship things, and then you have to set it up. And you hope it all shows up on time. And we’ve all experienced, obviously as a distributor, you’ve experienced things that are out of your control – where product just doesn’t make it because of whatever shipping issues. Um, and those have been some just some really good memories of setup day when it’s very stressful.
It’s funny how some of the best memories are usually when things like when there’s a little bit of chaos involved. Um, or chaos in the form of probably overserving yourself or being overserved. Um, but I don’t know, I just I think about some of the the conversations I’ve had with with people that I’ve known for years and years and years. And you meet them in person, and you’re like, “Wow, you’re way different than I thought.” You know, um, but like my favorite things, and this is a lot of people on our team can attest to it, is just the relationships that we’ve built where when a distributor walks up and there like, Greg Cox on our team, and many of you listening may know Greg Cox. He’s been here for like 21 years. And he just shared a story with me last week, which I asked him to tell our entire team about, of a call that he got from someone the other day.
And they said, “Greg, I still remember you pulling me out of an aisle. I think it was in Atlantic City, like 15 years ago.” And I don’t even remember what the show type was. But they they quoted Greg as to saying, “Do you sell apparel?” And they said, “No, we don’t want to touch that stuff.” And he said, “Well, I think you’re missing out.” And she said, “Flash forward to today, her daughter runs their apparel division, and it’s like 55% of the revenue that they bring in every year.” And she attributed that um, at least getting them started to Greg, you know, who sells software and websites and all that, you know, uh, for SAGE. But I I love those types of stories where people come up and and share um, you know, how we have helped impact them.
Um, you know, other memories. I always go back to Expo because that’s just such a such an amazing experience, but also just a complete whip. But you know, they do really cool events there. Like, you know, two out of the last three years, the Power of Two Party was at um, what is it, Allegiant, is it Allegiant Stadium…
GABE GOTAY
the Raiders uh Stadium?
RYAN HANCHEY
Yeah, where the Raiders play. Um, which was incredible. Like, it was so cool. And I would never go, I doubt I would ever go to like a Raiders game or go to that Stadium if not for that show. Um, and at that particular show, two guys on our team, uh, after you know, being there for a little while, they allowed us onto the field. And they decided they wanted to do a 40-yard dash race. And uh, at the Finish Line, one of the guys fell and ate it. Uh, it was Blake Bozeman, by the way, um, if anybody knows him. And when he calls my cell phone, the we videoed it. Uh, the picture that pops up is him laying like seal, he like seal-dived onto his chest across the Finish Line at Raiders Stadium. Um, so love that memory.
GABE GOTAY
I’m going to need photos and videos of that, please.
RYAN HANCHEY
If you have not, I’m surprised you haven’t seen it. I’ll show it to you as soon as we’re done here. Um, but yeah, other than that, I don’t know. I’ve got there’s just a lot of great stories. I remember going to Toronto one year, first time I’ve ever been to to Canada. And it was like 13 degrees Fahrenheit and windy. And I was so unprepared for that. And I remember stepping out, I had black slacks on, and I remember stepping out of the hotel, and that wind hitting me. And I had never experienced anything like that before. Meanwhile, there were people out jogging with like face masks on, like full-blown masks. They looked like they were going to go scuba diving. Um, but that was cool.
So, you also just get to experience a lot of, you know, a lot of different places. And like, for me, before starting at SAGE, I had not really traveled anywhere. And traveling for trade shows took me to a lot of places, so.
GABE GOTAY
That’s been one of my favorite parts of the experience too, just the ability to travel ’cause it was also at SAGE, the first time I got to start doing that.
So, before we wrap up here, because you’ve done a really great job of sharing both really practical and actionable experience with distributors and cool stories, do you have any general travel tips, like for instance, the one I gave uh on the main episode was that it’s so easy to get pre-check. And if you travel enough, it’s just ridiculous not to have it. Do you have any travel tips?
RYAN HANCHEY
Yeah, 100%. That for sure. Always ask for a late checkout at a hotel. If you’re going to a desert climate and you’re not from a desert climate, I everyone on my team, I’m like, “You have to buy a travel humidifier.” It is totally reshaped. I’m going back to Expo because we’re there for such a long time, and I’m just not used to that dry desert air. And it destroys me. And probably six years ago, uh, someone told me about it. And I got a travel humidifier. You just put it in a cup or a bottle of water, and it humidifies your room. And I just put it right next to me when I sleep and I have no issues, like my lips aren’t chapped, my knuckles aren’t dry. So, travel humidifier 100%.
Make dinner reservations in advance depending upon where you’re going and you know what time of year and all of that. Especially if you’re going to a city that you don’t go to very often, like go someplace cool. Invite other people with you.
Um, and then yeah, just, you know, in terms of other travel tips, I guess that’s pretty much where I’m at. Hand sanitizer, you know, you’ll be shaking a lot of hands likely. And some of them, you’re going to go “ew”. So, if you have a little bit of hand sanitizer to spray on afterwards, uh, do that. But yeah, travel humidifier is probably my biggest game-changer.
GABE GOTAY
That’s a great tip. I’ve never even heard of those. So, that was a good tip for me.
RYAN HANCHEY
There you go.
GABE GOTAY
And it’s the kind of thing that you can only get through experience. ‘Cause I know my go-to travel stuff. I had to learn the hard way what I had to have in my backpack, like what allergy medicines I needed depending on if I was going somewhere, carrying around liquid IVand hydration stuff.
RYAN HANCHEY
And and also, if you are depending upon the size of the trade show you’re going to, for whatever reason, maybe it’s just a bandwidth issue, but I feel like your battery always dies a lot faster. Um, so bring some sort of portable charger. I think it’s a good idea too.
GABE GOTAY
Well, that is awesome. Thank you, Ryan, so much for sitting down with me today, giving some great tips, some great stories, and some great advice. Uh, it was a pleasure to have you on the podcast.
RYAN HANCHEY
My pleasure, Gabe. Thank you for having me.