Bonus Episode: SAGE Mobile at The PPAI Expo

Amanda Carpenter

Amanda Carpenter

Senior Customer Experience Manager

Gabe Gotay

Gabe Gotay

Senior Marketing Coordinator

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GABE GOTAY

Good afternoon, everybody, and welcome to Promo Perspectives, a podcast presented by SAGE, dedicated to giving promotional products suppliers and distributors tips and tricks on how to grow their insights.

On our live episode this month, we sat down with some members from PPAI to talk about the planning and execution of the PPAI Expo in January 2025.

Today, I am joined by Amanda Carpenter, SAGE’s very own Senior Customer Experience Manager. Hi Amanda!

AMANDA CARPENTER

Hi!

GABE GOTAY

And today we’re going to be talking about how you can use SAGE Mobile to plan your time at the show, be at the show, and then follow up with your leads after the show.

Welcome to the podcast. 

AMANDA CARPENTER

Thanks for having me. Happy to be here.

GABE GOTAY

Why don’t we kick off by telling the audience a little bit about what you do here at SAGE?

AMANDA CARPENTER

Yeah, so I am the Customer Experience Manager here at SAGE, and that is a brand new department. We are really gearing up to really make sure we’re doing a lot of education, making sure that we have the right resources available for, um, y’all distributors out there. So just really trying to make sure that we are giving all the information, um, for all of our great modules that our customers have access to.

GABE GOTAY

And how long have you been with SAGE?

AMANDA CARPENTER

I have been with SAGE for ten and a half years.

GABE GOTAY

Wow. And you’ve been to the Expo a handful of times?

AMANDA CARPENTER

Yes, this will be my tenth one.

GABE GOTAY

So as we had talked about on the last episode, um, there’s a lot of stuff you can do in SAGE Mobile to help you get ready for the show and it can be a little overwhelming. I know, Amanda, you’re going to be doing a more in-depth demo and walk-through next month.

AMANDA CARPENTER

Yes, uh, the beginning of December, I will be doing a full training on what to expect, uh, with SAGE Mobile at Expo and then the tips and tricks when you get home from the Expo as well. So we will have you covered from start to finish, uh, with all your SAGE Mobile and Expo needs.

GABE GOTAY

And we have all kinds of cool technology these days to help us with our day-to-day work. You know, I was talking to some of our guests before we did the podcast, and they were talking about how their office building was so old they still have a gigantic mailroom, but that’s been replaced by email. What was it like to try to be successful at one of these shows before we had things like SAGE Mobile and like what were the challenges with that?

AMANDA CARPENTER

Well, you know, I think you still have some of the challenges now because you have people that are creatures of habit, right? And so I am one of those people who are, um, in the routine and don’t really like to change things. So kind of imagine if you’ve been in the industry, and there are a lot of people that have been in the industry for 20 plus years. So having someone break those older habits of pen and paper notepads, having your show floor map and all of that is going to be really just something in itself to try and overcome. Now, a lot of people love it and have gotten on board with it, but you still have some of those that are going to hang on to those pieces.

But I think mobile makes it so much easier for before planning your execution, who do you want to see, what do you want to do? And I mean, if you write all that down on a notepad and then take it with you, what if you forget it on the airplane or what if you lose it somewhere? I am, I am keen on always being someone who forgets something or leaves something somewhere. So that would be a pitfall for me is not having that. And so SAGE Mobile makes it easy where you can be prepared before and really have all that information before you even step foot, um, on the show floor.

GABE GOTAY

Yeah, most of our audience is obviously going to be Total Access members, but not everybody. Um, can people who are not SAGE Total Access members still use SAGE Mobile for the show?

AMANDA CARPENTER

That’s a great question, and that is something that I think a lot of people, uh, think is a misconception, that you don’t have access to it. And, uh, that is something I want to make sure that y’all know you have access to SAGE Mobile whether you are a Total Access and PPAI member. Obviously, we encourage you to be a member because there’s so many other great benefits with it, but you don’t have to be a full PPAI and SAGE member to be able to use SAGE Mobile at the actual trade show. But it will make your life a lot easier when you get back with all those additional components that you would have access to if you were a full member.

GABE GOTAY

Well, of course, we do want people to be members. Uh, shameless plug, shameless plug on the SAGE-branded podcast.

Uh, well, okay, so now let’s dive into the software a little bit. In audience today, what we’re going to do is we’re going to talk about the app for all portions of the Expo: from beforehand, during, and after. So Amanda, what can attendees do ahead of time before the Expo on SAGE Mobile to get ready for the show?

AMANDA CARPENTER

Yeah, so we talked about kind of planning in what you want to achieve and execute when you’re at the show. So first and foremost, if you’re looking for education options, definitely get into SAGE Mobile and go to the PPAI Expo area, and there is a schedule option within there. You can see networking events, you can see all the education that will be available on education day and then also, of course, during the actual show days, um, because there are multiple days at the Expo. So that’s going to be first and foremost. Learning is key. You got to come away from it with new things and feeling like, okay, I have a game plan with what I’m trying to achieve when you’re there. So having that piece education-wise and then networking, finding those new relationships with suppliers, other people in the industry, we all learn a lot better when we are brainstorming and collaborating together. So that’s my first thing is kind of figure out your education piece.

Second piece is you are going to have your favorite suppliers that you want to visit. So make sure you know where they’re at on the show floor. Come up with a game plan of who you want to see. You can create a walk list whether you’re doing it in SAGE Mobile or for all of you that are full members, uh, you can also do that within SAGE Online and SAGE Web now as well. So having that piece already ready to go of knowing who do I want to see, where are they located on the show floor? So you have a game plan. If you just go blind, if you’ve never been to that show, holy moly, you’re going to be blown away. So if you don’t put in that effort before to really set yourself up for success, um, I think you’re going to leave a little bit disappointed. So putting in a little bit of effort at the beginning of figuring out who are our suppliers, what do we want to do while we’re there, is really going to be a game-changer for you when you’re there and then when you are done with the show as well.

GABE GOTAY

Absolutely, and I think it ties into like you said, being prepared ahead of time. Know what you want out of the Expo. Is it self-promo? Do you have specific projects coming up? Because that’ll allow you to pick from the distributors and the products on the list and then build that plan.

Is there anything they should be doing with the app itself before the show?

AMANDA CARPENTER

Yes, 100%. So first and foremost, uh, sound silly, make sure you know your login information. So you want to make sure that you have the app already downloaded, have the show downloaded before you get there. If y’all have never been to Expo, uh, Wi-Fi is not always fantastic. So make sure that you are ready with all that information already set because then you’re not going to drain the battery with all that you can actually turn your cell phone settings and actually go in airplane mode, um, you don’t need to be talking to anybody while you’re there anyways, you’re going to be mingling and finding all your great products. So, um, you can save that battery life so you don’t have to be connected to Wi-Fi. So do that piece before, download, have your show, um, already accessible within there. And then make sure that you have access to your walk list that you have created in SAGE Online or SAGE Web previously.

GABE GOTAY

And I think this is a great way to kind of transition into using the app on the show floor itself once you get to Vegas because maybe there’s a little more housekeeping things you should do with the app when you get there.

AMANDA CARPENTER

There yes, so first and foremost, it’s also going to make your life easier when you do have the app downloaded for check-in. So you will actually be able to pull up your mobile app and go up to the check-in and the badge pickup and just instantly scan that badge. So that’ll make your life easier as well, not having to have a print-out or anything like that again. Why have a ton of papers that are just going to be rustling around? I am always one to again lose that information. So having it accessible right on your phone is going to be super easy.

And then before the show floor even opens, take advantage of that product pavilion. And you know, you can scan all the different suppliers and the products and everything like that. So you’re going to be glued to your phone when you’re on the show floor. Um, I typically don’t like being that person. I know a lot of people, uh, do their grocery list and things like that on the phone. I personally don’t like that because I don’t like walking around with the phone up, but here’s your exception and your your past to be able to have your phone out for the entire time again. It’s going to make your life a lot easier by taking pictures, scanning, and typing in item numbers and everything like that. So that way, when y’all get back, you have all that information ready at your fingertips, and you’re not having to filter through, okay, what page of paper was that on? Oh, shoot, I forgot to write down who the supplier is. Well, we all know suppliers have similar item numbers, sometimes the same item numbers. So it’s just going to save the distributors a lot of headaches once they get back by scanning, taking pictures, and all of that when they are on the show floor.

GABE GOTAY

So besides just the show floor, you kind of mentioned that when you were planning things ahead of time to take a look at the other events and education and networking opportunities that were surrounding the show floor. And yes, hopefully, they’ve done that ahead of time, but how can they use SAGE Mobile while they’re at the show to kind of navigate those things?

AMANDA CARPENTER

Yeah, so you’ll be able to go into the tradeshow area again, whether or not you are a full SAGE member or not. You will have access to all the networking, all the education schedules. And so by going into the mobile app and going to the schedule area, you’ll be able to see when you have the networking events for the Young Emerging Markets or the Women’s Networking and things like that. So you’ll be able to see all of that. And we all know that things change. So another benefit of using the mobile app is, let’s say a networking event changes location, that will update within the app. So you’ll have that information versus if you had that written down. You’re not going to know that maybe it moved from, you know, the left side of the trade show floor to the right side. And who wants to do that long walk, um, because you didn’t know that the location or maybe the time changed, um, on an education or a networking event or something like that or even a booth placement. 

GABE GOTAY

I can’t, and maybe this just shows my age, I can’t imagine trying to navigate the show with just pen and paper. 

AMANDA CARPENTER

No, I mean, I, I still have a hard time the first couple years of trying to remember how do I get to the SAGE Booth. So I mean, the show floor is so big, and you have different entrances and everything like that. So being able to know, hey, where are you located on the show floor? Open up your mobile app, and actually click on the show floor, and you’ll be able to see if you have Bluetooth turned on. Oh, look here, I am right here. I’m next to, um, you know, XYZ supplier. And I want to go all the way over to the left. So then you can kind of come up with your idea of, hey, is there anyone else who’s right around here centrally located before I then head to the other direction of the trade show. So that’s another great piece is being able to see maybe you don’t have suppliers on your walk list, but you want to see, hey, who else is around here. Those are great pieces to be able to utilize that component as well. 

GABE GOTAY

And I, I know people will see this in action, um, again next month at your Academy webinar, but that’s something that’s really, it’s not just like a static map of the floor. It shows you where you are just based on some of the technology that we use on the physical show floor itself that your phone connects to via Bluetooth to show you where you are and what you’ve visited and what’s left to visit on your walk list, which is just really cool stuff. Can’t do that with a fold-out map. 

AMANDA CARPENTER

No, and you also can’t, if you’re looking for, let’s say you have a customer who has an event in February, and you know, hey, it’s golf-related, but you don’t know specific golf products. You can actually do a search within there and see, okay, who’s at the trade show who offers these specific products, and now you can find them on the show floor. You can’t do that with a map. You just have to know who the suppliers are.

GABE GOTAY

Can you talk a little bit about some of the note-taking capabilities within SAGE Mobile because that’s going to tie into some of our tips later for after the show?

AMANDA CARPENTER

Yeah, so we kind of talk about everything from beginning to end, right? So in education, you can take notes. Um, we also encourage whether it’s a PPAI education session or SAGE, you can give feedback. So make sure you’re giving feedback as well. If there’s a session, maybe you want more information on, we can then try and do that next year of really gearing towards, hey, we got this feedback. So that kind of compiles a little bit with, uh, the notes area as well. Or let’s say you are in a store session for education, and you’re thinking, hey, this would be really good for XYZ of my customers. So that way, you can actually go back after the show and again, go back to your mobile device and just type in with your notes, stores, and then it’ll pull up your notes, and then you’ll be able to see, oh yeah, I made a note that this would be a great opportunity for two of my customers, or, you know, a networking event. Maybe you got a cool product, you took a picture, you made notes there. So lots of great ways that you can take notes at education and then really on the show floor. That’s where it’s really going to come in handy. 

So you can scan suppliers. Suppliers will all have QR codes within their booth if they are a SAGE supplier. So that is a huge benefit because you can scan them. It’ll instantly pull up their supplier profile within the trade show. You can take pictures of the products. You can type in item numbers into the notes. And then when you’re done with all of that, you can actually hit just a button that says export and email all of that together. So if you scanned, this is on the the small side, let’s say 50 suppliers, you’re most of the time going to have a lot more than that, but if you have 50 suppliers that you have notes and pictures and all of that, you can easily just export that information. You then have it in Excel, and you’ll have a link. You’ll have the ITA numbers if you typed that in as notes. And now you can create content when you get back that you can then share with, uh, customers as well. So another great way of utilizing the time that you’re spending there, being out of the office, and having that, you know, payoff when you get back. 

GABE GOTAY

And that’s really where I think it gets exciting for the follow-up stuff, um, and we’ll get in a second before we move on. Just one thing I kind of want to point out to people. If you’re there on the show floor and you have questions about SAGE Mobile, we have resources to answer those questions there, right?

AMANDA CARPENTER

Yeah, so I always recommend go to the SAGE Booth. Um, we’ll always be there. We’re also going to have a Mobile kiosk. So we’ll be able to help answer questions there, uh, my biggest, uh, kind of suggestion when it comes to also being prepared, we can help with SAGE Mobile questions, reset logins, and everything like that. We cannot help with if you do not know your app login. So if you do not know your Google Play or your app store for Apple, you got to make sure you, you have that before you get there.

‘Cause unfortunately, we can’t, we can’t help reset with that information. So that’s normally one of the biggest obstacles. Sometimes you’ll get to the App Store to go to download it, and then it’s oh no, I don’t know my login information. And then we’re kind of stuck because we can’t help with that piece. We can only help with the SAGE Mobile piece, and we’re happy to do that, but we don’t want to leave you hanging, um, if you don’t know your login information for Google Play or App Store.

GABE GOTAY

Oh, and like you said, the spotty connections out there can make it so you can’t even get that far. So make sure the app’s at least installed before you get there, and then we can help you get logged in as long as it’s installed. 

AMANDA CARPENTER

As long as it’s installed, we got your back with everything else.

GABE GOTAY

So back to what you were talking about just a second ago, after the show. And I think some of these features might only be for Total Access subscribers, not for non-customers, but talk a little bit about how you can use the notes and pictures that you took, not just to remind yourself for these clients, like say your golf client or things like that, but how you can actually work them into your marketing efforts for those clients?

AMANDA CARPENTER

Yes, so you are right. You, you have to be a SAGE Total Access member. And so with that, if you are not, you can still export the information. We’re not going to hold your data of captive or anything like that. But you’re just not going to have the marketing tools within SAGE to make your life a little bit easier. So if you are not a SAGE member, you can still export the Excel and have all of that. But when it comes to SAGE, you can create flip catalogs with the information. You can create presentations that you can then send out to your customers. And if you have a Professional or a Plus website with us, you can even create showrooms to highlight your favorite products that you’ve seen at the show and really get that buzz for 2025 of popular, new, inspiring products. You want to highlight for customers. So lots of cool things yet you can do, and it just makes it so much easier because you can copy and paste that information and plug it right into SAGE and tag tag tag and then create all three of those options probably under 15 minutes.   

GABE GOTAY

And I think that’s where the real ROI is, right? And we’ll have a handful of episodes this month talking about the Expo from some different perspectives, but this is going to be the most common thread is the importance of follow-up. The show itself is great. It’s fun to be in Vegas. It’s great to see all these products for yourself, and the education and the networking are unrivaled in terms of their effectiveness. But none of it means anything if you’re not doing something with it after the show.

AMANDA CARPENTER

Yeah, I think you’re 100% right. It’s, it’s like you go to the gym. I can go to the gym, but if I don’t keep, keep a routine with it, then it’s like, what’s the point in doing that? So going to this large show, you want to come back and really set yourself up for success for 2025. So you’re out there for typically, most people are there for four days from education and then the show, four days, uh, with it being open. So what are you getting out of the time that you’ve put in once you get back? And you are right. You really need to take that time and really make it have that full value. And we try and make it easy to be able to do that once you get home ’cause we all know you’re exhausted once you get back from Vegas. It is, I always say the best/worst week of my life. I would never want to miss it. I didn’t go one year, and I regretted it every single time, um, but it’s one of those things. It’s a lot of fun, but you got to make sure the fun and the time that you’re putting in make it useful for the rest of the year for sure.

GABE GOTAY

Well, and I would love to get some of your insights on just the personal side and the logistics of being in Las Vegas. And before we move on to that though, is there anything else that you want to say about SAGE Mobile?

AMANDA CARPENTER

No, I would just say if you’re not familiar with it, definitely take a look at it because it’s something that is such a great resource. And really, SAGE, we try and partner with all of our distributors and suppliers to make it easy and accessible for all of our customers. If you have any questions, we’re only a phone call away. If you want to make sure that you’re set up for success before you get there, so don’t hesitate to call your advisor. Make sure you’re set up for success before you get there. And it’s going to be a great show, um, I’m excited for it. And I can’t believe we’re already at 2025. Almost two months, you know, we’re not even two months away. A month and a half. It’s the year’s gone by crazy. 

GABE GOTAY

It’s going to be a lot of fun. And like you mentioned, there’s also those SAGE Mobile kiosks. I’m pretty sure that’s where I’m going to be in Vegas. I got a little sneak peek at our schedule. So if you, uh, want to come say hi, that’s where I’m going to be, uh, but so you said you’ve been to a handful of these things already, uh, I’d love to hear some of your experiences from there and maybe any tips that you have based on those experiences.

AMANDA CARPENTER

Yeah, so if you’ve never been to Vegas, uh, super dry there. So drink lots and lots of water. Uh, PPAI normally always has great refillable water bottles for you. So make sure that you swing by their booth, um, and get a water bottle, uh, if you don’t, you will regret it. Um, water is just so key there with the dry, the dryness there. Shoes, um, yes, I’m a lady, and I love my shoes, but it’s all about comfort, um, and something that I’ve really learned over the past couple years is two different pairs of shoes that way you have different pressure points that are being hit. So it’s all about you’re putting in the time, but making sure you’re not miserable while you’re doing it, um, and then of course, have fun. Like it is Vegas. So make sure you’re networking, go out, have fun with other distributors and suppliers. And I love this industry. I’m lucky that I stumbled into it pretty quick out of college. And we have such a great community. And this is the best time to really celebrate with our community as well. So take advantage of all the networking opportunities for sure.

GABE GOTAY

Besides, uh, shoes, is there anything that is like your secret weapon or your must-have in your backpack that you make sure you pack with you?

AMANDA CARPENTER

I was going to say water. Such a big, I am one of those like I am, I probably walk down to one of the water refill stations at least four or five times a day. I am not somebody who wants to go to the convenience little markets and pay $8 for a bottle of water. 

GABE GOTAY

Conservatively.

AMANDA CARPENTER

No way, not happening with me. Eight, not happening. So that’s something I always have is, um, a nice full bottle of water no matter where I’m going. And then, you know, time does get away from you. So definitely bring some snacks with you too. There are lots of great food suppliers there, but you don’t necessarily always have the ability to hit those suppliers. So make sure you have a protein bar or something so you stay fueled so you don’t get tired, um, when you’re going through. But I think the two pairs of shoes will also definitely help as you’re walking around, um, and doing all of that. 

GABE GOTAY

And that’s just two pairs of shoes for the show floor.

AMANDA CARPENTER

Oh yeah, we’re just talking about the show floor.

GABE GOTAY

Let alone for comfort or for going out afterwards.

Yes, so comfy shoes are definitely going to be a key contender to make sure that you are doing good. And if you are bringing new shoes, I wouldn’t recommend it, but if you do, make sure you also bring Band-Aids and have those in your backpack because you will have blisters if you’re bringing brand new shoes.

GABE GOTAY

Oh, well, Amanda, thank you so much for your tips and your advice and for that dive into SAGE Mobile, um, like we talked about on, I think it’s the first week of December, uh, on Wednesday of that week, you’re going to be doing one of our SAGE Academy webinars, and she is going to be diving way deeper into all of these things. She’s going to physically have her phone out, be going through the app, show you how to get into all of these things. So if anything you heard today piques your interest, make sure you head to SAGEworld.com and go to our resources page to register for that webinar, um, make sure you’re subscribed to the podcast. If you’re not already, again, this is just one of the great bonus episodes we have, and it’s going to help you make the most out of your experience at Expo. So thanks so much for sitting down with us, Amanda.

AMANDA CARPENTER

Yeah, thank you for having me. Happy to be here.

GABE GOTAY

All right, everybody. We’ll see you in Vegas.