10 Visionary Ideas Shared at skuconX

The first skucon was held at the now-infamous and aptly named Inspire Theater, a former 7-Eleven turned nightclub and lounge. It was a perfectly imperfect environment because the first skucon speakers to storm the stage were emerging acts themselves: Denise Taschereau, Danny Rosin, Catherine Graham, and Jonathan Isaacson. 

In a few years, skucon expanded beyond the small Inspire Theater to more locations: The Venue on Fremont, a stint at The Virgin Hotel in Chicago, and finally landing at the beautiful and spacious Keep Memory Alive Center in Las Vegas.

In a whirlwind of a near-decade, approximately 150 speakers, most of whom came from within the community, took to the skucon stage to share their struggles, their triumphs, and their vision of what a new industry future should look like. And over 1500 people attended both virtual and in-person skucon events from all over the world, from the far reaches of Australia to the United Kingdom. 

But skuconX, in the words of one attendee, was “the best skucon ever.”

Which is saying a lot because the previous nine skucons all received such high ratings from attendees! But the cool part is: Each skucon takes on a unique vibe, its own distinct energy, and this year was no exception. From the breakout conversations with thought-provoking challenges, to the skucon stories and keynotes, the event was truly a 10X experience. 

So, here are just 10 of the visionary ideas shared at skuconX, direct from the speakers’ stage and straight from the speakers themselves!

(1) “You possess six tools to nurture client retention: Use them strategically!”

Joey Coleman, author and keynote speaker:

“When I was writing my book, Never Lose a Customer Again, I looked at businesses small, medium, and large. Online and offline. Domestic and international. We combed the globe.  And what we found is that somewhere between 20%-70% percent of your new customers are gonna stop doing business with you in the first 100 days. What's even scarier – many of you have no idea what your percentage is. You have no idea who's leaving, when they're leaving, or how quickly they're leaving. Why? Because we spend all of our time focused on the [prospect] side of the graph. [With questions like]: How do we fill the funnel? How do we market? How do we sell? Instead of spending our time on the client side of the graph [the nurturing side].

What do we do after someone's become a client, to treat them in the kind of way that keeps them coming back for more? There are six tools you can use to communicate with your customers in the first hundred days and beyond. In person interactions, emails, mail, phone calls, videos, and gifts, across eight phases of the customer experience.”

Joey then proceeded to break down each step through the eight phases of the client experience. Why is this a bold idea? Because we need to recognize the important of each touchpoint in our clients’ journeys after they’ve said yes to an order! To learn more, you can dig into the details from Joey’s book here. 

(2) “The Marketplace is bigger than the industry.”

Denise Tashereau of Fairware said:

“Our industry has a sort of historical construct: there's suppliers, and there's distributors, and it's served us well, and it's not going to go away, and it's going to continue to serve us well. But it's fairly narrow. And I think it's important for us to really think about the marketplace of branded merchandise and all that's happening. Merch is having its moment right now. It has never been cooler to be in this industry…There's all this awesome merch. Like, literally, I probably haven't seen as much cool merch in the last three years as I've seen in 18 years.”

“Pre-Covid, I spent about three years on an advisory board to Etsy, and it's a custom merchandise platform at its core. And at the start of 2023, they had over 100 million products, they had 7. 5 million makers and they had 95 million buyers. I'll give you a little context: PPAI has about 15,000 members. So are Etsy makers competitors? Are they collaborators? Should we be afraid? Or could we potentially build capacity with those makers in that ecosystem that match our client needs?  Having spoken to a bunch of them and having worked on a project to try and get wholesale ready some of those makers, what I learned was two things. One, what they have is hard for us to find out on the show floor. Two, and more importantly, what we have, our skills, our competencies, and our systems, are desperately needed.  So, we're not going to see them this week on the convention floor, but what if we could? Like, what if we had a broader marketplace that brought some of those makers in?”

(3) “Bring your bold –unedited– self to work.”

Reba Joy with Genumark:

“To know that I don't have to mute myself or edit myself to be at work is huge.  My teammates helped me find my voice in the first place, but now they help me continue to have the confidence to show up as who I am, because of how they lead every day and how they bring themselves to work. [Stephen Musgrave] is the EVP of Sales at Genumark. He continues to bring his goofy, crafty self [to work as a leader] and shows me that I can do the same. When you're bringing that, you're creating this ripple effect, and you're creating this impact on people that you have no clue that you're doing.  I'm not telling you you need to dress up as Doc Brown, or dress in a gorilla costume and interrupt interviews, or even get a group out from skucamp to take over a karaoke bar. Those are my things, like, those are the things that make, bring me joy and delight and that I want to share with others. It's how I want to express myself. 

But what I want you to do is think about, what's that for you? What makes you feel that way? What do you want to share with others?  Because if you're doing that, if you're creating a community where other people don't have to fit in, where these parts of yourself that are so vulnerable and scared don't have to feel scared anymore, they're supported and safe.

Just think about what you can do with that energy that you've been using to build up the armor, build up the facade. Be that person that you think you should be. If you can take that energy and instead put it into collaborating with your teammates and creativity. Then you can really find the full potential of what your company can do … we all have one strange and beautiful life and hard life.  Don't live it for someone else. Don't live it for someone's expectations or what you think would be acceptable. Lead the way you are meant to lead. Lead for yourself and live that life for yourself. Because if you do, you'll be able to create a community that you're proud to be part of. “

(4) “Show your work, it’s where the magic happens!”

In an interview, Kate Hallet with Harper + Scott said: 

“Showing the process is one of your most effective marketing strategies, but no one spends any time really thinking about it. There's expertise that is so needed, and people are hungry for it on the client side. I think you could do a better job just backing yourself and your expertise. I think you should advocate for yourselves and make space for what you do. Because there's really no one internal doing it either. Someone coming to me and showing me the process and the thinking behind the product was something I never heard. But it’s why I joined Harper and Scott because all of a sudden, I saw the process, and when I saw their attention to detail for other brands, It was a game changer. This is all about that process. I saw the sketches that we put into the product, and so often, we don't want people to know how much work goes into the work that we do. We want them to see the final product. And I think that is such a missed opportunity because it is all that magic that happens to get to the final product that is your real value prop. Show your work!”

(5) “Codify your process for your clients and your team!”

Andrea Stoll and the team at Touchstone have a process they’ve codified for their clients they call BrandEQ: 

“We have built out our suite of capabilities [using BrandEQ] because they're all really different. Like, what the product selection is [versus] the user experience [versus] the store experience. We want to make sure that the experience matches the goals and the objectives of the brand all the way down through to fulfillment (even to) SLAs … If you have a customer like All Trails, one of our clients, sustainability and positioning are so important to them. So we're not going to just send out random packaging. It needs to be in recycled mailers with appropriate tape so that it fits. And when the consumer gets it, they're getting something that they would expect from that brand. So we really kind of take it all the way through. And then we have a suite of capabilities and a service and a process related to each of those … It's sort of a living, breathing document. So every time we do a business review with [our customers], we're always going back to their original brand book and saying, what has changed?”

(6) “Lead magnets to attract the right kind of client.”

Kirby Hasseman of Hasseman Marketing talked about owned versus rented media (for example, your own newsletter versus social media) and, more importantly, how to use a lead magnet to attract the right kind of client. 

“The big one for me is to create a lead magnet. Many of you have heard this, but a lead magnet is something that you provide a ton of value for to a target audience, where they're willing to give you that contact information because it solves a problem. So, for the distributors in the room, they might be like, ‘Hey, I focus on the golf space. Here's a PDF checklist of 10 things to make sure that you know about if you're planning a golf outing.’ This is why it's so important to know that perfect customer. When you know that perfect customer, you know exactly how to create the offer. You also know how to create the lead magnet because it solves a problem for that specific customer. You don't need everybody to opt into your newsletter. You want the people that you want to serve to opt into that.”

(7) Brian Duran: Leaders- believe in the doubters.

Brian Duran from Media Tree:

“Everyone here, for the most part, is some sort of leader. You're running teams. There are people in your team at home that are not here, they are doubting themselves … They don't know what they're doing, they're making mistakes, and they're just waiting for you to reach out and give a hand. So, I ask you guys, when you get home, it's going to be a crazy week; maybe on the flight back, you can think about who those people are and how you can impact them. It’s hard to kind of go through this without getting too emotional about it, but, you know, at those times, I always had this idea that, like, worst case scenario, I would kind of cut things off for myself. You know, I would just call it quits. What's the point of living? And it's odd being in this industry because there's so much life and there's so much fun in it.  And it's one of those things that kind of like saved me in a way, right? Like being in this room, being with strangers, getting thrown into things like this. It's exactly what I've always wanted, and I didn't know it existed. I didn't know that, while I was illegally driving at 13 years old, I was driving here. Believe in the doubters.”

(8) Jonathan Isaacson and Jeremy Lott: Everything Automated and Digitized

We asked both Jeremy and Jonatha this question:

“What importance does technology investments that are customer-driven have for you in 2024 and how much emphasis are you putting on customer experience and tech?”

Jeremy Lott with SanMar:

“We look at it as a huge area of investment for us, and I think there are two things we're focused on. One is more customer-facing than the other. But the first is automation within our distribution centers. For us this is probably the biggest single dollar of investment over the next several years, automating our distribution centers. We have a new distribution center in Ashland, Virginia. It will be the first of a kind, fully automated DC. I think the second piece is that we recognize, in terms of friction, how hard it is to find a product, buy a product, decorate a product, and ship a product. Organizationally, we're really focused on how we make that easier for people.” 

Jonathan Isaacson with Gemline:

“For us, we look at this business, and one of our big goals is digitization, but that means we're going to digitize everything. I think that we're at an inflection point in the industry where the old processes that were analog are going to go away. And you can't just say, I'm going to do a digital process on the floor. From the front end all the way through, everything has to be digitized. Part of the problem is technology, and part of the problem is change management … but changes in technology are going to allow us to do things that we couldn't do before. And we are shoveling money into the furnace of IT like never before. Because this is a do-or-die from the way that we see it.  I think you'll see a very different supplier community over time because if you can't invest in IT you won’t get to a certain point, it's a survival thing, you won't be able to survive … it's going to be a huge change — for everybody.”

(9) Isaac Hetzroni: Hook w/ the 1st 3-seconds

Isaac Hetzroni with Imprint Genius shared an example from TikTok where he engages with thousands of followers.

“The most important part of your video is your first three seconds. No one wants to learn about HS codes … but if you talk about a big brand that all you guys know about, like Yeti, that’s the hook. I'm teasing [by starting with] Here are the true costs of a Yeti Tumblr. Then I have a sub hook, pulling people in more. I'm gonna show you guys the manufacturer behind all these major brands. Now there are two reasons why people are gonna go and watch the remainder of the video. Then, through the middle of the video, I'm adding value, I'm showing that I'm an expert in this space. I'm showing that I know my stuff on this costing. All with quick cuts, keep it fast. Show the costing, show the factory. And then, at the end, throw in a couple of little things. Like, comment what you want to see next. That helps with the algorithm. Get a bunch of comments, show engagement. And then, a quick sell. And if you need help sourcing anything, I'm the sourcing guy. And you might think, Oh Isaac, why'd you give away one of your best factories? Well, the amount of clients that that video is going to bring by getting almost a million views outweighs the few people that maybe would have ordered some water bottles for me… So, as you can see, nearly 100 percent of people watched the first two seconds. Then, over 50 percent watched through to the end. And about 30 percent went through replays. If you can get a retention graph like this, you will know your video will be successful, so keep on making videos, look at the insights, and that should be able to be a good indicator if you're following the right system!”

(10) Danny Rosin: To Earn More, Sell Right

“Back in the day, we sold things to make money. Today, we're selling creatively and strategically, and therefore we're making more money. Consider this for your future:  Your client wants to give a gift to their customer. If you know that the client's customer value, the lifetime value of that customer, is 150,000 in gross profit margin, then we've got to rethink selling the $.99. C-handle mug. That's the kind of thing that ends up in the back of the cabinet or in the garage sale, it’s 0% ROI and 100% brandfill.  We've got to focus on tools that deliver quantifiable ROI to customers… back in the day, the sales archetype was the relationship builder. Today, it's the challenger. This is a mouthful, but in the future, the most successful sales archetype will be a mix. It'll be a mix of digitally literate and data-driven, highly empathetic, ethical storytellers who understand fashion trends and deliver value through consultative selling.”

How about you? What were your favorite tips and bold visionary ideas you picked up from skuconx, we’d love to know!

And if you missed skucon this year, no worries, we got you: Join us at skucamp in September for more visionary ideas from radical thinkers and bold strategists!