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– It’s not just raising prices,

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but how do we introduce
things like limited

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edition specials?

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How, how can we introduce
things that feel more valuable

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and are more valuable so that
we can charge a a premium?

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All right, Nick Flint,
the buzz for right now

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and likely the foreseeable future is

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what do we do about the tariff madness

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that’s impacting our industry?

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And so wanted to have you on here

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so we could talk briefly
about what are some ways

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that we can mitigate risk,
that we can protect profits

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so we can cut costs so that
we can still find opportunity

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for growth and opportunity

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to thrive even in this climate.

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And so let’s dive in. But
first of all, how’s it going?

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By the way,

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– I’m doing pretty good over here.

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Really starting to dial in
with some of our clients

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and the strategies that they
have with these new changes

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and what they might see
in their price structure,

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differences in the future.

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– Great. Well, email’s gonna
play a big part of this.

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So Nick is our, our director of email.

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And I think now is the
time we lean into the tried

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and true, right?

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Doing more for our customers,
leaning into them more.

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Email is one of the, the
most guaranteed returns

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and the lowest cost to execute on.

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So now is the time for emails.

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We’ll lean into some tips there,

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but ultimately what we’re
looking for right now

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and whatever brand wants is
how do I protect profits?

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How do I continue to grow?
How do I protect profits?

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And I think ultimately
the first thing, Nick,

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that we gotta look at is how
can you increase prices and

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or increase profit per order

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without tanking conversion rates, right?

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Without killing conversions.

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’cause not just as simple as raising

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rates through the roof, right?

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Raising prices through the roof

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because then people will stop buying.

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And so let’s talk

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through some suggestions
here on, on what we can do.

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So, so raising prices.

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One thing to keep in mind, Nick,

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and you know, we’ve been talking to a lot

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of our, our bigger clients.

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I’ve had 10 to 15 calls recently.

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We’ve been texting,
messaging, you know, talking

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to clients frequently.

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And so one thing I’m hearing
a lot from bigger brands is,

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Nick, they’re just gonna raise prices.

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They’re just gonna raise
them, have not heard fully,

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you know, what, what percentage
kinda lift that’s gonna be

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that that’s gonna be brand by brand,

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it’s gonna be depending on
the category, depending on

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how much room the brand thinks, they have

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to still remain competitive.

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Depends on the strength
of the brand as well.

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But also a lot of people are
just gonna raise prices, right?

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And so I think you gotta look at that

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and whether that’s a 5%,
10%, maybe a 20% increase,

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it’s gotta be on the table

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and you gotta be talking about it.

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One of the other things
that we’re looking at is

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how do we maybe bundle things

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and come with creative offers
so that we can raise the a OV

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and and like the raise
the profit per order.

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So what, what are your thoughts
on both of those items?

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What are you hearing? What are you seeing?

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– What’s, what’s funny
is a lot of the stuff

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that we’re looking at, you
should be doing this year round,

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but it’s really top of
mind right now. Like

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– Yeah,
– What does it come down to?

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Charging the right amount and
then cutting your costs across

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the business when possible

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and trying to run a lean
operation so you stay profitable.

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And it really comes to the
forefront where you’re starting

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to look at every dollar, every statement,

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every transaction coming through.

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Yep. So some of the
easiest low hanging fruit

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that they can be doing
right now to help raise

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that average order value, not
give away too much margin.

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’cause if you can not
discount your products

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and extra 10%, that kind of combats

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that 10% extra that you’re paying Yes.

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Over on your, your cost of
goods coming across the seeds.

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So off the bat,

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one thing we’ve been
shifting is the initial,

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just the popup offers on the site

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and the intro, instead of
going with like a standard,

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you know, 10, 20% off your first order,

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we’re putting a minimum
threshold in there now.

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So, you know, $10 off any order

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of $50 plus if they’re gonna
spend 70, 80, 90 bucks,

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that $10 is gonna stay the same

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and not gonna be that fixed
percentage versus 20% off

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of your $90 order.

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It’s eight bucks that the brand saves.

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– Yeah, I love that. So,
you know, one, one of the,

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the best tools we have
to grow our email list

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and grow our email marketing is the,

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is the popup in the offer.

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But nows may be a time to, to be less

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liberal with your, your discount.

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So make that a flat dollar amount

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so it doesn’t scale to infinity.

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Also, maybe just raising the

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threshold for when that kicks in.

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So yeah, we’re, we’re
going to limit that, right?

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I think the other thing to
think about is, is, you know,

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how do we bundle products to, to,

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and create some interesting
pricing there where we’re,

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we’re still getting more profit
per transaction even while

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maybe our, our cost structure,
our cogs have gone up.

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So I think that’s an
interesting one to look at.

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And it’s something
you’ve talked about Nick,

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and we, we’ve seen this
with brands like Nike

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and others, is it’s not
just raising prices,

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but how do we introduce
things like limited

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edition specials?

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How, how can we introduce
things that feel more valuable

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and are more valuable
so that we can charge a,

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a premium? So what, what
are your thoughts on that

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– For these limited edition items?

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It works for whatever level you’re at.

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That, that’s one kind of really unique

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thing about this strategy.

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If you’re selling a $10 cup,

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launching a limited edition
collab with someone,

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or even like a new colorway,
you’re just doing 200 of,

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you can now sell that
for 15 instead of 10.

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Same thing on like the sneakers.

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Just like you talk
about, you know, instead

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of $150 via sneakers,
you’re now going for 180

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’cause it’s a limited edition release.

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So if you can find some kind
of way to implement scarcity

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with a new product, launch a new variant,

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we have a coffee brand doing this,

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they’re leaning into
more select roasts from

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around the world and they’re
really putting the emphasis on

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the Costa Rican farmers
who are making these beans.

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And that’s why it’s slightly more per bag,

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but the quality’s there
and people appreciate it.

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And you also see people start
to splurge on some stuff like

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that, you know, when they’re starting

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to look at their own bank
accounts a little bit tighter,

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you know, I’m not gonna go
buy a new car right now,

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but you know what, I’ll
spend 15 for bank coffee.

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Might not my coffee. Yeah,
totally. It’s every morning then.

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Really good.

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– Yeah, it’s a really good thought that,

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that even when the consumer
is, is pinched a little bit,

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even when the consumer
confidence is low, it’s not

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that they stop buying, right?

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We still, we all, we love to buy things.

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It’s our favorite recreation, you know,

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retail therapy is a real thing,
will always be a real thing.

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But yeah, how can you lean into
something where, hey, okay,

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may, maybe I’m trading
down in other categories,

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but I’m trading up in your category and

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and that’s what you want
to try to, to create there.

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So yeah, I I really wanna
underscore, you know,

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this is not a time to cut
growth costs, I believe, right?

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And, and this is, we were talking
about this in our morning,

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Monday morning meeting today,
Nick, where you know, David,

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David Ogilvy, legendary
ad guy, the the guy

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behind Dove stoke and
man in a halfway shirt

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and Rolls Royce and a number of others.

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He talked about, man, I I view advertising

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as an essential part of every product,

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just like I would an essential,

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an essential ingredient
or central component.

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And just when times get
tough, I’m not gonna cut,

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I’m not gonna cut the tires
outta my Rolls Royce, you know,

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because times are tough.

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I I’ve gotta, I’ve gotta invest in that.

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And same is true for marketing.

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We don’t wanna pull back on marketing

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otherwise we’ll lose market share

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otherwise we’ll, we’ll create
a death spiral potentially.

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And so lean into marketing,

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maybe you wanna lean into it
in a more efficient manner.

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Maybe you raise your mirror,
things like that, but don’t

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but your advertising and growth budgets.

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But on the topic of cost cutting, Nick,

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I think this is a real thing, right?

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We’ve gotta look at how can we get lean?

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How can we be lean and mean right now?

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So what are some suggestions there?

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What have, what have
you heard from others?

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What tips do you have?

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– Especially on the SMS side of things,

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we’re getting really tight with

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who we’re sending to right now.

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You might have a 20,000 per
SM person SMS list with,

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you know, 10 k those being engaged

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and the other 10 k is like,

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you’re hopeful they’ll purchase one day,

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they’ve been hanging around forever

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and you will send them those texts

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for the big launches or product drops.

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But now we want to tighten up that window

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so those SMS sends are to
your more guaranteed segment,

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keep the revenue coming in from them

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and then as things start to normalize,

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then breach back out into
that broader audience

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that you were looking at before, kind of

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that hopeful window you’re
spending some extra money on.

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– Yeah, I love it. And you know, one

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of the other things we’re,
we’re leaning into, you know,

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we do a lot with obviously
Amazon ads and Google ads

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and YouTube and things like
that is, you know, there,

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there are times when,
when things are smooth

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and easy where, where maybe you kind of

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ignore some wasted ad spend, right?

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Where maybe there’s some
keywords that are not gonna

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performing with an Amazon
ads with Google ads,

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but when times are good,
you kinda let that slide.

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We audit, you know, dozens
of accounts every month

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and we regularly see, you
know, wasted ad spend in the 10

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to 15 to $20,000 a month
range, meaning you could cut

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that ad spend and sales would not dip.

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Now’s the time to be
looking at stuff like that.

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So don’t cut your overall ad
budget, but man, cut the waste.

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And so I think that’s
something you wanna lean

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into and look at right now.

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You know, one of the basic
things we do all, all the time

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as an agency, Nick, is we
at least quarterly and,

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and now I’d say you
probably do this monthly,

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look at all your recurring expenses.

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What, what are, what are we paying for?

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What tools, what softwares,
what are we paying

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for that we’re not using?

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And we see this a lot where
maybe you’re like, oh wait,

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we’re paying for three multi-touch
attribution tools, right?

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We’re paying for these two tools

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and those reporting, we don’t,

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we don’t need all that, right?

242
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And so what can we cut
to get lean and mean?

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00:09:32,760 –> 00:09:35,370
Because really I think right
now we’re kind of fighting

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00:09:35,370 –> 00:09:37,260
and scrapping for every point, every point

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of profit that we can get.

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00:09:38,850 –> 00:09:42,900
And so looking to cut expenses,
cut software costs, cut,

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cut opex, things like that.

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00:09:44,670 –> 00:09:45,930
What are the tips or insights you have

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00:09:45,930 –> 00:09:47,305
on, on cost cutting? Nick,

250
00:09:47,305 –> 00:09:49,020
– It is funny for that.

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00:09:49,020 –> 00:09:51,630
That’s one thing I don’t
recommend automating it is going

252
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over your p and l.

253
00:09:53,040 –> 00:09:55,470
Yeah. Like, yeah, QuickBooks
could automate for you

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00:09:55,470 –> 00:09:57,360
and shove into the different categories,

255
00:09:57,360 –> 00:10:00,690
but even for my own personal
finances on Sundays, I sit down

256
00:10:00,690 –> 00:10:02,520
and I go look at every line item.

257
00:10:02,520 –> 00:10:05,040
And if I have a, a late fee for my gym,

258
00:10:05,040 –> 00:10:07,710
’cause I missed a class, I
punch myself in the arm for

259
00:10:07,710 –> 00:10:10,470
that $15 feed. I they hit you with

260
00:10:10,470 –> 00:10:12,240
– Your wife’s like Nick pushups right now.

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00:10:14,010 –> 00:10:15,720
– They, they get you
with those cancellations.

262
00:10:15,720 –> 00:10:19,950
But looking at like cost
cutting as a whole, get aligned

263
00:10:19,950 –> 00:10:22,590
with your inventory forecasting,

264
00:10:22,590 –> 00:10:26,400
sit on the extra inventory
might have been a nice safe play

265
00:10:26,400 –> 00:10:27,870
and good to have in the future.

266
00:10:27,870 –> 00:10:29,730
And what if sales just
spike up outta nowhere?

267
00:10:29,730 –> 00:10:31,500
Then I have the inventory for it.

268
00:10:31,500 –> 00:10:33,660
But really start to figure
out how much you are selling

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through on a 30, 60 day basis.

270
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How much you need to be ordering

271
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so you’re not running out of product.

272
00:10:39,480 –> 00:10:40,920
And then start saving some costs.

273
00:10:40,920 –> 00:10:42,720
’cause you don’t have a bunch
of debt inventory sitting

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00:10:42,720 –> 00:10:45,180
there in some kind of three pl

275
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– Love it man.

276
00:10:46,180 –> 00:10:47,880
And this is also the time of
you looking at your three pl.

277
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How can we cut costs there?
How can we renegotiate?

278
00:10:50,550 –> 00:10:52,170
How can we lower shipping costs?

279
00:10:52,170 –> 00:10:54,390
Obviously talking to your
factory, to your, your factory,

280
00:10:54,390 –> 00:10:56,100
to the manufacturers you work with.

281
00:10:56,100 –> 00:10:57,510
How can we extend terms,

282
00:10:57,510 –> 00:10:59,910
how can we maybe share in
some of the price increases?

283
00:10:59,910 –> 00:11:02,040
So get creative there and,

284
00:11:02,040 –> 00:11:03,810
and really just look for any way

285
00:11:03,810 –> 00:11:05,760
that you can save and partner.

286
00:11:05,760 –> 00:11:08,070
Really nothing should be off the table

287
00:11:08,070 –> 00:11:12,360
because every point of
margin matters at this point.

288
00:11:12,360 –> 00:11:14,100
And, and you know, another,
another thing we recommend on

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00:11:14,100 –> 00:11:15,780
the, on the Amazon side,
we got a couple services we

290
00:11:15,780 –> 00:11:17,400
recommend where they will go

291
00:11:17,400 –> 00:11:19,680
and help you recover fees from Amazon

292
00:11:19,680 –> 00:11:21,600
because there’s probably
some fees you’ve been charged

293
00:11:21,600 –> 00:11:24,690
that you can get a refund
on for a variety of reasons.

294
00:11:24,690 –> 00:11:29,550
But often that amounts to 1000,
5,000, $10,000 a month type

295
00:11:29,550 –> 00:11:33,270
of thing in, in recouped fees.

296
00:11:33,270 –> 00:11:36,450
So now is the time to look at
everything like that as well.

297
00:11:36,450 –> 00:11:40,230
Try to save as much as you can without

298
00:11:41,070 –> 00:11:42,990
reducing product quality

299
00:11:42,990 –> 00:11:46,650
and without taking your
foot off the gas pedal

300
00:11:46,650 –> 00:11:48,900
because you want to still
be gaining market share

301
00:11:48,900 –> 00:11:51,300
and growing through this time.

302
00:11:51,300 –> 00:11:53,470
Now another thing we, we
talked about Nick, as you know,

303
00:11:53,470 –> 00:11:56,050
hey, now’s the time to
lean into email marketing.

304
00:11:56,050 –> 00:11:57,970
So what are some creative things we can do

305
00:11:57,970 –> 00:12:00,400
to make our email marketing
better that’s going

306
00:12:00,400 –> 00:12:03,910
to lift sales, lift profits.
What can we do right now?

307
00:12:03,910 –> 00:12:06,640
– I really like leaning
into the brand’s tone

308
00:12:06,640 –> 00:12:08,140
and the brand’s voice.

309
00:12:08,140 –> 00:12:09,430
And just remember that you’re talking

310
00:12:09,430 –> 00:12:13,180
to other people on the other
side of this transaction email

311
00:12:13,180 –> 00:12:15,370
or SMSI can see a lot of brands kind

312
00:12:15,370 –> 00:12:18,880
of just sending out this
one way informational bit.

313
00:12:18,880 –> 00:12:22,300
One account I was auditing
earlier today, a text,

314
00:12:22,300 –> 00:12:25,180
it was just super scientific, followed

315
00:12:25,180 –> 00:12:27,490
by read the blog post here.

316
00:12:27,490 –> 00:12:29,590
I’m like, do you think
your customers really want

317
00:12:29,590 –> 00:12:31,960
to get this text and will
it make them feel special

318
00:12:31,960 –> 00:12:33,160
like that the blog post?

319
00:12:33,160 –> 00:12:36,250
Like, come on, figure out
a new way to phrase that

320
00:12:36,250 –> 00:12:39,670
and relate to your customers
and work on your tone.

321
00:12:39,670 –> 00:12:42,070
You know, general population
probably a little bit stressed

322
00:12:42,070 –> 00:12:43,390
out now as well.

323
00:12:43,390 –> 00:12:44,530
So connect

324
00:12:44,530 –> 00:12:47,440
with them on a personal level
that’ll make them feel more

325
00:12:47,440 –> 00:12:49,000
connected to your brand.

326
00:12:49,000 –> 00:12:50,530
And a great way to do
this is just, you know,

327
00:12:50,530 –> 00:12:53,620
asking questions and having a
real conversation with them.

328
00:12:53,620 –> 00:12:58,000
Especially if it’s your top a
hundred, 300, 500 customers.

329
00:12:58,000 –> 00:13:00,580
I always recommend sending
out a question type email

330
00:13:00,580 –> 00:13:03,970
campaign to get those replies
to help with deliverability

331
00:13:03,970 –> 00:13:06,460
and to boost your results in the future.

332
00:13:06,460 –> 00:13:09,040
But for now, if you don’t
have like the customer service

333
00:13:09,040 –> 00:13:11,560
backend to deal with a
thousand replies, start

334
00:13:11,560 –> 00:13:13,180
with your top a hundred, 300 customers

335
00:13:13,180 –> 00:13:15,220
and figure out what
question you wanna ask them

336
00:13:15,220 –> 00:13:17,140
and actually relate to
them and have that back

337
00:13:17,140 –> 00:13:18,460
and forth conversation.

338
00:13:18,460 –> 00:13:20,170
And it’s more likely could
get you some referrals in the

339
00:13:20,170 –> 00:13:21,520
future when they send people your

340
00:13:22,695 –> 00:13:23,695
– Way’s.

341
00:13:23,695 –> 00:13:24,528
Really great. And you know, one

342
00:13:24,528 –> 00:13:26,650
of the other things I’ll mention
an idea that we actually,

343
00:13:26,650 –> 00:13:29,440
we did this a couple years
ago for another client

344
00:13:29,440 –> 00:13:32,020
where they were about
to raise their prices.

345
00:13:32,020 –> 00:13:34,450
They had not raised
prices in quite some time

346
00:13:34,450 –> 00:13:36,190
and so they emailed their entire list.

347
00:13:36,190 –> 00:13:37,390
I think they started with our VIPs

348
00:13:37,390 –> 00:13:39,040
and then they emailed
everybody, but they said, Hey,

349
00:13:40,120 –> 00:13:43,060
you know, we’re raising our
prices on this date, here’s why.

350
00:13:43,060 –> 00:13:44,710
And I, and I think it’s another way

351
00:13:44,710 –> 00:13:47,140
where email gives you the,
the freedom to do this.

352
00:13:47,140 –> 00:13:50,200
You just explain this to your
customers that hey, our cost

353
00:13:50,200 –> 00:13:52,210
of goods are going up 50% right now,

354
00:13:52,210 –> 00:13:54,610
so we’re not raising our prices 50%,

355
00:13:54,610 –> 00:13:57,430
we’re raising our prices 10%
or whatever the case may be.

356
00:13:57,430 –> 00:14:00,100
But here’s why we have
to do a price increase.

357
00:14:00,100 –> 00:14:02,230
We just, we have to, right?

358
00:14:02,230 –> 00:14:03,610
But here’s what we wanna do for you

359
00:14:03,610 –> 00:14:07,210
because you’re a valued
customer locking in the existing

360
00:14:07,210 –> 00:14:09,670
price through this date.

361
00:14:09,670 –> 00:14:11,290
And what’s interesting about that is it,

362
00:14:11,290 –> 00:14:12,700
it’s basically a sale.

363
00:14:12,700 –> 00:14:14,440
It’s not a sale. ’cause
you’re not discounting,

364
00:14:14,440 –> 00:14:16,450
you’re just saying we’re
about to raise our prices,

365
00:14:16,450 –> 00:14:18,190
but you can order right now.

366
00:14:18,190 –> 00:14:19,150
Now obviously there are
a few things you gotta

367
00:14:19,150 –> 00:14:19,983
keep in mind there.

368
00:14:19,983 –> 00:14:21,700
If you’re low on inventory,
you can’t do it if, if you’re,

369
00:14:21,700 –> 00:14:22,960
you know, inventory forecasting is not

370
00:14:22,960 –> 00:14:24,070
precise right now you can’t do it.

371
00:14:24,070 –> 00:14:25,720
But if all those things are good

372
00:14:25,720 –> 00:14:27,370
and you wanna raise a little
bit of cash right now to kind

373
00:14:27,370 –> 00:14:29,770
of help weather the
storm, it’s a great way

374
00:14:29,770 –> 00:14:33,040
to do a quote unquote sale
without doing a discount.

375
00:14:34,090 –> 00:14:36,160
– Especially if you have a
subscription based business.

376
00:14:36,160 –> 00:14:38,410
Hey, you know, subscribe
now to get 10% off

377
00:14:38,410 –> 00:14:40,630
for every order moving forward.

378
00:14:40,630 –> 00:14:43,570
Yes. And that’ll give ’em reason
to not cancel in the future

379
00:14:43,570 –> 00:14:45,340
because we’ll see those
new price increases.

380
00:14:45,340 –> 00:14:47,560
Oh, if I cancel then I gotta
come back into this new higher

381
00:14:47,560 –> 00:14:48,560
– Rate.

382
00:14:48,560 –> 00:14:49,930
Yeah. And maybe, maybe make

383
00:14:49,930 –> 00:14:51,380
that offer just for subscriptions only.

384
00:14:51,380 –> 00:14:52,790
We’re like, hey, we’re
about to raise prices,

385
00:14:52,790 –> 00:14:55,010
but not only are we not
raising prices on our existing

386
00:14:55,010 –> 00:14:56,930
subscriptions, we’re on
this current discount.

387
00:14:56,930 –> 00:14:58,790
So get locked in now so

388
00:14:58,790 –> 00:14:59,840
that you don’t have to
worry about it later.

389
00:14:59,840 –> 00:15:04,310
And, and yeah, that creates
predictable, consistent revenue,

390
00:15:04,310 –> 00:15:06,050
which is worth it in the long run.

391
00:15:06,050 –> 00:15:09,350
So Nick Flint, any, any final thoughts?

392
00:15:09,350 –> 00:15:13,310
How do we protect profits, cut costs?

393
00:15:13,310 –> 00:15:15,860
How do we find ways to win right now?

394
00:15:15,860 –> 00:15:18,860
– Yeah, closing out in
less than a minute here,

395
00:15:18,860 –> 00:15:21,050
focus on what’s working for
your business right now.

396
00:15:21,050 –> 00:15:23,630
Probably don’t use this time
to test out a ton of new things

397
00:15:23,630 –> 00:15:25,160
that are gonna cost you a lot of money.

398
00:15:25,160 –> 00:15:27,560
So focus on what’s working for you.

399
00:15:27,560 –> 00:15:29,450
Communicate with your customers openly

400
00:15:29,450 –> 00:15:32,660
and like a human, actually
connect with them.

401
00:15:32,660 –> 00:15:34,520
Look at all of your costs.

402
00:15:34,520 –> 00:15:37,640
And then lastly, consult

403
00:15:37,640 –> 00:15:39,830
an actual tariff lawyer.

404
00:15:39,830 –> 00:15:43,010
You know, yes, before you do
something silly, like try to

405
00:15:43,010 –> 00:15:46,310
backend this secret deal
with your manufacturer

406
00:15:46,310 –> 00:15:48,830
where they put it as half the
cost when it comes overseas

407
00:15:48,830 –> 00:15:49,910
and you’re gonna get audited

408
00:15:49,910 –> 00:15:52,640
and probably sent to prison,
dodge all that by talking

409
00:15:52,640 –> 00:15:54,380
to an actual professional.

410
00:15:54,380 –> 00:15:55,430
’cause it’s hard

411
00:15:55,430 –> 00:15:58,490
to sell products when
you’re in a jail cell.

412
00:15:58,490 –> 00:16:00,860
– Yeah, yeah. That, that cut in profits,

413
00:16:00,860 –> 00:16:04,310
reduce profits much easier to
tolerate than prison foods.

414
00:16:04,310 –> 00:16:07,310
So I I like that. That’s really,
really sound advice, Nick.

415
00:16:07,310 –> 00:16:08,720
I appreciate that. And,

416
00:16:08,720 –> 00:16:12,200
and just final thought as
we wrap up here is that

417
00:16:12,200 –> 00:16:14,420
even in the midst of tariff craziness and,

418
00:16:14,420 –> 00:16:16,850
and the way this all will, will shake out

419
00:16:16,850 –> 00:16:19,070
and likely change a
million times here in the,

420
00:16:19,070 –> 00:16:22,040
in the coming months,
there’s always, always,

421
00:16:22,040 –> 00:16:24,080
always a path forward.

422
00:16:24,080 –> 00:16:25,670
There’s always a way to win,
there’s always a way to grow,

423
00:16:25,670 –> 00:16:27,260
there’s always a way
to gain new customers.

424
00:16:27,260 –> 00:16:31,490
And so that’s why we
wanna bring you solutions.

425
00:16:31,490 –> 00:16:33,290
And so with that, we’ll
wish you good luck.

426
00:16:33,290 –> 00:16:37,280
Thank you Nick, for joining
us and until next time,

427
00:16:38,360 –> 00:16:39,193
– See you then.