Show notes
Here's why tariffs aren't the problem. Because there's always someone who's buying. Sometimes it's harder to find them. Sometimes it's easier to find them. So if, as a result of tariffs or anything else, it's going to be harder to find people, we understand that. But it doesn't mean that business is over and it doesn't mean that we can just sit and stew, because that just doesn't work.
David: Hi. Welcome back. In today's episode, co-host Kevin Rosenquist, and I'll be discussing the fact that tariffs are not the problem. Welcome back, Kevin.
Kevin: Good to to see you, David. How you been?
David: Been doing great. Great to see you as well.
Kevin: Yeah. We're talking about a topic that is in the news a little bit these days. You introduced the topic as tariffs aren't the problem. What do you mean by that?
David: Yeah. I mean, if you're watching the media, you would think they are, but...
Kevin: Yeah, I would say so.
David: What I mean by that, and I'm not saying they're not a problem. What I'm saying is they're not THE problem. Okay, difference in the title. Tariffs aren't the problem. Okay?
The reason this came up is I was having a conversation with someone in the promotional products industry who was talking about some of the issues that she was dealing with, and she mentioned the tariffs, and how the tariffs really had her very concerned.
And I said, well, it's understandable because it creates a level of uncertainty that people are generally not happy with. I said,
Kevin: Sure.
David: How many orders have you actually lost as a result of the tariffs? And she said, well, none. I'm like, okay. Well that's a good start, right?
If you haven't lost any orders so far as a result of it, that's a great way to start. And we just talked about the fact that everyone is dealing with this, everyone in the United States, anyone is dealing with this. And so, we're on an even playing field with any competitors, right? Because any competitors that we have are likely dealing with this as well.
When we focus on things that are not the problem, like the thing that's actually keeping us from getting clients or getting reorders, or getting referrals, when we focus on those things, we're going to be a lot more productive in terms of being able to accomplish more things in less time, without focusing on the things that are not the immediate problem for us.
Kevin: I mean, are business owners using tariffs or other external factors as as an excuse, if maybe they're having poor sales or things like that?
David: Probably not consciously, I don't think they're consciously using it as an excuse. But it's easy to see it happen. And it's not just tariffs. Anytime anyone is concerned about the growth of their business, not being able to get enough new orders through the door, not able to get enough new customers through the door.
Whenever they're not doing that, they're looking for reasons. And when you think of it logically, you'll look at the reasons that are actually happening. Well, what are the reasons this is happening? But when there are any sort of scapegoats in the market, people are likely to look at them, or point to them, or express concerns about them.
Very often the concerns are about the things that could happen, that might happen, that could potentially happen, as opposed to what is actually slowing them down right now?
Kevin: Mm-hmm. Yeah. And I think, it's dangerous to blame outside forces, like tariffs, instead of addressing in ternal issues. Because if you do that, you're going to potentially either ignore or downplay maybe some internal issues that you might have within your company. Is that a fair assessment?
David: Yeah, and it's just not productive. When we're having interactions with clients, and let's say a client does raise the issue that they have concerns about pricing or they have concerns about how tariffs are going to impact their pricing and all that sort of thing.
Obviously, you need to address those questions. But if you go into a client meeting or a client conversation, thinking in the back of your mind, "oh, I hope this doesn't come up," or "I'm really worried about this," then you're not focused on the things that are going to advance the dialogue, and get things moving forward.
I think a lot of times it's important for us to realize that we need to give them more important things to think about. Give them something else to think about other than the potential problems that they could run into as a result of doing business with you. We want to really help focus on the results they actually want.
What are they trying to accomplish with this promotion? Because if the promotion itself is really not going to do anything for them. Then they probably shouldn't spend the money, right? It's gotta accomplish something. And until we understand what is supposed to accomplish for them and then gear our conversation toward helping them address those things, we're always going to be left to whatever they come up with in their minds. Just like what we come up with in our own.
Kevin: Right. Now, obviously, you know, speaking specifically to the promotional product industry, a lot of stuff comes from China. A lot of stuff comes from, just other countries in general. Are there times, I mean, have you seen cases where tariffs have impacted sales?
David: Well, I'm sure it has. I haven't had any clients come to me directly and say, " I lost this huge order because of the tariffs." No one has said that to me at this point, but there's an aspect of this that people lose sight of as well, and that's the fact that a lot of times, in the promo industry, the goods that are being purchased from overseas are the blank goods.
Right? So that's kind of on the low end of the cost spectrum. These companies, the suppliers in the industry are importing the goods and then they're decorating them, and that's where a lot of the margin goes, right?
So, since the tariff is just on the products that they're importing, in a lot of cases that can be a very small number.
And in the promo industry in particular, distributor margins are kind of obvious. In the industry, everybody kind of knows what they are. And supplier margins are another thing. Nobody really talks about that, like what they pay for the actual cost of goods. I think that's one of the other concerns, is suppliers, in some ways, don't want people to see what they're paying for the blank goods, because then that sort of gives 'em an insight into what they're charging for that stuff.
And that's not a condemnation of anyone. That's just the way business is done.
Kevin: Yeah. Yeah. It's kinda like a, not trade secret per se, but kind of in that realm a little bit.
If a tariff or anything anything else, outside forces, pandemics, whatever, impact sales, have have you seen sometimes where the response to that is even more important than the tariffs themselves? Or, more impactful?
David: Oh, absolutely. When you mentioned COVID, I mean there were some people who just gave up at the beginning. They were just like, okay, I can't sell anything right now.
When they convinced themselves of that, they weren't reaching out to anyone. They weren't selling anything. even if they could have, right?
Because, when you're thinking about business that you're potentially losing, well, are you losing it because you approach people and they said, no? Or are you losing it because you didn't approach them, because you were afraid they'd say no? I mean, fear is just such a killer of sales because it kills sales that haven't even been attempted.
Kevin: Yeah. I think we've talked about this before, the stoic approach of "control what you can control" and try not to worry about the things you can't control. How can businesses shift a focus from what they can't control to what they can?
David: Well, I think if you look at what your daily activities are likely to be, if you have a to-do list, or if you're working from a calendar, which is much better than a to-do list, right?
Because to-do lists are just overwhelming. It's like, well, no, I'll do this. I'm not going to do this, I'm not going to do that. Right?
But if it's on your calendar, if you say, "okay, 8:00 AM I'm doing this, 8:30, I'm doing this, nine o'clock I'm doing this."
If you create a little structure in your life, it will require you to focus, as long as you actually follow through on what it is that you say you're going to do.
The types of things that cause the most business to be lost, in my view, is the time spent on that level of thinking, that causes you to be thinking instead of selling. And not taking action instead of taking action.
So I think that's really gotta be the primary focus.
How many people am I interacting with today? Or how many new leads am I bringing through the door? How many conversations am I having? I mean, that one metric alone, how many conversations am I having is a big one.
If I'm putting out some sort of advertising... an ad, an email broadcast or something like that. How many people did it go out to? Because if I send out one email to a hundred people, it's like, okay, well at least I tried to initiate contact with a hundred people today. That's something, instead of nothing.
And a lot of this, in my mind, becomes binary. I'm either doing it or I'm not doing it. I am making calls. I'm not making calls. I am sending emails. I'm not sending emails. I am attending networking functions. I'm not attending networking functions.
When you spend your time sitting in fear, instead of standing and walking with purpose, and introducing yourself, and meeting people, you just have no shot if you're not doing those things.
Kevin: I want to give you some props from the beginning of your answer to that question because the calendar over the to-do list. What a great tip. it seems small,