Leading Through Connection: A Smarter Approach with Sara Pereda

Summary

Coffee N° 5 with Lara Schmoisman

Episode: Leading Through Connection: A Smarter Approach with Sara Pereda
Release Date: June 24, 2025

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Introduction

In this enlightening episode of Coffee N° 5, host Lara Schmoisman engages in a deep conversation with Sara Pereda, a seasoned professional in the tech and loyalty sectors. Sara shares her journey of building and managing thriving communities, emphasizing the power of genuine connections and smarter partnerships. This detailed summary captures the essence of their discussion, highlighting key insights, strategies, and actionable advice for entrepreneurs and business leaders.

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Meet Sara Pereda

Sara begins by introducing her professional background, detailing her recent transition from YAHPA, where she spent four years in partnerships, to Revo, a loyalty provider in the same space. This move marks a significant shift in her career, allowing her to further explore and expand her expertise in building and nurturing communities.

[01:25] Sara Pereda: "I actually did a change last week. So was at YAHPA the last four years in partnerships and then just transitioned over to Revo, a loyalty provider also in the space."

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The Genesis of Smarter Partnerships

Sara explains how her passion for connecting people organically led to the creation of a thriving community. Starting with a farewell event for a departing colleague, she recognized the inefficiencies of using multiple platforms like LinkedIn, text messaging, and email to stay connected. This realization prompted her to establish a Slack-based community focused on collaboration and resource sharing.

[02:15] Sara Pereda: "I was like, let's just create a slack community. So it started off really organically there, and I wanted it to be able to be a place where we could help each other be better at our jobs."

The community rapidly grew from a handful of members to over 1,800 participants, eventually transitioning to a paid model to ensure commitment and value.

[03:53] Sara Pereda: "I always say, like, people who leave and say, oh, it's not worth the money. And by the way, it's 20 bucks a month. I can't believe people like, you know, pocket that."

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Building Genuine Connections

A central theme of the discussion is the importance of authentic relationships in community building. Sara emphasizes a "give first" mentality, ensuring that members contribute meaningfully before expecting benefits in return. This approach fosters a non-transactional environment where trust and mutual support flourish.

[04:43] Sara Pereda: "Our community is really cognizant of, like, we want to get. Have people giving first, and then you get to receive."

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Managing and Expanding International Communities

Sara delves into the challenges of managing a global community, highlighting the need for cultural sensitivity and localized leadership. By empowering native leaders in each city, such as Dublin and Toronto, she ensures that each community segment retains its unique cultural identity while adhering to the overarching ethos of Smarter Partnerships.

[13:20] Sara Pereda: "Finding someone who can lead in that community that is native to that community."

She shares insights on tailoring events to suit local preferences, avoiding common pitfalls like choosing inappropriate venues or times that don't resonate with the local audience.

[15:26] Sara Pereda: "No more downtown. Stop planning events downtown, everyone. It doesn't work."

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Supporting Members Through Career Transitions

The community isn't just about networking; it's a support system for members navigating career challenges. Sara recounts how the community has facilitated job placements for over 45 individuals by leveraging internal connections and fostering a culture of mutual assistance.

[16:31] Sara Pereda: "There was a layoff at one partner. I made sure to reach out... now I think she's getting an offer from another partner that I connected them with this week."

Additionally, the community offers affordable membership options for unemployed members, ensuring inclusivity and continuous engagement.

[16:31] Sara Pereda: "When people are unemployed, we don't charge them to come into the community. There's an unemployed rate and it's just five bucks a month."

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Establishing Rules and Expectations for Connectors

Lara prompts Sara to discuss the dos and don'ts of being an effective connector within a community. Sara underscores the significance of integrity, non-transactional interactions, and being genuinely invested in others' success. She advises against connecting people with hidden motives, advocating instead for relationships built on trust and mutual respect.

[08:41] Sara Pereda: "If you come at it with a motive... you'll never do it naturally and also organically."

Sara also highlights the importance of active participation, noting tools that help monitor member engagement to maintain a vibrant and committed community.

[05:07] Sara Pereda: "I can see on the back end of Slack to see if they're actually participating."

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Navigating the Evolving Tech Landscape

Addressing the rapid changes in technology, Sara advises brands to partner with proactive and knowledgeable alliances. She emphasizes the need for partners who not only solve problems but also anticipate opportunities to enhance ROI.

[20:07] Sara Pereda: "Your Tech stack... being proactive and saying, hey, like I noticed you didn't enable this. This could help you unlock X amount of ROI."

Sara warns against the pitfalls of technical debt, encouraging brands to fully utilize their existing tools before onboarding new platforms. She advocates for strategic partnerships that prioritize the client's long-term success over immediate transactional gains.

[22:11] Sara Pereda: "Technical debt... are you really managing the tool?"

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Enhancing Customer Experience Through Strategic Partnerships

Sara shares anecdotes illustrating the impact of effective partnerships on customer experience. For instance, she recounts an instance where proactive communication could have prevented a negative customer interaction involving unexpected fees from UPS.

[23:21] Sara Pereda: "Speed is of the essence... if you have that, that's a massive differentiation in like what true partner can do."

She stresses that true partners act as advocates, swiftly addressing issues and ensuring seamless experiences for customers.

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Conclusion

Sara Pereda's insights provide a roadmap for building and managing successful communities and partnerships. Her emphasis on authentic connections, proactive support, and cultural sensitivity offers valuable lessons for entrepreneurs and business leaders aiming to foster meaningful and productive networks. By prioritizing mutual support and strategic alliances, Sara exemplifies how smarter partnerships can drive sustained business growth and innovation.

[26:01] Lara Schmoisman: "Thank you, Sarah, for being here with us today. This was really lovely chat."

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Key Takeaways

• Authentic Connections: Focus on building genuine relationships without hidden motives.
• Proactive Partnerships: Choose partners who anticipate needs and actively contribute to enhancing ROI.
• Cultural Sensitivity: Tailor community management strategies to respect and integrate local cultures.
• Active Engagement: Utilize tools to monitor and encourage member participation, ensuring a vibrant community.
• Support Systems: Offer structures that aid members in career transitions and personal growth.
• Strategic Resource Management: Avoid technical debt by fully leveraging existing tools before adopting new ones.

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Transcript

[Lara Schmoizman]

Foreign. This is Coffee Number five. I'm your host, Lara Schmoizman. Hi, everyone. Welcome back to Coffee Number five. And today, well, you know me for a while, like over 200 episodes. So maybe you know a little bit about me now. But something you know is that I'm a connector. I really love to connect people. I always have that. I don't know, it's easy for me to put two and two and say this person should connect with another one. It's like an instinct. But I want to tell you something. I met someone who took it to the next level and actually she created a community and not any community, a community of geeky techy people like me, which I love. And it was my radio for a while and then I became part of this community and I was okay. This is awesome. Because she's really get minor like people and there's a lot to talk about this. So let me welcome Sarah Pereira. Welcome. Thank you.

[Sarah Pereira]

So here. Thanks for having me. It's great to be here. Great to finally get to meet and like, not virtually, but in person in some way, in some shape.

[Lara Schmoizman]

So, Sarah, I know that you work at yacht for now and you are.

[Sarah Pereira]

So I actually did a change last week. So was at YAHPA the last four years in partnerships and then just transitioned over to Revo, a loyalty provider also in the space. And that transition happened actually late last week. So some news there.

[Lara Schmoizman]

I didn't know about that. So we got some news. Well, that's awesome. So I'm very familiar with the OTBO and I'm very familiar with the loyalty, but I really. You've been in the technical world for a while now and how these smart partnerships came up about and why you created. Because I can see that there is a lot of power. I know that you have now people all over the world that they're creating these events and they're all these events are. Did you find that there were all these super connectors around and like. Well, let's put it together. How did it come out about.

[Sarah Pereira]

Yeah, so I think like, you know, it came out really naturally and organically. I was at a previous agency called Mute6. We had a transition of our. One of my colleagues, Adina, was leaving and she was actually going to Okendo. And we found that there was a way we wanted to get everyone together for her last hurrah. But then essentially when we started talking, we're like, why aren't we doing this more on a monthly consistent basis? And then also I found everyone's like, well, let's stay connected. And some people would do LinkedIn, some people would do text messaging. Some people would do, like, email. And I'm like, this is a mess. And also, I don't want people in my personal tax. Like, no offense. I'm like, I want it. If we're not going to have brunch on Sunday, I'd rather not have a text from you. I'd rather be in a slack community. So I was like, let's just create a slack community. So it started off really organically there, and I wanted it to be able to be a place where we could help each other be better at our jobs. So the idea is it didn't matter if you were a competitor, if you were working together, that you had an opportunity where you could get resources from each other, because we could give each other short code to help each other out. So I think too often we tend to work in silos and reinvent the wheel. And I felt like there has to be a better way to do this where it's like everyone wins and succeeds with our clients together. So we got everyone in the community and started growing organically, where everyone wanted to just join. And it went from, you know, 10 solid people, maybe 20, then it went to 1800. And then last year, we turned it into a paid community because we wanted to actually really, I think, in essence, I think weed out people that weren't really committed that were actually. What I always say is, like, people who leave and say, oh, it's not worth the money. And by the way, it's 20 bucks a month. I can't believe people like, you know, pocket that. But it's not that I love the.

[Lara Schmoizman]

Idea that you made it pay just because it's people. You have skin in the game.

[Sarah Pereira]

Yeah, exactly.

[Lara Schmoizman]

This is my problem, and I know that this is me. It's like, when I pay or I decide to be part of the community, I want to be present. I don't like to be part of 20, 30 communities. I cannot keep up with everything that happened.

[Sarah Pereira]

No, no. And I think that's it. And it really boils down to, like, I always tell people if, like, they want to leave for the sake of monetary reasons, I say, they'll say, like, I didn't get enough value out of it. So what value did you give? And I always ask that first because that's how the community should be. Our community is really cognizant of, like, we want to get. Have people giving first, and then you get to receive. And so my that's been my ethos, along with connecting with other people is like, I'm always trying to help people first and then let them show up. And then if they don't show up in the way that I need them to, then that's a different story. But I try to give first because I think that's just in nature. Like, it's a good partnership when you're able to start first strong and then being able to show the value of that relationship.

[Lara Schmoizman]

And I love that you said that in two different ways. First of all, because, like, in any partnership or any. I see it even with platforms and so many clients, I say, I tried that platform and it didn't work. Do you know how to use it? Did you put the time into using understanding the platform or you just put the plugin there and you were hoping that it works magic?

[Sarah Pereira]

Yeah, I think that's the thing is it's like. And that could be like with our diet, it could be with exercise, like, oh, I tried that. I went to one class. No, did you actually get involved? Did you actually, like, serve? Did you like I said with like church stuff, even, like going to church, it's like, yeah, I tried that church out. But did you actually get involved? So for me, it's the same thing of, like, I also have a tool that tells me if people are lurking and just coming and taking and not actually participating, so I can see on, like on the back end of Slack to see if they're actually participating. So that's also another good indicator for me how hard I would fight to keep someone in a community or not, not based off of, like, if I only see them taking and not giving. So that's another one. I think in this day and age, it's like, look, I think there's so many that want to partner together and my goal in creating this community along with others was that we would just keep top of mind with each other, that we would help each other and that we would be able to, like, be able to be a resource where we are. So I am virtually like in my company, in my last two companies, last three companies, I've been virtual, so there's no office to go to, at least in la. And so having a place where I'm connected with other people in a Slack community, helping each other, it's pretty amazing. Um, and then watching that grow and I just enable other cities. So, like, I'm going to Dublin, Ireland next week. I leave on Friday and we're doing a sponsorships event there. There was a few people that were already meeting that were there. They're like, we'd love to start something like this. I'm like, great, let's enable it. Like, here's what I would recommend doing. You guys decide what your community needs. So it's like enabling people to do what they do naturally. But to your point earlier where you said, did you like figure out a few super connectors? I'm like, yeah, there were a ton of really great super connectors that I think just wanted a space to connect on. And that's where we were able to kind of thrive with them.

[Lara Schmoizman]

Yeah, I mean I was to your event in in Shop Talk. Oh my God, that was busy.

[Sarah Pereira]

Yes. And that was not even our busiest. I think we had one in Toronto with like 600 people this last, you know, for Shopify edition. So it gets bigger and bigger and it's really does sell itself because the community sells itself. So that's been really amazing. So I love that we get to, you know, partner together and do this work together because I think it makes it stronger not only for the sake of us as individuals, but also for our merchants, like our brands that we work with. Like helping them like creatively scale or getting connected. Like let's say I. You know what's so funny is everyone's like, oh, they're in the community because they want to. People want to get in front of agencies. I find that it's actually the opposite. People are needing to get in front of certain tech partners and. And so the agencies are using that resource more. So like it's helping them have the short code for their merchant to get faster to the solution. Right. And to get a solution like where someone can vouch for them and help them and say like, no, they're great, you should help them. Here's an introduction. I can get you connected. So then your, then your brand is succeeding because they're able to get the short code into that partner or into that platform to get the help they need. So that's what I love about the community. It's like.

[Lara Schmoizman]

And I love, I mean I, I've been talking to people in the community about the most random things and problems and trying to. And we. I'm personally bring things in the private conversation because I think otherwise you can make the big channel really busy of things that doesn't interest it to everyone. Yeah, but I mean I love that sense of community that you can ask the most random things and someone will lift their hand and say, I, I can help. And I try to help. I love that. But I, I want to ask you something. What are the rules of being a connector and what are the expectations? Because a lot of people, and I've been seeing this along my life and as I mentioned, I'm a connector. I'm not that person. I have no problem to introduce two people, but I see a lot of people having issues doing that and introducing people.

[Sarah Pereira]

Yeah, I think because it's, there's a, there's a motive behind it and you can't have the motive. I always say, like the things that I look at is like, I'm just here to help people. And that goes back to like my faith values of like being able to help people because I think God has been so good to me that I try to help others. But I think if you come at it with a motive, like what am I getting out of it? Like if my goal is to get something out of this relationship, I think you'll never do it naturally and also organically. And I think people understand and feel that you can sense when someone isn't being organic or real with you and they're trying to get something out of it and transactional. And it's all about relationship for me. So for me I'm like, you know, it's not that you and I are having this podcast. We're probably not going to connect in a different level and we're going to be able to like know each other. And hopefully the next time we see each other we're getting, we're really like learning each other because like there's so many partners. I talked to one yesterday. I had a health issue, has been out. I've been trying to support them with like more health related stuff, like trying to get them to like feel like they're supporting with this community that's beyond the walls of work and rather it's being focused on like, what does your family need? Can we do anything to support you and your spouse? Anything we can do those ways. So like, I think if you look at really I think like your. And I did this when I was in finance too. I does when I was in finance and when I was in entertainment, this wasn't just E Comm specific. It's more like me building those relationships outside of the frame, the framework of a transaction at work, but rather the people and who people are and how do we connect. I think that most super connectors, if they do that well, people know what to expect from them. They have expectations of like, they have integrity, character. They're not transactional. That they know that like the relationship is going to be on a certain job.

[Lara Schmoizman]

Key word. And I honestly left communities for finding all the expectations to be transactional.

[Sarah Pereira]

Yeah.

[Lara Schmoizman]

And people don't want to. Many times they want automatically to be coming a community expect you need to put the time in a community. You need to build those relationships you want, you need to listen. And I think that that's something that we're missing a lot in everyday's relationship. What can you do for the other one? I mean it's. This is one of the things that I learn in community and many times it's like okay, let's connect, let's have a virtual coffee. And one of the things that I learn always is what can I do for you?

[Sarah Pereira]

How can I I think like look I. I am first to admit sometimes I can be doing so much and running so fast that I don't actually ask certain questions and listen because I'm like, my natural tendency is like if we're having a conversation and I hear a problem, I want to help you solve it and I'll be solutions. Or I'm like okay, great, I'm going to connect you with this person that's going to help you. But sometimes I also have to stop myself and go wait a minute like let's ask them what's going on. Like I was with some brands yesterday at an event and I was like normally I'd be like kind of having conversation, sort of assessing some stuff, you know, just trying to get the value of the out of the event. And then I was like wait a minute, I'm like what hey guys, what's performing for you to make a brand? Like what's performing for you now? What's your best? What's your best? Like you know, like a product, like what channels working like trying to really understand the business. Before I kind of went into what I think normally I would naturally just start having conversation differently about their tech stack or whatever it might be. And I even have stop myself like no, this is the where I need to start first. I'm like I need to be like understand people more. Because I'm like I can get caught up in being busy being transactional.

[Lara Schmoizman]

I can totally understand that. And we are in our own problems. But sometimes taking that minute and listening to other and say it can help you also help you help them because it can bring more information. But to miss also all in about listening to the person and what are their pain points.

[Sarah Pereira]

I think that's the thing is like Finding the pain points. But it's also like, look, I think we want to. We want to know people on the human level too. Like, what's going. What's happening with you? Like, how can you help all these things? So I think that's the best part is, like, I love this community, by the way. Like, the reason I love ecom the best, I mean, I've worked again in so many different communities, is that it's has no egos. Like, we don't deal with egos like most. Like most other places do that. Like, I would say, like. So I love that, that we can get to know people for people, and it's not as much transactional.

[Lara Schmoizman]

So how do you manage a community? Because also you have. In the tech world that we live in, I mean, you have multiple communities from multiple countries, not only different languages, but also, which I think we have all English as a common language. But there is a factor of cultures and also rules that you have in different countries. How can we support an international community in that way when there are so many factors that they're beyond us?

[Sarah Pereira]

So I think one of the things is finding someone who can lead in that community that is native to that community. So an example would be, like, when we're enabling these different cities, it's making sure that people that are leading it are already ingrained in the community. So then I can defer to them to say, like, I'll give you an example. Like, Aoife from Octane AI, she was like, hey, I'd love to help with smarter ships in Dublin. I'm like, amazing. Let's enable you. What do you think works? Like, do you want to do a quarterly meeting? Do you want to do a monthly. Like, what's the culture there? Do people want to do more pubs or are they kind of tired of that? Do you want to do more exercise and wellness? Like, do you want to do brands?

[Lara Schmoizman]

Do you?

[Sarah Pereira]

Like. Like, I basically was like, you determine it because it's. You know your audience best. But I also think I want to make sure it feels natively unique to Dublin or unique to Toronto or unique to New York. Like, there are different ways in which we all show up as, like, our smarter ships, communities that are unique to the city that they're going in. And then what I love is that it's also making sure that when people are coming into the city, they're able to acclimate quickly. So an example would be like, it's why we have monthly or quarterly hangouts with every city, because we want People to be able to jump in if they're visiting and get an understanding of the culture and of the space. So like going to the uk, going to like Dublin, I'm going to see how the E Comm community is there, which will inevitably be different than la, New York, you know, Miami, Chicago. But it's me being able to understand and learn and when I drop into those cities, being able to connect with people that are there natively to get kind of understand the landscape, maybe this doesn't make sense, maybe my product won't make sense here because of blank or knowing the market. So like just getting to help each other, like that's the thing. And I'm like, people always reach out, can I understand la? Like, how does it work? Like, what is it different than that in New York? And I'm like, okay, Toronto's different. You're going to navigate this way differently. So like having that short code is huge. And I think having people who can help inform people when they're going into those communities and explaining expectations. Like, you know, an example of like, you can't do late night events here. Like in la, people are traveling, everyone's driving, no one's going. Like you can't do a late night bar. But in New York you could do a seven or eight o' clock event. You just would never do that here. Right. So like having that cultural awareness to know what is going to change and shift based off of like each community.

[Lara Schmoizman]

Yeah. Even location in LA is like, you know that if you do it in certain place.

[Sarah Pereira]

Oh my God, no more downtown. Stop planning events downtown, everyone. It doesn't work. I'm like, people don't show up even though they're bigger venues.

[Lara Schmoizman]

No events in downtown.

[Sarah Pereira]

No. I like, I tell everyone, I'm like psa. It's like. And then they wonder why you get such a turnout on the west side. I'm like, or West Hollywood. I'm like, like, there's so much opportunity. But everyone's like, downtown. I'm like, it's becoming unsafe. You're hitting so much traffic. It's a madness down there. And even with protests and things happening, Klaviyo had to cancel their, their partner day there because something happened. It's like, you're not going to typically get that on like the west side or Hollywood. It usually would be downtown. So like you're eliminating some of those factors.

[Lara Schmoizman]

Yeah, absolutely. And parking is horrendous.

[Sarah Pereira]

Yes.

[Lara Schmoizman]

So when we're talking about people are always eager to grow, which is completely normal. And Healthy and it's healthy also to use a community as a place to grow. But did you find that there is a lot of people trying to use a community as a place to find the next opportunity?

[Sarah Pereira]

You know, there's a mix of both. Yes. And I love that about the community. Like for example, when people are unemployed, we don't charge them to come into the community. There's an unemployed rate and it's just five bucks a month. And it basically helps them put some skin in the game or five bucks a quarter I think of what we're doing. But it basically is in a way to like keep them still integrated into the community but also help them find that next job because there's great talent out there and the talent that is out there is really great. It just may, may have been the wrong fit at the right, at the wrong partner or maybe they didn't know. So we try to keep the community really active and helping people get jobs. But I, I can attest to there's already been 45 people that have got a job via Smarter Ships in some way or form. And so being able to have that community to help each other, even if it's knowing your value and worth. Like I sat with the community and had drinks with a few people and I was like what's the running market for roles? What do I need to look out? How can I negotiate better? So helping each other also manage that. And I think people have been really great about keeping each other top of mind. There was a layoff at one partner. I made sure to reach out. I was like, give me your personal email, let's keep you in the community. And now I think she's getting an offer from another partner that I connected them with this week. So I'm like, it's just so fun to be able to help people when there's a challenge in the market. Macro environments, getting tartar for you know, you know, whether it's acquisitions or layoffs. So helping each other like connect, it's like an amazing opportunity for us to.

[Lara Schmoizman]

Do and it's beautiful. But also for people who sign up, they need to sign up for the right reasons and being part of the community and give back.

[Sarah Pereira]

Yeah, absolutely. And I think most people are and weeded out all that. All the ones that I wouldn't say that.

[Lara Schmoizman]

So who should I, who should join Smart Partnerships?

[Sarah Pereira]

I think anyone who wants to join Smarter Ships is, would be, be wise if they are either founder of an agency, founder of a tech company, partner partner led organization like in partnerships or in partner marketing, enjoying the community. If you are you know, in E commerce and it's beyond just shopify. We're agnostic to different platforms but the goal is to help each other succeed in partnerships. So if you're looking to do that now, if you're looking for thought leadership, a lot of like personal coaching and mentoring in your role, I would say we're not the community for you and that's Partner leaders is a great place to go. They're a great community and they offer a lot of opportunities for people to like develop their career path and also network outside of E Comm. We're specifically for E Comm only and we're specifically for community led events. So like event planning, introduction, you know, word on the street, information sharing, those types of things. What we are not is not someone that's going to probably invest and like help you level up your career as much as maybe just sharing like what we're doing. We just, I just transparently, programmatically we don't have time to do that and I would love to at some point but right now I'm, I have a full time job and I do this on the side and I'm. This is not making me money. This is just helping people connect. So I always am transparent about that community. But I would say it's like really great to be able to join. If you are looking to just connect with others, give back and get a lot back.

[Lara Schmoizman]

That's really nice. So let's go back to your history and your story a little bit about working in, in, in different platforms. Do you see that? How do you see the market? Because I see my clients are brands, a lot of our listeners are brands. And what do you see that is the main issue for, for platforms approaching brands or founders. Do you feel like there is a gap that founders, they don't understand or they aren't understand the technology and, or can execute it. What do you feel like is the biggest gap?

[Sarah Pereira]

I just think that there's, I feel, I really feel for brands right now because there's so much to navigate as it relates to I think macro environment and then really just trying to succeed in this really challenging environment overall. So I would say that's one that I think is a huge disadvantage for brands because not then they have to keep on top of every new platform, every new tech company, every new feature. And so what you want to do is you want to find partners that are able to be proactive with you. So the goal would be is your, is your Tech stack is your, is the person that you're working with being proactive and saying, hey, like I noticed you didn't enable this. Like this could be, this could help you unlock X amount of roi. Like if you're being able to be proactive, that's a great partner for you. Because in this market it needs to be. If you're only reactive and they're only solving problems, that's where I think is a challenge. And I would say to the brand, you need to look and evaluate who you're working with and the, and the longevity of the partnership because it may have worked when the environment was very different, but as it gets harder, it gets more difficult, more constrained. You need partners that are unlocking opportunity for you versus hindering your growth. So I would say like that's one that I always look at and I would say also for the partners and I use this as a, as a really great marker for anything. Like now going to this new role as a global head of partnerships, I'm getting to build a partner program from scratch, which I'm really excited about, not inheriting someone's, but rather do that. And when I keep looking at it from lenses, how am I making you as an owner of an agency, your life easier with your merchants. Right? How are we doing that so that we're alleviating one less thing off your plate? And, and if your partner is constantly doing that and being proactive in that regard, you're going to win all the time and your brands are going to win. So it's like, and that's a relationship you're always wanting going to have and it's going to be really sticky.

[Lara Schmoizman]

I love that. And one of the things that I noticed first of all is like when I onboard new brands, one of the first things I need to do is a little audit and see what platforms are you using. What do you have in your Shopify? They don't realize that many times have more is less because it's affecting you in other ways besides the cost of the platform.

[Sarah Pereira]

Well, technical debt, it's like manage. It's like are you really managing the tool? Like if you have like you know, 20 pieces of tech partnerships on the tool and you're not using them to the full potential, like is it really effective? Like you're mean using one feature? One feature, one feature, whatever it might be.

[Lara Schmoizman]

So it's realized someone was having three platforms that basically were doing the same thing and they're not using. They were using each one for a different feature. And they were paying for that, and then they were complaining how much you're paying on up. That's why I always say that you need to have an agency to work with. Going back to the partners. One of the things that I did this year, and that's how I end up in Shop Talk, was like, I want to find partners that I can really talk to. I want to have partners that. I understand that sometimes is hard to. For platforms to provide the customer support or service when they are just working with the founder or the assistant that they're trying to figure it out. And I understand that's different. But as an agency, when I come in and I need to choose a partner, I want to choose someone who's going to be there and give me the next. I know that when I'm going to go to technical support, it's because my team tried everything.

[Sarah Pereira]

Yeah. Or that you just had shortcut where you could get a hold of your partner to be like, hey, there's a challenge here. Can you help us fix it fast? Because it's. Speed is. Speed is of the essence here, especially from brands that are trying to, you know, I think really navigate some really tough things. I got. I got a delivery from a brand the other day, and it was like, I got a bill from UPS&I. I reached out to the brand to be like, I'm waiting for this delivery. I don't want it to get stalled, but why am I getting a bill? And they're like, well, the tariffs changed it. You now have extra. We have extra taxes, and so we're putting it on you. And I'm like, okay, not a great experience. But I'm like, I understood it a little bit more, but I'm like, there should be a resolve where you get notified of that before you purchase the item. Right. So, like, just. I was trying to help this brand.

[Lara Schmoizman]

Understand because they have the same situation.

[Sarah Pereira]

My gosh, it's just such a bad customer service experience where I'm like, wait, what? You're holding my package hostage. UPS, because they owe another 32 bucks on a product that's like, I paid for expedited shipping. Just add it on there.

[Lara Schmoizman]

Exactly. But, yeah, I end up paying $61 extra for a product that it was like 1560.

[Sarah Pereira]

And if you knew that, it's like, I wouldn't take it. I wouldn't accept the item. I was like, no, it's like, that's the thing is I feel like it's like I didn't know up front that was happening. So it's really interesting to see how people are now.

[Lara Schmoizman]

I know. And also it's really important because platforms also have a lot of updates all the time and not only updates from the platform. Many updates also are because Shopify has an update or other platform that they work with have an update. So you need to update certain things. It's really hard to keep informed. So having a specific team that you can go to, it's super helpful.

[Sarah Pereira]

Yeah, I think that's the thing is like, again, having that short code, having the opportunities to really help people, like navigate tough problems and also feel like you have an advocate in your corner. Like, it was the best when I was on the agency side and I knew who my partner managers were and I was like, they'll fix it for me. Like, I know I'm not gonna get put in some weird queue. They're gonna fix it for me. And I think if you have that, that's a massive differentiation in like what true partner and what they can do.

[Lara Schmoizman]

Yeah, that's where we're going back to, to make a smart partnerships. And that's why I think the name fits you perfectly.

[Sarah Pereira]

It's, you know, it was a great decision. I did not name it. One of my partners did. An agency finder. We're all having drinks and everyone's like, you're all always a connector. You connected all of us. And we all like two agencies were merging. They're actually merging. Soon it's going to be coming out. But this was like. This was like three years ago. Four, two years ago. And basically they named it. They're like, sarah, Partnership Smarter Partnerships. And then like it turned into this whole smarter ships. And then that's where it started. But I was like, no, it's just us helping each other. Like, that's the best part. You can help each other and succeed. You know, it's a small world and I feel like people move and hop around, but like, how great if we're smarter partnering together. And that's the goal of this organization.

[Lara Schmoizman]

So that's great. Thank you, Sarah, for being here with us today. This was really lovely chat.

[Sarah Pereira]

It was great being here. Thank you so much for having me.

[Lara Schmoizman]

And to you guys. I will see you next week with more coffee. Number five. Find everything you need at larashmoisman.com or in the episode notes right below. Don't forget to subscribe. Was so good to have you here today. See you next time. Catch you on the flip side. Ciao, ciao.