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Jacqueline Snyder
Hi, I'm Jacqueline Snyder and this is the Product Boss podcast. I've helped launch and grow thousands of product based businesses, even one of my own. And over the last 20 years, I've seen behind the scenes of businesses just like yours. Whether they are makers, manufacturers, artists, or food and beverage businesses. I have spent so many hours studying it all. I've discovered what makes them successful, what mistakes they could have avoided, how did they turn their ideas into successful business, and what are the strategies that they have used to make more sales and be discovered by more customers. And this is what this show is all about. Whether you're just starting out or you're looking to become a million dollar product boss, I'm here to give you the permission to chase your dreams, no matter how big or small. All you need is the right mindset, a little courage, strategy and support, and you too can be the next million dollar product boss. Let's do this. Hey. Hey, Product Boss. Welcome back to another episode of the Product Boss podcast. I am so glad that you are here joining me for another coaching session where you get to sit behind the scenes and listen in to me coaching one of our students. And I know so many students love these because they're like, oh, it feels like you're, you know, speaking to me. You get to pick up nuggets in here. And if you want to go deeper, there are other ways that we can continue to work together. But right now, today I am chatting with Kendra of KB Naturals, who creates and sells products private label Arnica lip balms for businesses mainly. Her ideal customers are plastic surgeons, nurse injectors and cosmetic nurses. And I'm really excited for this episode because Kendra's products are really, really cool. And as someone who does get a little bit of Botox to my face, I can definitely see the need and the potential for them. Yes, I just admitted it. But why not, right? Like, it is what it is. Okay, so now let's talk about Kendra. All right. Kendra has been intermittently making lip balms for businesses since 2015, but she has now decided to go all in for the past two years and really wants to grow her business worldwide while building better connections with her ideal customers. So based on what's currently working for her, Kendra feels one of her best ways to do this, one of the best ways to get her sales engine working and working for her, is focusing on Instagram as her sales channel. But the question back is, what is it? So. So that's what we're about to find out and dive in to this coaching session, make sure you need to pause before I dive in. Make sure that you're following the show. Okay. So just hit the follow button wherever you listen. So whether it's Spotify or Apple or wherever it is, follow, subscribe to the show so that you know when these episodes drop and they end up in your podcast app. All right, you ready? Let's dive in. So to dive into it, like from your words, would you tell me a little bit about Kiwi Naturals, what you sell, perhaps your best sellers and what your best sales channels are?
Kendra
Yes. So I've grown my. My business on mainly Instagram and I have a website and I just hopped onto Fair. I just found it in April of this year. It hasn't been too bad. Sales have been pretty good from there. Just being able to reach out to those clients that I haven't. I wouldn't normally be able to. It's just myself. And then. So I sell branded Arnica lip balms to businesses mainly in the beauty industry for Botox, lip fillers like nurse injectors, plastic surgeons, that kind of. Of stuff.
Jacqueline Snyder
Awesome. Yeah. I remember auditing your site. It looks like. It looks like you've made some updates.
Kendra
Mm, yeah, I did. I listened to you. I cleaned it up a little bit. Cause I'm like, having a fresh pair of eyes on it is like, I've been in it for so long. So.
Jacqueline Snyder
Yeah, I love the. As I scroll your homepage, your landing page, because a lot of times people, you know, with the audits and stuff, I'll. I'll do really, a landing page overhaul. Because if you lose them on that, you lose them. Right. They're not going any deeper. So the. Let's get you started. So you're like, create your own private label aftercare. And then let's get you started. And you're like, step one, choose your product. Step two, place your order. Well, that seems easy, right? I wanna.
Kendra
Yeah, I wanna make it super simple for them. So.
Jacqueline Snyder
Yeah, yeah, yeah. It. It does feel simple. And I. I've followed you on Instagram too. So the info you're putting out there is definitely towards your ideal customer. So it feels like it's all kind of lining up. So. Good. Okay. Amazing. Amazing. So talking about your business right now. So you're. You're party of one, right? You're making everything yourself?
Kendra
Yes. Yeah. In my kitchen. In my kitchen. So. And then if I get super busy, I ask. I have two daughters, 14 and 17. So I asked them to help out with the. Because that's the more tedious part. And usually I'll do. Usually I'll do videos of me labeling and then with the TV show on so people can kind of see. See the stuff.
Jacqueline Snyder
So that's what I love about the work we do. It's just like, you know, we can listen in the background, which I think is somebody who listen to the podcast or watch the housewives like me. Awesome.
Kendra
Exactly. Something. I usually have you in my ears, so it's perfect.
Jacqueline Snyder
Thank you. And now I'm in your ear again, but for you specifically. Okay, so let's talk about the customer journey. Where do they discover you? And then how do we get them from knowing that you actually exist? Which is what marketing is. Right? Marketing is knowing you exactly exist or that you exist in the world. And then sales is where we convert them into paying you money for your products. So starting at the very beginning, how do they know you exist?
Kendra
Usually it's word of mouth for my business. It's also. I cold DM a lot, and it works out really good for me. Some people are like, don't do it. But I'm like, I. I can connect with them. And then I just tell them what I do, and then they're like, perfect. This is awesome for my business. Or, no, not right now. So that's kind of where I've grown.
Jacqueline Snyder
Okay, so there's the outreach. So you're. You're basically cold calling in your version. And then the first one was word of mouth. So let's dive into word of mouth. Who's talking about you? How are they talking about you? Where. Which circles is this all happening in?
Kendra
Yeah, so it's a lot of the. The nurse injectors, cosmetic or plastic surgeons, they'll share my product. So I ask them when I mail it out, I'll ask them to share it and tag it when they get there so then I can share it to have that social proof. And then usually it's like someone sees it on their page or they see a post that they've done or I've done, and we kind of do it that way.
Jacqueline Snyder
So I'm a nurse practitioner. I do lip injections, and I'm in a group, or I have friends that are also doing the same thing. Or maybe I go to an event and. And I say, hey, you should call Kendra. She can create custom, custom products for you to give your customers or to sell to your customers. Is that how it would go? Exactly. Yep.
Kendra
And then I have a referral program that if they say that Jacqueline referred me Then I message you and then say, hey, you get five extra bombs, let's say on your next order as a thank you.
Jacqueline Snyder
Okay, so you're. You're giving an upsell to the people who are currently buying from you. You're like, hey, I'll. I'll throw in five bombs. Exactly. Okay. And do you have competition? Are there other people doing this?
Kendra
I think there's a couple that I've seen online.
Jacqueline Snyder
Are they better? Bigger? Do people say, oh, are you like this? Because anyone referencing you to anybody else? So are you local then? Is it really a local business?
Kendra
Yes. Yeah.
Jacqueline Snyder
Okay, so the 2,3000 that you're making a month right now is really just going to local injectors within your.
Kendra
Sorry.
Jacqueline Snyder
Surrounding areas.
Kendra
No, I do a lot of us.
Jacqueline Snyder
Okay.
Kendra
More. I think I feel like a lot more of my clients now are U.S. based instead of U.S. canadian.
Jacqueline Snyder
Okay. Okay. So word of mouth is one of the. One of the best ways. And you're doing a version of referral program. So they're influencing each other. The OG influencers, where we talk to friends about them.
Kendra
Y.
Jacqueline Snyder
You're like, I know people and I'm going to tell them about this thing that I really like. So there's that. And then the second part is that you are doing your own research. So you're looking up certain hashtags. So when you say you're doing your cold reach, you're really doing that through Instagram would be the channel that you're looking at. Okay. So then you're saying, I'm gonna go search these words or keywords, or I'm gonna follow people who follow people, discover them, and then do you slide into their dm? Is that what the kids say these days? I don't know. Yeah.
Kendra
So what I do is I make sure that they. It's kind of like my ideal client. And then I kind of go through their posts and like. And like, genuinely comment and then I reach out to them.
Jacqueline Snyder
So when we're talking about your effort. So the most. It sounds like the most effort that you have to make is for the cold outreach. And then the other stuff seems to be coming your way. Right. So out of your monthly revenue that you're making, what percentage do you think is. So here's. I want us to break it down recurring. So people who have already bought from you that are coming back in and buying again because it's the easiest thing to scale and you've already done the work, so now you're more profitable. Meaning, like your effort, your output all that's been done. Now we're just need to get them to buy again and buy again, which is increasing lifetime value. Then the secondary part of this is the rest of it is what percentage of it is word of mouth that you're like, this is working really well. I'm getting a thousand dollars a month from word of mouth and then I'm able to land a thousand dollars, you know, through. I'm just making up these numbers, but through reaching out to people and getting them to buy a certain amount. So tell me a little bit more about that.
Kendra
I think my recurring is it's pretty high. It's about I would say 80% to figure it out. But word of mouth is probably a lot smaller. Like five or ten, I would say.
Jacqueline Snyder
Okay, and then you're out.
Kendra
It depends on how like energetic I feel during the, the day. I would say maybe like five or ten. So I would say a lot of it's recurring right now.
Jacqueline Snyder
Okay, not bad, not bad.
Kendra
And then I was listening to your. Because I, I bought the MSM program. But like the email marketing, that's something that I don't really have consistently right now. So I feel like that would even help build that fast, like more.
Jacqueline Snyder
Okay. All right. So just trying to get all my, my data in, in a row so I can coach you better. So your ultimate goals right now is that you are growing consistently and you have a lot of recurring customers which are telling me about 80% are recurring and you want to dive deeper into the plastic surgeon area because you have a, a knowledge of like a, a direct need that they need. So these like aftercare products after having. Is it only lip injections, they can do it Botox.
Kendra
If they go in for a Botox appointment, they can give it to them as a thank you.
Jacqueline Snyder
So is it like a balm that I would put where my bow. You can, you can or tell me the product.
Kendra
So just lip balm. So if they have a lip filler, they can do that. But usually it's just like something like a marketing product with their.
Jacqueline Snyder
Exactly.
Kendra
Yep.
Jacqueline Snyder
And then is there something special to it that makes it different than just other lip balms?
Kendra
So I put arnica in it, which is a super healing property for them. Especially with bruising and healing, the healing process.
Jacqueline Snyder
So could the balm. Could I put the. If I was having bruising for my Botox, could I have. Could I put the balm there as well as the Arnica for the Arnica product? Okay, great. Perfect. So it's multi use. So you Want to be the go to in the lip balm world because they have arnica in it and they're healing and you want to be worldwide for it, but you really want to be. You don't want to have your own product. Is that true? Like you want it to just be that you are the supplier to people that have customized product or do you want to be a brand name?
Kendra
I feel like I'm kind of like, I like the behind the scenes and like for them, but I do create my own brand that I kind of sell in stores locally. Not. It's not a huge portion of it, but it's a smaller avenue.
Jacqueline Snyder
And what is the price? So if I'm going to, if I'm a new customer, on average, what do you get me to spend with you? Not your direct to consumer, but your other practitioners.
Kendra
Usually it's the average is about 50 lip balms. So that ranges. It's about 380 or it's 380 a lip balm Canadian and 330. Because I have two sizes. So I have a slim one and I have a regular size.
Jacqueline Snyder
What do they buy?
Kendra
Lately it's been the slim, but then it's been the regular. So it's whatever they. It's kind of 50. 50.
Jacqueline Snyder
Okay. So two variations, the same product. They get to customize it. And he said it's. It's $3.8 Canadian. Yeah.
Kendra
So it'd be 2 80.
Jacqueline Snyder
Yeah, yeah. But you live in Canada, so 380 is 380. Right? A million Canadians get you a million dollars Canadian. So. Yeah, but I get it that like when you're shipping, like you're. This is my. I, I don't like saying girl math. So let's just call it mom mom math. I was, I was at the Taylor Swift concert, I was just telling you in Canada, and as I was buying the swag, my sister just kept saying, but it's Canadian. And I was like, it's still an $80 sweatshirt. I was like, I wonder if she changed if it's the same 80 when she's in America or Canada or like if she's up. Sold it. So anyways. But yeah, money is money. Cold hard cash is cold hard cash. And it's going to equal whatever it is for you. So you want to make as much as possible. So I want you to value your time and I want you to value your. So if I wanted to work with you, all I have to do is just say, hey, I want this. Here's my logo. Like how Much back and forth. Do you have to deal with people?
Kendra
It's very straightforward. If they order from my website, everything is uploaded, they tell me what flavor they want and what container they want and they upload their logo. And then I've created an email sequence that once I get that, then it shoots them an email that says we've got it, it's with our design team. And then I send them a proof back to make sure that everything is right. And then once they approve it, we print it.
Jacqueline Snyder
Is it weird if I want to say Taylor Swift? Hi, it's me, I'm the design team. It's me.
Kendra
I know. Well, I have a girl that does my label.
Jacqueline Snyder
Okay, good.
Kendra
Funny, because. Yeah, just like a one person business. I'm like we, we. And I'm like, no, that's just me.
Jacqueline Snyder
Yeah, you could be Nancy, your customer service person. It's still you. You just make up a name. Okay, perfect. So are you finding for the setup cost that the initial. Because what I want you to consider is that you have an initial opening order. So potentially when they first start with you that either there a setup fee, right. So it's like $50 setup fee and 50 piece minimum or something like that. Right. So there's some way because you're getting the sales. So how do we. One, when we first land them, we increase our average order value. Then was they reorder down the road and we could think through like how often do they reorder? So you probably just want to come out with some sort of block. It's like to start it's a 50 piece minimum. It's not even like the 380, it's like 50 pieces. It's going to be $200. I mean you just like come up with an, you come up with your number and if you want a setup. So it might be like a $25 setup or first orders are 50 pieces and they're this. But then on your second and third order it drops down to this. Right? Like you can give them this incentive because what I want you to do is do you know what your lifetime value is? Like I come in and I place my first order with you. Do you know one, if I, if everybody comes back or they fall off and if they fall off, why. And then two, how soon do they come back?
Kendra
It depends. So some people I want like a couple that order every single month and then I have some that order every six months, every three months. And that's why I was like with the email marketing, I wanted to kind of step into that too, because then I'm always in their head instead of them rushing and saying, I ran out, I need it right away type of thing.
Jacqueline Snyder
So the email sequence and multi stream machine is, you know, it's built for like win backs of customers and abandoned cart. And I think there's a lot and then also there's promotion. So I think there's a lot you can pull from it. But for you, I just want you to map out your customer journey so you could take some time to do this. Where there's the discovery process at stage one. So they've discovered you. Whether it's word of mouth or cold outreach and. Or we call, we can call it warm outreach because we teach you warm. It should always be warm inside of multi stream machine. Meaning you've done, you're doing what, you're warming them up, you're following them, you're kind of interacting, your name's coming up and they're like keeping naturals and then you slide into their DMS like we said, like your kids say. So there's the, there's the initial part of it, then it's the first order placement. I want that. That is the most lift for you and your team. Whether it's just you, two of you, 75 of you, it doesn't matter. It's the most lift because it's the setup. Now, I love that you have everything automated online, but you have to get the initial artwork, you know, created size for labels, the proof size have to go out, they have to approve them. You know, there's a whole setup and then obviously the labor is the same. So putting the labels and filling the chapstick sticks and all that, that labor is the same, that part stays consistent. But that front end of the lift of getting the order, closing the deal and then fulfilling the first part of it is the higher lift. So thinking to yourself, what would I like to make on a first order? Is it 2 50, a 250 opening order? These little amounts of money will be the thing that significantly increases your average order value, will be the thing that significantly, significantly increases your monthly revenue. Because if you have 10 people coming in and they're spending 10 people coming in and they're Spending $200 each, we're making 2,000 for the month. You get them to spend an extra 50 each. Now we're making $2,500. I did not use my calculator, so hopefully that was correct. But now you're at 2,500. So we're getting closer, right? And I know you have a $20,000 goal. So what's cool is that if you just work backwards from that 20,000, it starts to give you the units. So if we're saying that, let's say we want, on average, you know, each customer spending, I'm just going to go with our two. So if you wanted to make 20,000amonth and each customer was spending $250 with you as they cycled through, that's 80 customers that you need a month to be making $250 purchases. Sounds like a lot. So it's 8Xing. If we think you're at 10 people right now, it's 8 times. So this is where you start to get to play with the numbers. And you're like, well, actually, I can get some customers closing at a thousand dollars each. So let's say you have five people closing at a thousand dollars each. Now you only have the 15,000 that you have to make up. And we're gonna divide that by, let's say 250. And now it's 60 people. So to convert at a thousand dollars, that's 20 less people. You have to convert at the $250. And I'm getting, like, complicated math now. But the more you can start to think about, how do I get more people to spend more with me? My baseline is 2:50. I want less people to be doing the 2:50 and more people to be spending way more than that. You get people spend 500 a thousand with you more often than now. Like, you know, you need 20 people spending a thousand dollars with you a month. Again, easier than 80 people spending 2:50.
Kendra
Now, do you think the setup fee, is that a good idea to. I've never had it before.
Jacqueline Snyder
I know. I think you could build it in. So I think what could happen is on the initial order, there could be, instead of you saying like a $50 set fee plus X, which could maybe be an obstacle in their way, it could be first orders. It's a $50 minimum to $250. Let's say you say it's like 50 pieces, 250. You can give them price breaks as they add more. And then on your next order, the 50 pieces is our minimum order. It'll come down to 200, let's say. So whether you say. And then you could have, like in the little parentheses where it's like, per piece, this is how much it breaks down to. And I don't know when this happens. I don't know if this Happens in the sales process of it. I don't know if this happens on the back end of your. Of the checkout, but I'd like you to make a little bit more money if you can. And you could say set up fee and make it separate and they still get it. And it's like a one time setup fee to work with us. But I don't if it's working for you, I don't want to break anything by creating an obstacle to get in their way. So can it be built in? Maybe. Or here's another thing you could do. You could say there's a setup fee, but the setup fee is. Is voided when you spend X amount or more.
Kendra
I like that one better, I think.
Jacqueline Snyder
Okay, that's another marketing angle. So it could be $50, $100 setup fee. Like you can come up with a number, a one time setup fee, but when you spend, I don't know, 300 or more, 500 or more, like you know, your customers, I want you to look at the history. I don't want to give you exact numbers because I don't want to mess anything up for you because you know what you've been able to convert. You could say we will, you know, comp or wave. Wave is the word. We will waive the setup fee when you place an order of this. So then they get to make a choice. You give it back to them. I choose to spend, I only want, you know, 50 of these. So I'll spend the 50 bucks on the setup fee. Or actually no, I'll take the hundred and have it waived. Even though you know you're building it in. But you do need to get paid for that setup time. I think that's important for anyone who's doing custom. They always think it's like, I'm just gonna do this as charity. It's like. But other people don't do it as charity. So look at your, look at competitors that are out there that with their design fee and then you can wave it with. With a certain amount spent. Okay, so. So speak back to me. What you think from, from this bit of advice from this front end of like that initial order and wanting to get closer to your goals, what, what you're hearing me say and what you think you could implement.
Kendra
Well, I like the. Because it's a, it is a lot of work to set up at the start. Like, it's a lot of like sending the logo to my girl. Even driving, I drive to get my labels, which is about 20 minutes or so away from me. So it's 40 minutes. So it's the driving. It's. Yeah, I get. I, Yeah, I like the idea of having like a setup fee and then having a certain amount that they hit and then it's waived. I think that's a good idea. I feel like I like that.
Jacqueline Snyder
Do you see where I'm having Kendra start? Well, we're peeling back the layers and actually digging into her customer's journey and what that looks like. Why? Because when you know and can lay out your customer's journey, you have a better understanding of where you need to focus and what can be fixed along the way. Now, Kendra's business is somewhat unique in that a lot of our sales come from outreaching on Instagram, Instagram and in person referrals. So her flow and customer journey look a little different than other product based businesses. Right. Those of you who rely more on your website and different ways of marketing. But once we've nailed down her customer journey, then we can really start to dig into what Kendra would like that first order placement to look like and why she should include a setup fee. I know, I know. Charge people for the extra work. How could I? But I want her to do the setup fee based on the time it takes her to set up and create each order. Don't you think that she deserves to get paid for her time? So if you want to grow your business, my friends, you really need to understand, understand your customer journey from start to finish, which is why this is the first place I started with Kendra. So now that we know her customer journey, let's figure out what's next. Okay, so then knowing your history of people spending with you, so whether they're people coming back in or getting new leads, that's the next part. So if we take your goal, so if we take your goal and say, what would you like? I know you want to work to 20k, but what to you feels stretchy but reasonable for us to reset and create a new monthly amount? What could be that first tier that we get to?
Kendra
I think 10k. So I feel like that's just 10.
Jacqueline Snyder
Okay, so what did you do that did make this happen?
Kendra
I think connect more with people. I think that's my biggest thing, reaching out and following up. And that's the thing I don't have right now is a follow up thing to say like, hey, how's your, how's your lip balms doing? Do you need to restock or reorder? Try a different flavor.
Jacqueline Snyder
So let's make that Your very first task. So you're going to think about one for new leads. You can test. This doesn't have to be like so hardcore, but you think about new leads. They come in. How do I create some sort of design setup, fee? Just start there so you get paid. You can always keep raising it. Try a small amount and then you could raise it. If it keeps working. Okay. I just don't want to break that engine. And if it doesn't work, then just include it in the total amount so everything is fixable. It doesn't have to be broken or like done debt. You're like, I did this and now it's gone and everything is breaking down. No, like just keep testing and tweaking. Okay. Like you're tinkering. Second thing is, is if you're telling me that it's come from follow up, that is the very first thing you should work on.
Kendra
Oh, is it? Okay, so I know you suggested Club Clavio is how you say it. Could I set up like, is there something that's, that will help that flow? Like if they put an order in, I can put like their email and just do a follow up every month or so.
Jacqueline Snyder
Yeah. So you can set sequences that are created that like 30 days after purchase, 15 days after purchase, 7 days. So all you have to do is do the work once. And then so let's just say initially you're like, you know what, I just, you might have an exact example where like I actually just worked with this one customer and I got them to this point. What did I do? And then think, okay, I actually followed up, or they followed up, but I followed up with this. You can get into a sequence and you can say, okay, like let's say you send the shipment out and then maybe within the first week, hey Jacqueline, did you get your order? That could just be an automated thing that goes out, you know, three days after ship or seven days after ship. Automated goes, hey, Jacqueline, did you receive, you know, your order? Like, hope it's so great. Make sure to keep it at a cold temperature. Cause they can melt. Blah, blah, blah, blah. Right. Here's a 5 coupon for your next reorder. Something like that. You could, you don't have to, you could just be a follow up, like a let me know if you need anything then, you know, 30 days. Let's say they ordered 50. They're seeing way more than 50 people a month. Right. Because they're not seeing one person a day. So let's say you're like, I don't know, you can even look at your data and say, you know, a lot of my best customers come back to me 25 days later, or they start to order 25 or 30 days later. You could think about that timing and then send an email out and be like, hey, Jacqueline, how's it do? How's it going? Like, just a reminder, it takes two weeks to get this, this out to you. Let's get your order in for your next batch. It could be like, let me know your quantity. I can help project for you so that we can, you know, keep you stocked up. How are your customers liking it? Can give them tips. You could say, like, you can even throughout, you could give them a tip. Again, this could all be sequenced out where you're just thinking through, how would I interact with a customer? Oh, you might be like, you know, you could suggest to your customers that they could take the balm and they could put it on any bruising anywhere. Just shows up in their inbox. Then you can send thinking 30 days later, you want to send this whatever. You send it 30 days later. And then maybe you wait for the response at that point. I don't know if it says custom or not. It depends on if they, like, you could. There's tagging. There's so much stuff you can do, but I just want you to simply think about it. And if you want, you can just. Just do this right now. You can create the same version of emails and create a flow for yourself, even if you did not put it into klaviyo, because that for you is an obstacle of learning how to create the flow. So even if you put it into your Gmail, right? Like, and you just sent me, hey, Jacqueline, how's it going? And you're like, you marked into your calendar, Jacqueline ordered on the 1st. On the 30th, I need to send her an email. You put in your calendar, and on the 30th, you're like, hey, how's it going? And you test it. Once you figure out the right emails, then you could actually put that into flow too. But I just don't want you to get the overwhelm of the software getting in the way of the execution. Think like a person. So, and I say that because I just said this to my team this morning. We have a cert, like a survey or a form to go out. There's a question at the very end, and it's like, are you willing to do X? And it's like, likely, not likely, unwilling. And I was like, do People say unwilling, like, be like, no, I'm not so sure right now. Or maybe, you know, like, you could use languaging. So think like, if you were just talking to me, how you would sell to me and then put that into an email. Okay. And then just think of your cadence, because lifetime value is you get a customer in and how much can. Let's just talk over the course of a year, each customer that you put the effort into getting initially, what could their return be to you? So if we think I. Because your efforts are value. And so if it was an ad spend, it might be like, it cost me $10 to get a lead, but then I can make, you know, 250 off that lead that. That year. Then I know $10 for 250 bath, I would spend that $10 every day. So that's when we get into advertising. But for you, it's even just your. Your marketing efforts. So that would be your second step. I want you to just think, like, how you would just interact with me or your customer, and I say me as your customer and think through what would be the points that I'd want to reach out to them. What timing would I want to reach out? Because. And I want you to think from a helpful perspective. They're busy. They have clients, they're running their own businesses, dealing with all the same stuff you and I are dealing with. So how do I just show up in their inbox as helpful? Kendra, that's like, hey, Jacqueline, you're running low. Let's get your order. And you know, it takes about two weeks. I want to just make sure that you never run out because, you know, customers love this as like the after product.
Kendra
Okay, I like that.
Jacqueline Snyder
Okay. So that to me, with the current customers that you have, could get you to 3, 5, 10,000 pretty quickly without you even needing to get new leads in.
Kendra
Because I'm just. I just created a lip scrub too, to kind of partner with it. Because I was like, I've been doing the. The lip balms for so long and trying to build that up. And I'm like, okay, I think it's time to introd do something. So that would be a good way too with those clients.
Jacqueline Snyder
So with the lip balm or the lip scrub, I think there's a yes. And now you're getting into beauty products versus healing products. To me, a little bit more of the adaptation to what you do could have been just like face balm or just skin balm with the arnica in it. So I guess it just depends on if you want to go into, like, you're going to start creating lip kits, like lip care products, or if you still want to be an aftercare company that just so you know how they send you home with like an ice pack or stuff like that. And like, they buy the ice packs that most of the time aren't branded. Sometimes they are, but sometimes they're just the, like throwaways. So I, I just want you to think again through how can I be helpful? And then they think of something, they think of me. So scrub can be fine. It could be like a drop and you could test it. But another option could be like, the same product could just not be in the tube, but could be in like a little jar that I use and put on my face instead of saying, like, rub the chapstick on your face and it's on chapstick. But you know, saying, yeah, because I.
Kendra
Did little containers for a client that just had the Arnica butter in it and then branded it for them. But yeah, I haven't like, like, I haven't put it out there yet.
Jacqueline Snyder
But another thing you can always do. And I talked about this. I don't know if I've said this on the podcast, but there was a brand, there's a brand called, oh my gosh, I forgot the name all of a sudden. Magic. Magic Spoon. It's cereal company. It's green free. They're very big now. But when they first started, like, I'd say four years ago, they started really blowing up. It was like $10 for cereal. Now we're all spending. They had sent out surveys as they were building, and every time they were thinking about coming out with a new flavor because it was basically adult cereal in, in kids flavors, they would send out surveys to their customers that had already bought and said, hey, we're thinking about new flavors. And it had like three to five new flavors. And then they would have us vote on the flavor we wanted. And it was like, we can only select one. You couldn't select all of them. And then it was like, we're thinking about coming out with a new product. It was cereal bars or protein bars or blah, blah, blah. So what I would love for you to think through is with your, your list of a hundred people or your customers or whoever it is that instead of you ideating for them, you could bring them into the ideation with you so you could send a survey that's like, hey, we're, we're, we want to support you and some other products. Here are your Options. Would you want a lip scrub? Would you want an Arnic of butter for the face? You know, like, before you send them out, you can come up with it and have them vote on it. The cool thing about that is it works two ways. One, it gives you data. So now you're like, oh, this is surprising. Good thing I didn't do that, or good thing I am doing that. Second, it brings them into the buy in of your brand. So now they're like, ooh, I get to work with Kendra on development. And it just sticks with. It sticks with them a bit more. So even if you were to ever do a scent or a flavor, you could do a survey like that. Because it's also a good sort of. It's marketing without you realizing it. Because they're like, oh my gosh, she's put strawberry and vanilla and blah, blah, blah, blah, and like, like, maybe that's gonna come. And so I'm thinking about it. So when you do come out with it, I'm like, oh, she's solved my problem or she's answered my prayers. So your two big things are it's, it's thinking through the. After you sell what kind of strategy you're gonna do and what kind of email strategy you're gonna do there. And whether you set it up on Klaviyo or not, just start to send emails. So that is just really dealing with people who are already in your orbit. And we're making, we're squeezing more juice out of the lemon, right? We're getting more. These customers to spend more with you. They're already in. They're like so much more likely to buy from you. And you've got a consumable product that they're giving away. There's no reason, unless they're not seeing a return or their customers aren't happy, there's no reason for them not to keep buying. So as you've been listening, do you see what Kendra's next step could be? Leaning into one of my favorite things. The only thing that you pretty much own in your business other than your own website is your email list. So I want her to lean into email marketing. If you are not growing your emails, if something happens to other sales channels, you have no way to contact your customer. So this is so, so, so important. Now, I tell my students and all the product bosses I meet all the time that they need an email list. It's the thing you own. Unlike social media, which is not your platform and can be taken away from you at any time. But your email list, that's yours, you get to keep that. It belongs to you and your business. It is an asset. But you can't just have an email list though, right? It's not some pretty collection of names and emails that we're collecting. Right. You actually then also need to be sending emails to your customers customers to see the results you're looking for. Which is why I'm so excited that Kendra brought this up. Right. She talked about putting a post purchase email flow into place for her customers. So this is going to be her quickest way to not only set auto reminders for her customers as they're likely to start running low on their products, but it also allows for her to set up the flow and forget about it. Which means the emails will do the work to capture those reoccurring customers and orders while she focuses on other things in her business. I know you're like, I don't have to do it all. Yeah, right? Plus, these email follow ups and engaging her email list more often does not necessarily require her to get more leads, more customers, but rather it helps her continue to sell to her current customers. So it's a win, win all around. Now this is something we just talked about in the Best Life Secrets challenge and the challenge I had just run, but I'm going to bring it to you. When we're looking at our sales engines, when we're looking at our businesses, we have to look at what are we focusing on, Right? And in Kendra's case, she's focusing on her chapstick or her lip balms. We know who her customer is, which is another really, really important thing to do. Then what is really important? The thing that we're talking about here is we have to optimize and fix our current sales engine. We have to work on that part because there's stuff that needs to get fixed and worked on. And when you do that, if you added no new customers, but you got better at the way that you sold to your current customers, we changed nothing else but the focus in fixing and optimizing, you would start to see your sales do better. This is exactly what I'm teaching inside of Multi Stream Machine. I know it's a new way, but you've heard how I've kind of transitioned the program and how, how it's changed for the new strategy of 2025. But that's exactly what we did here. So before we move on to any new leads, any new customers, new sales engines, like adding on additional sales channels, we want to work on this missing piece really has the potential to increase her monthly sales, which is so exciting. Right? You'd be like, yes, Jacqueline, please, I need this. Right, but. So that's what, that's what she's going to do. Now the next thing I want to do is see if there's anything else she can do to increase her revenue. Hey, friends, are you unsure of what to say on social media or what to even send in your weekly emails? Well, what if creating content could be easy? Would you be looking for a shortcut to creating consistent content? Yes, consistent content. Because, you know, consistency is key. Well, let me tell you, you are not alone when you feel like you're struggling on what to post or what to write in emails. And we know that you have that product part of your business. But as you're listening to this podcast, you probably already know that to get more people to your products, to buy your products, you need to create great content. Oh, I know, I see. I keep saying content, and that's the dreaded C word. And we can't tell you how many product bosses tell us that they want to create great content for their audience and their customers, but they don't know what to say, or they are so busy they can't find the time, or they really, really, really don't want to be the face of their brand. Well, no worries, because that's exactly why we created a year of content. It is your shortcut to creating consistent content that resonates with your audience and brings more loyal customers who can't wait to buy your products. If you want to see how easy this is and how easy it is to create content for your audience and your customers, head to www.ayearofcontent.com. the other step to this is thinking about your minimums and actually setting minimums. So if it's a 50 piece minimum x amount, there could be price breaks. So when you order a hundred, you get X and then you want to get to a point where either you're trying to get them to buy a bunch at once so that, like, I could buy now and then, like you said, come back six months later or three months later and then buy again. So some people like to just buy in bulk and not think about it every month, and other people might be like, I can only do 50 at a time and I'm going to have to order with you every month. And you'll kind of start to see what kind of customer that is. This might be long term, a little less email. I think they can Reorder. But I think there could be a bit of sales from you where you're actually hopping on calls. You're talking about what they need, you're actually hearing what they say. So that on your online version, you can give them what they're asking for and then setting a minimum so that you know that every time an order comes in, you're making at least X amount, because that allows for you to project and fill in that gap of the $20,000. So we're going from 80 people at 250 to five people at a thousand. You know, five people at 500, new customers coming out at 2:50. You get to start breaking that $20,000 pie up into actual data points that you know.
Kendra
So how do you figure out, like, the best way to, like, price it? Like, if they order 50, it's this much, 100, this much. Like, how do you. Because I've used your calculators. I love them. But how do I. Like, how do I figure that part?
Jacqueline Snyder
You just think through for yourself. Like, you know, obviously printing one person's labels, a hundred of them at a time, the timing is more or less the same. Obviously, the labor is more intensive, but then we can move through things faster. When it's like, I have to do a hundred, and I'm just labeling a hundred at a time, like, it might take a little bit longer. But you're not context switching, you're not product switching. I wouldn't do significant amounts. Like, your stuff is so cheap, it might be a couple cents each. It you just have to look at the numbers and say, I don't. Like, you said it was 380. So they're normally spending 380. Maybe it's, you know, 384. What's the most you've ever sold? Or I know we started at 50, but what are the average. What are people actually getting from you?
Kendra
The average is about between 50 and 100. Most I've done is a thousand.
Jacqueline Snyder
Okay, so if the average is 50 to 100, I think that break is the same. Right? Like, they can order a minimum of 50 to 100, but maybe if we want them to do over a hundred, so a hundred plus, then maybe you think about. You only know your numbers, but what number you'd want to bring that down to. So, but it's sense. But the. What we have to look at is just what the total amount is. So if I'm normally spending $200 with you, but it could be up to 500 or a certain amount. So you just decide. But again, it's waiving that fee and it's selling more value than it is the actual product. It could be like, so you don't have to reorder. You can give these away easily and then have your next price break. Nothing has to come down so, so significantly, it's like cents versus dollars. I think that your referral program could be more robust because you're. You've got questions on like, how do I grow my email list, how do I do Instagram? Which. Sure. But I could also tell you you don't have to do any of them right now because of the way that you're getting leads. You're either doing outreach or people are coming to you because they're talking about you. So I'm not saying not to do it, but if we dig into like actual levers to pull that have more significant impact. If you have a more robust referral program where like, I have a friend that sells. She sells stuff too. She's like co coaches for. She. No, sorry. She coaches and has programs for photographers, like people who take portraits of kids and things like that. And when they buy a certain package of something. So this could be another offer. This could be something. It might not even be a price point, but it might be like when you buy 500, you get 20 free, right. So you can almost like add in because that cost to you is less than the total units. So what she does is she's like, when you do X, she sends them these, like they can order. They're not business cards, but they're like things that photographers use in their business where it's like a fold out of all their photos. So they actually, when they sign up for a certain package, she'll send them 20 of those. And then when they do more, they actually can get 50. And I think if they refer people that that person can get something too. So you might just want to think more of like referral programs. So like get, you know, when you do this, I'll send you five extra. And your. And your customer that comes in will get 5 extra. So if they're starting with you at a 50 piece minimum, then you might be like, but we'll send you 55 because you came in through Jacqueline. And Jacqueline, you're also going to get 5 extra. And now that person's like, oh, cool, if I refer people, I'll get 5 extra. You know, so just thinking again, like a person, like human, like, what would. Incentive. That would really solve a problem for them. That would make Them excited to share it because it's a win win. So thinking through your referral program, obviously asking your customers so in your follow up sequence, post purchase might be like, hey, did you know that when you recommend us and you're your person, tell your person to use code X, it's gonna be like, you know, would you.
Kendra
Give them like a personalized one? Because I feel like that might be. Or would you just do like a standard code?
Jacqueline Snyder
I think no, no, I think it's more of like when they buy from you that they get an additional extra. So like, like, let's say I send Jamie over to you on my next order, I'll get 5 extra that are personalized and then when Jamie buys from you, she gets the 50 at least. But then you'll throw in an extra 5 to her with more Jamie stuff on it.
Kendra
Okay, and do you just keep like a spreadsheet to kind of keep things organized?
Jacqueline Snyder
Yeah, you could. Right now it's spreadsheet level. Right. Right now it's like there's not that many people when, when your system breaks, when like the simple system breaks and you can advance the system, but don't over complicate it. Just, just you know, pen and paper, it doesn't matter because the volume is not big enough that you can still handle this kind of volume mentally. But it doesn't have to be this offer. But I just want you to think what would be enticing enough that would get me to tell people about it because I'm gonna benefit from it.
Kendra
Okay.
Jacqueline Snyder
I like that we have a referral program right now, but it depends on the kind of customer. So we have a, there's someone we're an affiliate with and it's like every customer that we recommend, we get a month free or something. And I was like, if I were to recommend the volume of customers that I have to them, I would have, I would die and I'd still have months left. So to me, that's not a benefit to me being an affiliate for them, I'd rather make cash because of the way that my business operates. But if your customers value the product like the free, then it might be, it might be worth it. So, okay, so that's your next step is like we're doing, we're just trying to win back customers, get them to spend more with you. You're going to set some better minimums than the referral program, which is organically working without you. But if you just dig in a little bit more into that, you might be able to really incentivize them that they want to tell people about it because it's like they're gamifying it. We go so much deep into this about like actually creating community and like affiliates around it. But we don't have to do that right now. But down the road that's an idea. Then the last thing that you said is your cold outreach. So I teach this in MSM a little bit when we talk about wholesale. So you can almost take the wholesale module and think about it from this perspective of outreach to these practitioners. And if you watch the Pura Vita Jared Mayer masterclass inside a multi stream machine, he teaches how it should never be a cold call, it should be warm. It's, it's really significant. I think it could help connect dots for you. You same idea. If you say I'm going to reach out to 20 people a month and out of this 20 people I know that I can percentages. You won't know this until you start to do it. Five of them I can convert and five of them I can convert at a $500 minimum opening order or $250 minimum opening order. Then again, you're taking that $20,000 pie or let's go back to 10. You're taking the $10,000 pie and now you're saying I'm going to reach out to 20 people a month, I'm going to convert five of them. They're going to spend the 2,500 with me or the 250 with me and it's going to equal this amount of the 10,000. So now you're just mathing it. I need, need this many customers to come back and order this amount and I'll do my follow up. I'm going to do this kind of outreach to keep growing my, my customers because it's a snowball. So the next month they're going to need a reorder and the next month they're going to need a reorder. And then you're incentivizing your current customers through the word of mouth. And when the numbers start to come in, you start to track it and then you start to see my efforts going into this yield this result. I can pour more into that and I know I'm going to get, I know the yield that I'm going to get. What did you hear me say that?
Kendra
So to, okay, so watch the Pure Vita one and then to make, let's say the 10 is to reach out to let's say 20 and kind of see how Many people come back from that and then build on the word of mouth to, like, incentivize it.
Jacqueline Snyder
All right, so this goes back to everything I was just talking about optimizing and fixing. So she has a lot of things that are currently working well for her business, including her referral program, which is awesome. This kind of goes into, again, my MSM students, you're going to recognize this because we talk about word of mouth, we talk about other people talking about your products. It's amazing. So she wants to keep increasing her revenue and growing her business. She has a couple of options she can work on, including adding in order minimums to increase her average order value for those who are purchasing and making some changes to her referral program to make it even better, which will also lead to the increased number of customers and even more order. So if you have things that are currently working in your business, like I've just told Kendra during this meeting, I want you to lean in and do more of that because that's going to be the easiest way for you to grow your revenue, for you to move forward. Okay? That is the step two in multi stream machine. So my new students in there, you're going through this live with me right now that optimize and fix. And the cool thing about this is it usually requires the least amount of work because you don't have to figure out an entirely new strategy. You just need to fix and optimize. So I want you to remember that what we're talking about in here, she's got a very specific business, like order minimums and referral programs are not for everyone. But if your business model is like Kendra's or you can pick up just a gem from this, these are two avenues that you could potentially explore to expand your business. I want you to think through your next year and think, what can I handle and at what level of growth so you could stage this out. There's a lot of ideas we talk through. So find the easiest thing to implement the fastest, to just kind of start to turn that engine on a little bit more. The outreach is a bit of a bigger project, so you might be like, okay, in Q1, I'm gonna kick this off in January. I'm gonna set a plan for myself and I'm gonna do, you know, the first 10 days, I'm gonna do my research, and the second half of the month, I'm gonna do the emails, put it out to February. Like, you get to decide on the speed in which you wanna grow. Because when you turn the Faucet on. When you make it rain, you need the buckets to catch it. So we don't wanna grow so fast. If you're at, you know, a couple thousand to ten thousand, you a hundred percent keep up. But if we make it all happen at once now, your production gets backed up. So allow this to unfold in a slower manner so that you're building it, you're building systems into it and the foundation is set. We don't want it to grow so fast that it feels like it's falling apart. That's what happens with Shark Tank people. Why they. They go out of business so fast. They grow so fast and they don't have the system set up to handle it.
Kendra
And I think that's something because I have no systems and I have no, like, goals. So when I'm listening to you, I'm like, oh my God, I don't even have like, like monthly goals. I just kind of like, go with the flow. So I think, yeah, systems would be a really big thing.
Jacqueline Snyder
You're in Multi Stream Machine, which is kind of our main signature program and it's made millions and millions of dollars for people, but it's a, it's scalable. So it's like the thing of, like, how do we scale the business but foundationally, I can't teach everything in one program. So that's why with the Product Boss Academy, it was like, how do we build a, a stabilized, strong foundation business that will have these templates and these steps in this planning and the verified product that are sellable? And then Multi Stream Machine, Gasoline on the fire. Now we grow it with more sales, more eyes, but we need the foundational parts established. So you're in both. So. But I want you. The overwhelm is going to come where you're like, I have to do all of it all at once. I want you to just think through this and climb the ladder to the 10k. Don't think I need to get there tomorrow. Okay, so it went a little bit different than your questions, but I feel like this is the stuff that makes it simpler instead of you being like, how do I grow on Instagram? I didn't talk about Instagram at all, other than using it for outreach. So how do you feel in terms of kind of like wrapping?
Kendra
I think it's good, it's a good plan. I think the referral thing is really good. And I think like the surveys and the email, I think it's stuff that I can definitely start working on, especially with the holidays, people usually shut down the last two weeks. So it'll allow me to kind of sit and kind of just do my thing and then get started on it for the new one. Yeah.
Jacqueline Snyder
Great. So how can people follow you and buy from you and support you?
Kendra
Yeah, definitely set head to my Instagram which is KBN Underscore Naturals or my website is KB Naturals Ca.
Jacqueline Snyder
Amazing. Thank you so much and I can't wait to see what happens.
Kendra
Me too.
Jacqueline Snyder
Okay. How awesome is Kendra and how awesome is her business? I cannot wait to watch KB Naturals continue to grow. Now the main theme here is that in order to build better connections with her ideal customer, she just needs to first map out that customer journey. It's so important. Who are we selling to? What are we selling to them? How are they finding us? We need to understand all of that. This. And again, my MSM students, you know that this is what we talked about in the very first part of Multi Stream Machine. Then we want her to lean into email marketing. So important those are setting orders or sales to come in on repeat and setting order minimums and up leveling her referral program. Right. All I haven't talked about anything needing new new customers yet. These are just ways that she can already grow and work on what's already working. If she's able to implement what we discuss, I know she's going to start to not only see better connections, but get that increased, increased visibility, more eyeballs on her product and more sales. And if my friends, I need you to hear this. If Kendra can do it, so can you. Right? You just want to first understand who your customer is, their journey and their journey through working with you and how you can meet their needs. And then I want you to figure out what do I have to focus, what do I fix and optimize. And then you can figure out how you're going to expand and add on an additional sales channel. I hope this was helpful. Let me know. Leave us Reviews if if you want to tell me like the things you loved about this episode, go ahead and leave us a review on Apple podcast. Otherwise I will see you in the next episode.
Episode 667: "I want to build better connections with my ideal customers, how do I do that?" | Coaching Session
Release Date: February 20, 2025
Introduction
In Episode 667 of The Product Boss Podcast, host Jacqueline Snyder delves into a transformative coaching session with Kendra from KB Naturals. Designed for product entrepreneurs seeking to balance creativity, life, and business, this episode focuses on enhancing customer connections and optimizing sales strategies to elevate businesses to their dream levels.
Meet Kendra and KB Naturals
Jacqueline Snyder opens the episode by introducing Kendra, the passionate entrepreneur behind KB Naturals. Kendra specializes in creating and selling private-label Arnica lip balms tailored for businesses in the beauty industry, including plastic surgeons, nurse injectors, and cosmetic nurses. With a foundation built since 2015, Kendra has recently committed to scaling her business globally over the past two years.
Current Business Landscape
Kendra shares her business journey, highlighting her primary sales channels:
Despite being a solo entrepreneur, Kendra involves her two daughters in the business during peak times, showcasing the blend of family and entrepreneurship.
[00:01] Jacqueline Snyder: "All you need is the right mindset, a little courage, strategy and support, and you too can be the next million dollar product boss."
Understanding the Customer Journey
Jacqueline emphasizes the importance of mapping out the customer journey to build stronger connections. This involves:
Optimizing Sales Strategies
During the coaching session, Jacqueline and Kendra explore several strategies to enhance Kendra’s business:
Email Marketing Integration: Kendra acknowledges the need for a consistent email marketing strategy to maintain customer engagement and encourage repeat purchases.
[09:13] Jacqueline Snyder: "The only thing that you pretty much own in your business other than your own website is your email list."
Implementing Order Minimums and Setup Fees: Jacqueline suggests introducing order minimums to increase average order value. For instance, setting a minimum of 50 pieces at $250 and offering price breaks for larger orders can significantly boost monthly revenue.
[17:06] Jacqueline Snyder: "You just have to get paid for that setup time. I think that's important for anyone who's doing custom."
Enhancing the Referral Program: Kendra’s existing referral program offers clients additional products when they refer new customers. Jacqueline advises making the referral incentives more robust to encourage more referrals and gamify the process.
[38:35] Kendra: "Okay, and do you just keep like a spreadsheet to kind of keep things organized?"
[38:39] Jacqueline Snyder: "Right now it's spreadsheet level. Right. Right now it's like there's not that many people when, when your system breaks, when like the simple system breaks and you can advance the system, but don't over complicate it."
Leveraging Customer Feedback for Product Development: Drawing inspiration from successful brands like Magic Spoon, Jacqueline encourages Kendra to involve her customers in product ideation through surveys. This not only garners valuable feedback but also fosters a sense of community and ownership among customers.
[27:26] Jacqueline Snyder: "It also allows for her to set up the flow and forget about it. Which means the emails will do the work to capture those reoccurring customers and orders while she focuses on other things in her business."
Scaling Sustainably
Jacqueline emphasizes the importance of scalable systems to prevent the pitfalls of rapid growth, as often seen with businesses spotlighted on platforms like Shark Tank. She advises Kendra to:
[43:52] Kendra: "I think it's good, it's a good plan. I think the referral thing is really good. And I think like the surveys and the email, I think it's stuff that I can definitely start working on."
Key Takeaways
Conclusion
Jacqueline Snyder concludes the episode by reiterating the importance of optimizing current sales channels and nurturing existing customer relationships before expanding to new avenues. She encourages listeners to adopt these strategies to build better connections with their ideal customers and achieve their business goals.
[45:37] Jacqueline Snyder: "If Kendra can do it, so can you. You just want to first understand who your customer is, their journey and their journey through working with you and how you can meet their needs."
Kendra’s positive reception to the coaching session underscores the actionable and impactful nature of the advice provided, setting her on a path toward achieving her $10,000 monthly goal and beyond.
Connect with Kendra:
If you found value in this episode, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts and share your thoughts with us. Subscribe to The Product Boss Podcast to stay updated with weekly insights and strategies to elevate your product-based business.