Episode 182: Amplify Your Joy in Selling | Nadav Raviv

Welcome to Skucast, the podcast for entrepreneurs in the promotional products industry. Skucast shines a light on our industry's best work, features maverick personalities, and discusses what's really involved in running a modern promotional products business. Skucast is the official podcast of Common Skew.

To have a business plan and a model and a roadmap is just paramount in what we do. I mean, you have to have your goals written down. They have to be tangible. They have to be, you know, they have to be in front of you. Yeah, they can be flexible and it's a living, breathing thing, obviously. But you really want to have everything, your targets written down. And daily goals.

Nadav Raviv started his distributorship mid-pandemic and then turned his love for NASCAR into a rapidly growing business, quickly becoming one of NASCAR's most beloved marketing partners. We talk today about what it's like selling to the NASCAR market, plus the biggest lesson learned this past year involving client expectations and more. You know, there's always a lesson in every episode that's sort of a subconscious takeaway, if you will, meaning it's not an overt topic discussed during the conversation with the guest, But you learn something from them. And the one thing I want you to hear, and I hope you take away like I did, is Nadav's absolute love of this business despite its challenges and his joy in working with his clients. You'll also understand where his optimism comes from. He's the son of immigrants. His father was an Israeli fighter pilot and became an entrepreneur, still working at 86. And his mother started the Holocaust Education Center in Birmingham, among many other endeavors. Both his parents were integral in the civil rights movement in Birmingham, and Nadav shares part of their story today too. One quick note, if you haven't joined us yet for our monthly community meetup, I encourage you to do so. Last month's meetup featured Kelly Brand of IMM Marketing Group. It was exceptional. So far, our monthly meetup topics have included how to build a sales playbook, making marketing make sense, and our next meetup is on May 26th with our friends Lou and Seth from Cool Perks. You don't want to miss this conversation. It's a fast hour with friends where you can share, and learn, check it out at commonscue.com/communitymeetups. This episode is brought to you by CommonsCue, the work-from-anywhere platform that powers your connected workflow, enabling you to process more orders and dramatically grow your sales. To learn more or to begin your free trial now, visit commonscue.com. Now here's my conversation with our friend Nadav, and you're jumping in the middle of our chat where we discuss the clients he serves and he shares the NASCAR story. What markets are you serving right now?

So I don't really have a vertical that I, that I would say that I'm married to. I'm kind of, you know, I'm kind of all over the place. I mean, I do well in financial, I do well in healthcare, I do well in education. But one of the cool things about me and my business, the way I've set it up, is I actually work in NASCAR. So I help drivers and tracks with business development and their external marketing. And I guess some internal marketing marketing as well, you know, helping them with, with race day apparel, helping them with, with swag and giveaways. And even more so, because I'm in the door with all these marketing directors, it's an easy transition for me to be like, oh hey, by the way, there's a race down the road this weekend, we have a spot on the car, this is X amount of dollars, and this is what your ROI is going to look like, and this is how we can really capture that for you. And if you have some people that you want to go after that you haven't been able to break down the door or vertical markets, we have access to these logos on cars that, you know, these other marketing directors, and then vice versa. I actually have that direct access to those marketing directors instead of trying to walk in the door and get past the security guard at, you know, Bank of America, let's say. You know, I see the car, I walk up to them, I say hey to, you know, whoever I know on the team, and I say, hey, who's that person over there? And I don't sell myself. I don't ever sell my services. What I get to know people, I get to know their demographic, I get to know what they're doing. And being at the racetrack and being a race fan gives me credentials. I mean, that, you know, that, that really— I am their demographic. I, I know exactly what you're trying to do. I know exactly what you're trying to accomplish, and I know what I would like as a fan. But I also can see it from this other angle that, you know, really kind of gives me a leg up. And I mean, I've got a great partner in a company out west called Alsco. They're a, uh, like a Centosa uniform company. And they— I was invited into their suite by one of the Burtons, which is, you know, NASCAR royalty. If you know, like, Ward and Jeff Burton, they're the— Ward's son Jeb, he and Ward invited me up to the suite. I got to know them, you know. About 2 months later down the road, I said, oh, I saw, you know, you had a plush doll and you had a koozie in there. And, and my contact there is like, oh, that, you know, our koozies suck. Like, yeah, I mean, if you can find us a better one, it's, it's yours. And I actually was just out in Utah and had a, uh, an end user with them and handstands. You know, I mean, you get to just really market yourself well in this little sphere that I have, and there's not anybody else doing it.

So, yeah, you would think that there would be folks all over that with the licensing opportunities there. Is there a distinction between the marketing you're doing for them versus licensing and merchandising?

Absolutely. So funny enough, this morning I had to get permission to utilize the Xfinity NASCAR logo on some team apparel.. So I'm actually waiting for that document to come back because Stahls' is actually doing their job. So I'm waiting, you know, they asked me, they said, this is a trademark and yada yada. I said, well, you know, I'll get that document for you. It's a little bit harder, harder than it used to be. But yeah, I mean, so really I stay away from the licensing stuff. I do more internal and team-driven.

It sounds to me like it's a lot like NBA or collegiate where you have corporate use versus versus consumer, selling to the consumer.

Absolutely. However, you know, I do have some deals in the works where I'm hopefully going to be utilizing some, some collegiate licensing. However, you know, that's part of the agreement where, you know, this is another opportunity that I created because I had a contact at a university. A local track is having an event, a local track is having a race. There was a big event that took place that needs to be put on the car, and, and so I contacted my contact at the university and in that discussion, I said, listen, you know, we're going to— if it's okay with you, I would like to be able to print all the merchandise for this project. And he said, absolutely. As long as it doesn't infringe on, you know, the other stuff, as long as it's just NASCAR-centric, then it's all mine. So, you know, that's very cool. And, you know, for me, like getting to work with a sport that I love, a brand that I love, you know, that's one of the great things about our industry. We kind of can pick and choose who we want to work with. And, you know, that just furthers my passion. You know, I mean, it just really helps me stay driven and focused.

Since you're in a big market for racing, does that constitute a large percentage of your business? I'm assuming— and I don't mean that negatively— I— what I can actually see is that you have tons of businesses. You have tracks. I didn't realize you have tracks that have their own brand.

You have— absolutely—

not just the race cars, but you probably have all these subset of businesses that serve the racing industry.

Yeah, I mean, I wouldn't say it's a large portion of it. However, it's kind of funny because one of the biggest orders I got last year was from a company who is now the title sponsor for the local Talladega race for the next 3 years. So while I'm not doing anything yet for them trackside, they, they are already in NASCAR. So yeah, I mean, you're right, like it's, it's kind of a regional thing, you know, here in the Southeast where we're big on NASCAR. But I mean, you know, you take Alsco, uh, last year in March they ordered a bunch of, uh, hand sanitizer because they saw what was happening and they ordered a big order. I mean, I had to pull from web company Crown and hit— I mean, I basically wiped out their inventory You know, with the order that I got, I mean, everybody, obviously everybody else was too, but you know, that kind of just gives me that opportunity. And going back to when I first started in this industry, my first account was Talladega Super Speedway. They asked me to find a 50-cent item and I found these tire tread bracelets and they ordered about 10,000 of them. And then that, you know, my company was pretty impressed. They said, well, maybe this kid's got something. And so they hired me full-time. And on the other side of the coin, Talladega kicked me down to their parent company, International Speedway Corporation, which owns 13 NASCAR tracks, and I started working with them. I mean, I just delivered an order for AAA Innovations of 56 patio umbrellas for Busch Light.

That's awesome. What can you share, a client story that taught you the most this past year?

Yeah, so, um, so going back to that, that project that I was talking about at the end of last year, the company that's in NASCAR they did a very, very large project for their 50th anniversary. And it was, I mean, it was a monster. I mean, you know, 2,700 polos, about 5,000 t-shirts, 3,000 of everything else, which was stickers and pop sockets and koozies and really cool playing cards. You know, they're a treated lumber company. So they did custom playing cards and the joker and queen and king and all that was a beaver. So it was really cute to have these like beavers that are like, you know, the little things and, you know, their cards are matching their PMS colors and I mean, I'll be honest, you know, part of the project didn't go right because we were so pressed for time. And, you know, I had to eat a little bit of the order, but I'm still there. I mean, they just ordered another 500 polos. So, you know, obviously they saw that I owned up to everything. And one of the things that you can talk to your blue in the face with your clients about the importance of ordering in a timely fashion. And if you miss that date, there's a chance that you might not get things in hands on time. And that's an expectation that you have to set very well in advance. So while I'm asking them and begging and pleading for everybody to order by mid-November, of course that doesn't happen, right? Well, right, obviously you know what happened at the end of last year. The pandemic, the shipping, the inventory, I mean, everything caught up and it was the perfect storm. But through that, you know, we ultimately succeeded in the project, but we learned a lot too. We learned to really set expectations. And now that helps me learn how to train my clients even better. So you always turn a loss into a win. Me and my mom always say, you never lose, you always learn.

Right, right. Yeah. Speaking of your mom, you've got this beautiful heritage. I mean, can you tell us a little bit about— we'll start with your dad because he's influenced you and your work in a big way. And he's got— your whole family has a fascinating story.

Yeah. So my dad, he's a character. He's about 5'5", 5'6". He's a little spitfire of a guy. He's Israeli. He grew up in Israel when it was becoming a country. So, you know, kind of war-torn. He's got stories that just would just break your heart. I mean, about how he would load up trucks with supplies and see the trucks explode going up to Jerusalem when it was, you know, under siege, when it was actually, you know, being sieged, playing soccer with rolled-up newspapers. And then he comes over here with, literally 33 cents in his pocket, eating the ketchup and cracker sandwiches and worked at a cobbler and somebody would leave shoes for, you know, umpteen amount of time. And so he would take those because he needed shoes, you know, and just the stories that he has and, you know, rags to riches. I mean, the American dream. And, you know, we have a house in a very nice area of Birmingham. My mom was a schoolteacher in that area and my dad started his own machine shop after working at a recycling plant, you know, a scrapyard. And I mean, it's just, you know, he's a super genius. I mean, he was a, you know, Israeli fighter pilot, so he always comes up with these cool and innovative things. And he's just, he's just a really solid guy. And I mean, the dude works from the minute he gets up to the moment he puts his head on the pillow. And I mean, when I say that, he's 86 years old, and I'll go over and, you know, pop in and just surprise him every now and then. He's building like I think he's building right now. He's building a deck in the backyard. And I mean, 86 years old, you know, the other day he was scooping up all this dirt and he said, my back hurts. I'm like, yeah, dad, you just moved like 3,000 pounds of dirt. Of course your back's hurting. You're 86, dude. You know, chill out. But in the same token, I look at like Joe Paterno and, and I look at Bear Bryant and, you know, those coaches who, as soon as they stopped doing what they love, they passed away. So I'm okay. And you know what, if he wants me to go over there and help him, I do that. And yeah, we're really close. I mean, we do the, we do Shabbat dinner together every Friday night and, you know, we're real family oriented. So yeah, I mean, he's been very influential and, you know, subconsciously he's given me that work ethic that the promo never sleeps. I mean, I really, you know, that from the moment I get up to the moment I go to bed, I'm just like him.

That's cool. Now I realize where you, where you got that. That's phenomenal. How about your mother and grandmother?

So my mom and my grandmother have been pillars of the Birmingham community and the Birmingham Jewish community. My grandmother started the Holocaust Education Center. She started the Jewish Day School. She started the Jewish Federation. She was integral in helping FEMA come to Alabama and Birmingham. She has been integral in the civil rights movement. Her and my grandfather— my grandfather's a dentist— used to work on African-American patients after hours, which was actually illegal back in the civil— before the civil rights movement. Movement. So, kind of interesting about how he really had that fortitude and stuck with it. And, same with my grandmother. And, my mom was the director of the Jewish Day School, so really following in my grandmother's footsteps. She's actually now the— they call her the interim executive director of the Holocaust Education Center, but I think she's stuck for a while. So, she loves it. And, I mean, so while I have the work ethic of my dad, I've got these huge shoes to fill. Of my mom and grandmother. And, you know, my grandmother passed away a few months ago. She had her 100th birthday on Monday, passed away on a Wednesday. And really, like, I mean, you know, after death, you find out so much more about her. But, you know, like I said, we would go— I would go over there Friday afternoons and hang out with her for about an hour before my family came because, you know, my schedule is a little bit more my own than my sister and brother and parents. But, you know, we'd go over there. And I remember like the last, you know, some of the last times I was going over there and I tell her, you know, I'm on this board now and I'm doing this and my business is doing that. And you could just see in her eyes like how proud she was of me. So, yeah, I mean, we're cool. You know, she turned 100 and she made it. You know, she made it.

So, yeah.

Wow.

How does that great legacy, the beautiful legacy, contribute to your work?

I mean, it's funny you ask that because somebody this morning, I was in my gym and he's, he's there. My gym is a client of mine. You know, all my friends and I also get a free gym membership, which is great. They pay for shirts. I get a free shirt and I get to work out for free. Well, he turns to me this morning. He said, what is your why? And I'm like, that's a loaded question. I mean, like, I wasn't expecting this at 6 o'clock in the morning.

Yeah.

You know, but I jumped right in and he said, you know, I see how motivated you are and how hard you work. And, you know, I mean, we're friends on Facebook too. So he sees what I do. And I said, you know, it's my family. I mean, I just— not that I want to make them proud of me because I know that they are. And no matter what I do, they will be. But I just, I want to emulate everything that they did. And if I can, even more so, I just want to be as impactful in our community as I can be. And given this, this conduit is just beautiful because I always said like, well, I'm selling cups and koozies. Am I really being impactful? Well, yeah, I am because I'm helping somebody build their business. I'm helping somebody raise money for their nonprofit. If I can give them a discount here or there to put that money back into that, then yeah, I'm helping the local market. I'm helping so many people. And then, you know, we also do make a, we do a lot of donations and a lot of charity work. You know, I'm always helping, you know, if I see my friends have something that they need help, you know, either marketing or raising money for, or just they need a check. I mean, I'm always open to hearing something about that. So giving back is instilled in me.

Nadav, how, if you were sitting across from someone who is about to start their business, and you know, you've done this through one of the most difficult seasons many of us have seen in our lifetime. What would you say to them?

Well, you know, going back to my boss, Jeff, he really— and I hate, hate, hate paperwork. I just hate it. But it is so important to have a business plan and a model and a roadmap is just paramount in what we do. I mean, you have to have your goals written down. They have to be tangible. They have to be, you know, they have to be in front of you. Yeah, they can be flexible and it's a living, breathing thing, obviously. But You really want to have everything, your targets written down and daily goals. I mean, I'm very process-oriented. Every morning I do a motivational post. In fact, if I don't, my mom will call me and be like, are you okay? Are you dead? But so people know. And, you know, I mean, I don't, you know, need the accolades. I don't need the reassurance. But, you know, I get messages all the time. I look forward to your motivational post every morning. Dude, you have no idea. You changed my mentality today. Over the pandemic, I started doing yoga for a very short period of time. But what this, this one young lady was like, oh, I broke out my yoga mat because I saw you doing it. So you never really know who's watching. So you kind of just, you know, make sure that you're, that you're doing everything you can just to be an inspiration to other people or just a crutch, you know, something that people can watch.

So, you know, we, of course, are passionate about systems and you mentioned a plan and all of that speaks highly to what we've encourage leaders in this business to do and entrepreneurs to do. You also mentioned paperwork. And just when we were talking off mic, you were talking about CommonsQ and really your strength as a salesperson. You can tell, like, just everyone you know is probably a customer because you are energetic and you have a way of bringing people very naturally into the conversation about what it is that you do. How has CommonsQ sort of empowered you to do that so you didn't have to focus on as much of the other details?

This platform is unbelievably perfect for me because it really helps keep me organized. And I am not the most organized person. Every company I've ever worked for will tell you that. But it really gives you that process. You know that this is the presentation. This is an estimate. This is, you know, and it's just, it's just so seamless. I mean, you're clicking a button and it's generating everything for you. And I mean, I see every, every, like even now you're getting, more and more integrated, you know, which, which really helps us just like, especially somebody like me, focus on what I'm good at. Let me be in front of the clients. I don't want to do the paperwork. I mean, even the most of my biggest fault probably is I am the worst at sending out invoices. I'm like, okay, great. The client's got their product. It's perfect. It's on time. That's all I care about. Right. And it's like, oh yeah, I got to pay for this stuff. Don't I probably need to send them an invoice? But yeah, that's common skew has just really just streamlined and straight-lined all the processes. And, and that's just paramount for me.

Yeah. I didn't even ask this. Are you using Shops?

Yes. So I actually built one for a client. Unfortunately, I built it in 72 hours, which I mean, it's a pretty robust one, but I mean, it was pretty easy. I mean, the platform didn't take that long to build out a beautiful store. I think that they're going to come back around. I think it was just the timing of it. So yeah, yes, I have used it and I've even more so I've got, I've really intrigued some people with the pop-up shop. So instead of, you know, having a true e-com platform, the pop-up shop is great for, you know, pre-sales and stuff like that. I mean, you know, it's just, it's such a great platform, you know, and I'll go back to, I forgot to mention this. I love the community that it builds, like not only in the Facebook promotional product professionals where a lot of people are asking what kind of CRM systems you use and then CommerceQ gets thrown around in there and I'm, always, you know, as soon as I see it, I jump. Hey, let me— because I want that referral too. But, you know, selfishly, I want that referral because I love your swag. But, you know, I really feel like that the internal communication is great. I mean, it's basically that promotional, that promotional products page inside your system. And it really just, it creates a culture, you know what I mean? Like, we're Common Skew and, you know, this is, this is us. We're like a family. And, you know, that's going back even further, like the people who realize that this isn't a competition, there's enough business for everybody. The people who realize in this industry, I can call this person and even though they're a competitor, we can help each other. And if we help each other, we can all make more money. And if we can all make more money, we can all help more people. So that's, I mean, that's the way I look at it. So yeah, yeah. Love common skill.

Something I really respect that you do, Nadav, is that you do build community. You naturally build community. Inclusiveness is something that you just sort of exude. And it's just like, and in some way it's an extension of your personality where you just invite people in no matter who they are. But you've done this within the industry as well. You've got friends everywhere. That obviously is a part of your legacy and your heritage, but it's also a big part of your success, I would say, right?

I mean, the whole cliché, uh, I never meet a stranger is just— I mean, it resounds, you know. Maybe it's because I'm loud and I talk a lot. I don't know. I meant to preface this whole conversation with, if I start rambling, just tell me to shut up. But I mean, I just, I love our industry And I love talking about it and I actually love talking all things marketing. You know, one of the, one of the things that I just thought of, that big order that I got at the end of November, December, the company that gave that to me is a marketing agency, an ad agency. And the other— last week they gave me an order for their internal shirts and it wasn't a big order. I mean, maybe $300. But you know what? That meant so much to me because, yes, they trust me with their clients. But now they trust me with their brand, which I don't— I mean, I was like, I don't know about y'all, but this is like really moving for me because this just shows how much you trust putting this, your baby, in my hands. And that for me is just, is everything. And that's what I love about all of the stuff in our industry.

Yeah. Going back to a comment you made earlier about a roadmap and a business plan, what's in the DAW's future?

So being so close to NASCAR, I really want to dive deeper into that relationship and see how that works. I've got a couple of companies that I work with who do event management in and around the NASCAR world. You know, most of them are based out of North Carolina, and I see what they're doing, and I would love to emulate what they do in some form or fashion. It doesn't have to be as robust as they do, but one of them like basically runs the program for a bunch of NASCAR brands where they'll actually do activations at the track. And they, they lean on me for those, those giveaways. So if they need something, obviously, you know, these major brands have their own internal teams. But again, going back to, hey, I know a guy who can get it done last minute, custom stuff, whatever, you know, they know that they can turn and look at me and say, Nadav, if you can't do this because they can't, find us a solution that you think would be great going to a NASCAR track. Again, my mentality, my demographic is that NASCAR fan. I mean, I'm right, I'm not the redneck redneck, but I mean, I can party with them. You better believe I can party with them. So, um, you know, just, just knowing that they can call me for those last minute, those custom things, and know that I'll, I'll do everything in my power to get something for them. And so that's kind of the direction I want to go someday. Maybe, you know, having that event management type platform where Helping market on all sorts of platforms with all sorts of technologies, and, and then of course keeping the promo products front and center.

Yeah, Nadav, I love your energy, man. I want to bottle that up and just, you know, take that every day, and that way I can face the world. Your positivity, your enthusiasm is so infectious, and I love that. Awesome. One last word from you. How would you encourage us to look forward to 2021? What do you think we should do different? And we'll close on this.

So I really feel, you know, I listen to Gary Vee quite a bit. I'm really big into podcasts now. So he was actually interviewing the CMO of Delta the other day, actually just yesterday. I heard it for the second time. And she said— they said that was the conversation. How are you marketing yourself for 2021? And she said, you know, people are going to have— I can't remember what the term she used. It was brilliant. It was perfect. But, you know, it's not fatigue, but it's like you know, the FOMO of not being able to travel, it's coming back and it's going to come back with a vengeance. I mean, people are going to be out. They're going to be spending money. They're going to be going to events, to concerts, to travel. And it is going to come back. And all these companies that are still hanging on, if they're still there, know it's coming back and it's going to come back with a fervor. And they need to be ready for that. I mean, go ahead and start getting virtuals done. Go ahead and start thinking about outdoor events. Go ahead and ask them, you know, contact your clients, say, hey, listen, Q3, Q4, are you guys thinking about doing anything outside? I found this great product that I think would be awesome for that. I mean, you know, some of these companies like look at Web Company, they're getting rid of all their drinkware. It's like 30% off right now. Go ahead and put that out. Let your clients know that, you know, hey, first of all, I'm here and I care about you and I'm so glad that you're still kicking and alive, but you're about to start making money like you were again, you know, and things are coming back. So get ready. And that, that's probably what I would, what I would say to people in our industry. So thankful that the people who were able to hang on, you know, hung on. And the other people, if they didn't, you know, maybe it's time to start looking at revamping the company again.

Yeah. Great advice. Nadav, thank you, man. Thanks for your time.

Thank you. Thank you, man. This— I'm humbled that I didn't really know who you were until Common Skew. And I saw you front and center with that flowing hair. And I'm like, who is this guy? And you captivated me. I mean, you think I got energy in it. I'm positive. You did a phenomenal job at Common Skew. And then you reached out. I'm like, oh man, this is like a dream come true. So man, thank you so much.

Oh, no doubt. Thank you, man. I'm telling you what, your whole story, your family, everything about it is So impactful and so rich to us. Thank you for sharing that, and I look forward to talking with you again, my friend.

Absolutely. Thanks, Bobby. Have a wonderful day.

Thanks so much for tuning in to this episode of SKU Cast.

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Mm-hmm.