January 2022 ITB Partners Monthly Meeting – Build Your Independent Consulting Business

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Jim Weber is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.  Jim Weber will lead a discussion building your Independent Consulting Business

Join Zoom Meeting

Meeting ID: 845 1610 9138

Passcode: 393716  

Prior to forming New Century Dynamics Executive Search in 1999, Jim Weber spent 22 years with Fortune 500 companies in the Food Retailing Industry where he developed a broad-based portfolio of “hands-on” line and staff experience in growth and turnaround situations. A proven executive with exceptional leadership skills, Jim has a strong financial background and heavy operations experience in specialty retail stores, quick-service restaurants, manufacturing, and distribution.  

Core Competencies

    • Executive search
    • Career Coach
    • Business development
    • Strategic Analysis
    • Start-ups and turnarounds
  •  

Drivers / Motivators

    • Building lasting relationships
    • Value-added results
    • Excellence in Client Service
    • Sustainable Productivity Improvement

Provide Financial Support Without “Writing a Check”

Phillip Davis

Are you affiliated with educational and professional associations?  This includes colleges and their related fraternities and sororities, as well as our state and national professional organizations. These organizations promote our success, past, and future.  We continue our affiliated out of gratitude and, in some cases, for the continuing professional and personal opportunities they provide.

 

Our better natures compel us to “give back” to those who help us achieve the success we enjoy today. Typically, we can give our own time and our money.  However, occasionally we are called on to “solicit” support from other people.  Many of us heed the call, but few of us actually like asking for donations.

What if there were a solution that could raise SIGNIFICANT DONATIONS, not just on a single fund-raising drive, but year-round?  And, what if that solution was “free” to the association and the donor?  This solution exists and can be realized through engaging Retail Benefits, Inc. as part of your fundraising strategy.

Associations that regularly communicate to 10,000 or more people are great candidates for Retail Benefits.  This includes most colleges, universities, and their affiliated fraternities and sororities.  When Retail Benefits cashback shopping is engaged as an element of fundraising, the following advantages will be realized:

  • Year-Round Fund RaisingCashback giving is automatic and on-going. Once the donor signs up and downloads the shopping app, everything happens automatically.
  • No out-of-pocket expense for donors – Cashback donations are from the money that has always been spent shopping. Therefore, no new donor expenditures are required
  • Reduce/Eliminate the cost of membership – Association can apply cashback to reduce or eliminate dues making it easier for members to join and/or stay affiliated
  • Drive engagement – A portion of cashback can be directed to the donor as “donor bucks” to purchase special offers and merchandise (such as hats, shirts, pins, etc.)
  • Designated donations to multiple purposes – Donations can be subdivided to support annual dues, the building fund, and/or special causes
  • Messaging – Communicate directly to participants via the app on association business

To learn more about cashback shopping and its potential for your association, contact Philip A. Davis at pdavishr@comcast.net or 678-977-5578.

Weinstock Lands New Client – Disinfect Group

Ron Weinstock of Weinstock Marketing and ITB Partners lands New Client, Disinfect Group. 

Disinfect Group USA, offers a variety of systems to allow retailers, offices, venues to reopen safely.  Total flexibility of units depending on the size needed. All manufacturing is in the USA. Disinfect Group USA’s  product has the ability to:

  • Disinfect people and their belongings safely – 99.9999% effective
  • Take thermal temperatures
  • Count capacity in/out
  • On product branding
  • Offer LED sponsorship opportunities

Disinfect Group – Sanitation Tunnels

SANITIZING TUNNELS

Dry Fog is an innovative new product that creates an invisible “haze” in our tunnels which are completely safe and approved for use on humans against viruses and bacteria. It works using electrolyzed water technology.

Available with 1 to 5 tunnels and comes as a fogger or a misting sprayer.

 

SANITIZING FOG

Each visitor and worker pass through a completely safe dry fog before

gaining access to your facility.

 

THERMAL IMAGING SCANNER

Screens for elevated body temperature at a safe distance for employees and guests entering your facility. Alerts staff when a high temperature is detected.

 

DIGITAL CAPACITY COUNTER

Add a Body counting camera that helps you know exactly how many people are in your venue or facility at all times.

 

NO-TOUCH SANITIZER DISPENSER

Automatic hand sanitizer dispensers allow everyone to disinfect their hands helping stop the spread of viruses.

 

STAY CLEAN. STAY SAFE.   RETURN TO WORK.

Contact Ron Weinstock for more information.

(310) 663-7669 | ron@weinstockmarketing.com

 

 

Ronald D. Weinstock

Ron Weinstock is an experienced restaurant and retail industry executive, consultant, and entrepreneur.

Over thirty-plus years of successfully launching, building, and revitalizing national and regional brands have positioned Ron Weinstock as a business and marketing leader in industries that include restaurants, financial, health, entertainment, and retailing. Ron is a business and marketing executive with a proven track record and a passion for team building, which/that includes leading cohesive & purpose-driven teams that consistently deliver exceptional results.

Cash Back Shopping – The Key To A New Competitive Advantage

Phillip Davis

Have you heard of “cashback shopping”?  If you have heard of Rakuten (formerly Ebates), then you have experienced the leading example of business to consumer (B2C) cashback shopping.  In B2C cash back shopping, the cashback is paid directly to the shopper as an incentive to buy.  Why?   It is much less expensive to sell an item on-line than in a brick and mortar store.  Online retailers take a portion of these savings and invest them in cashback advertising to bring more shoppers into their on-line stores and encourage on-line vs. in-store purchases.

This same cashback shopping concept can be also be applied in a business to business (B2B) environment.  The biggest drawback of B2C cashback is that shoppers are reluctant to provide their personal contact information to someone they do not know, in this case, Rakuten.  In the B2B environment, shoppers already have a relationship with the sponsoring organization.  The sponsor might be their bank, church, favorite restaurant, or any number of other organizations.  The key is for the sponsoring organization to have a trusted relationship with the shopper.  In many cases, the sponsor may already have significant personal information on the shopper and be sending the shopper regular communications.

Most organizations with ten thousand plus (10,000+) patrons can benefit through adopting cashback shopping as a component of their on-going promotion program.  The more potential shoppers, the greater the benefit.  The cashback that flows to the organization can be utilized as a donation (for churches and charities), to pay for future purchases (retailers), and to pay a portion of the price of current purchases (grocery stores, insurance providers, and power companies).  Most sponsors keep at least a portion of the cashback to pay expenses and as accretive to profit.

The benefit to the organization can be quite substantial.  For example, a charitable organization that is keeping 100% of cashback as donations can expect to receive roughly $1 million per 10,000 shoppers.  A commercial business will receive the same amount but will likely pass 80% or more on to the shopper in one form or another.  Therefore, a commercial operation keeping 20% of cashback will be retaining roughly $200,000 per 10,000 shoppers.

To learn more about cashback shopping and its potential for your organization, contact Philip A. Davis at pdavishr@comcast.net or 678-977-5578.

Thank you for visiting our blog.

Jim Weber – Managing Partner, ITB Partners

I hope you enjoyed our point of view and would like to receive regular posts directly to your email inbox.  Toward this end, put your contact information on my mailing list.

Your feedback helps me continue to publish articles that you want to read.  Your input is very important to me so; please leave a comment.

Jim Weber – Managing Partner,  ITB Partners

 

The Bridge to “There!”

March 15, 2020

I taught my grandsons there are only two places in the entire universe:  “Here” and “There!”

When one would ask if I had seen his baseball glove, I would respond, “No, it’s not here. So it must be there!” They thought that was pretty neat and I would overhear them telling their brothers the same thing!

So as a business owner, you should know where you ARE – you have your numbers.  But where do you WANT to be – say in 5 years? Where is your THERE?? What does it look and feel like? Why do you want to get there?

Having worked with hundreds of business owners domestically and internationally, I am always saddened to have a client tell me they don’t know or aren’t sure where they want to be in that time frame.

I remind them of what the Cheshire Cat told Alice, “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there!” But that “there” may not be the “there” where you intended to go!

No one disputes the necessity of planning, but the truth is that many business owners spend more time planning a vacation or a hunting trip than planning the future of their business.

I believe the primary reason is that the cares of the daily operation of the business choke out the priority of setting aside time to do the reflection necessary for a clear path forward. Stephen Covey wrote about the conflict in his seminal book First Things First, where he addressed the URGENT against the IMPORTANT.

In Quadrant I are the Urgent AND Important issues; these are the fires that have to be put out to keep the business running. Operational breakdowns, bad quality, customer complaints, delayed shipments, employee disagreements, and the list goes on!

Quadrant II is where the Important issues that are NOT Urgent reside.  This is where ALL the important issues of life reside: date night with the spouse, attending the kid’s ballgame or dance recital, reading important literature, meditating/praying, planning, reflecting, taking care of our health. We all recognize the importance of these activities in our lives, but our spouse won’t divorce us if we miss a date night – – – the fires burn up our relationships.

The paradox of this is that the ONLY way to get control of Quadrant I is to camp out in Quadrant II! Do the planning necessary to PREVENT the fires in the first place!

Let’s be honest, charting the path for a business five years out can be a daunting exercise, but it is essential to arrive at our “There!”

Strategic planning is of paramount importance. If you would like more information, feel free to contact me for a FREE 45-minute “The Bridge to There” presentation in your operation. Get a high-level view of what your future path can be!

Ralph Watson

Ralph Watson has a varied and extensive career spanning 45 years of increasingly responsible positions in both sales and operations in a very diverse mix of industry specialties, including food processing, textile and apparel, financial services, and professional management consulting.

 

 

Ralph served as a Senior Executive Analyst with a number of international consulting companies focused on the family-owned, privately held market where he distinguished himself as one of the top analysts in a highly competitive field.  In early 2014, he personally coached 10 businesses in Europe.

Ralph C. Watson, Jr.    404.520.1030

Thank you for visiting our blog.

Jim Weber – Managing Partner, ITB Partners

I hope you enjoyed our point of view and would like to receive regular posts directly to your email inbox.  Toward this end, put your contact information on my mailing list.

Your feedback helps me continue to publish articles that you want to read.  Your input is very important to me so; please leave a comment.

Jim Weber – Managing Partner, ITB Partners

ITB Partners July Meeting Featuring Robert Steele Presenting “Halftime.”

 

Robert H Steele

Robert Steele has 40 years of Insurance, Employee Benefits, Healthcare, and Technology experience as a sales and marketing executive. Robert’s biggest asset is his ability to take companies in transition and turn them around when sales, marketing, or product development was causing financial or operational bottlenecks.

He has taken four companies that were all facing growth problems with a different underlying problem at each company and created new opportunities for growth, financing, or product development and enhancement. Robert loves challenges. Adapt to dealing with C-Suite executives where a trusted advisor relationship becomes the difference between making a sale and losing a sale is a key to his success. His innate ability to ask key questions, at the right time, to get executives engaged in the process has led Robert to close six, seven, and eight-figure deals.

Robert’s passion is helping teams re-invent themselves to a level of excellence in their sales activity and exceeding objectives. He has mentored peers, colleagues, and even competitors to think differently about themselves and their approach to problems that have been plaguing their sales challenges.

UNITE: “WEE WILL…” EXPERIDIGM Enable “E”cosystems; by Mark Grace

Overview

We humans and “E”cosystems (Es) must unite as WeE to preserve and foster the ability to joyfully experience a natural and healthy life. “Es” sustain We with natural air, water, soil, and healthy food, but “Es” are dying from human poisons/pollution and intentional “T”yrant taking. WeE must unite and build meaningful WeE experidigm group rights to ensure WeE ability to survive and pursue healthy experiences. Learn how to create lasting WeE experidigm group rights. Unite and joyfully WeE experidigm together. Live healthy and experience Amness joy. Use Part 4 as a Field Guide to help WeE and “E” successfully survive and experidigm together.

Description

The future of humanity depends on the human ability to better live together and do activities together – I call this experidigming. Our future does not depend on how well we work together in business. We are pretty good at that now. We are poor at living together with and supporting all living entities in ecosystems (“Es”). Over 7.8 billion people are consuming “Es” at an unprecedented rate. Left unmanaged and unchecked, people may consume all “E.” Our future depends on how well We humans respect, steward, and support all living entities in “E.” This book describes how to have We humans and “E” living entities experidigm together as WeE, building a sustaining and thriving relationship for all within the WeE experidigms. One fact is certain – humans cannot survive without the life giving power of “E” to deliver clean air, water, alive soil, and trillions of living entities that share healthy food with humans. WeE experidigm groups can protect, sustain, and foster “E” while defending WeE using experidigm group rights. We and “E” must unite as WeE to sustain life and create the necessary balance of life to sustain daily living. Join a local WeE experidigm group to do activities and receive joy. This book describes how to UNITE and participate in the joyful experience of We and “E” combined WeE.

About The Author

Mark Grace

Described as a rainmaker and innovation leader, Mark Grace lives by the adage, “Aim higher, achieve more!” For Grace, “There will be setbacks, but the good side just points upward and you go upward to better. You might not see better right away, but better is there if you keep looking and seeking. You can avoid, deflect, and ignore the bad people who try and stop your growth.” As an inventor, Grace has received over 18 patents, many trademarks and has been honored with international technology awards. He is the author of a series of personal and corporate “how to grow” opportunity books: 1) Elements of Visual Talking, 2) Soaring to Awesome-Turd Throwers Beware, 3) Choosing Up, 4) Avoid Takers, 5) NEXT: “I Am…” Experidigmer 6) MORE: “We Am…” Experidigmers, 7) GO: “We Will…” Experidigm, and 8) UNITE: “WeE Will…” Experidigm. Grace earned his MBA from Washington University and Chemistry degree from St. Louis University. He is the founder of the growth advisory firm, Beyondvia Technologies. Beyondvia.com offers practical better ways to liberate individuals and organizations to grow and evolve their visions and value. Grace regularly advises global organizations and contributes to leading journals across a myriad of industries. Experidigm.com is the signup gateway to participating in Applied Experidigm Zones (AEZ) and building personal experidigms.

Contact:

The Laws of Growth

Growing up on a small farm in South Georgia, I learned at an early age there were laws that governed the growth of crops and animals. Now as an adult I hear everyone talking about growing a business, growing a family, growing a political party, growing a church – it seems like everybody is trying to grow something!! It has occurred to me that the Laws of Growth I learned on the farm about growing an organism might also apply to grow an organization.

The First Law of Growth is that Growth is the NATURAL RESULT of a healthy organism.  We did not go out every morning and wake the cows up and encourage them to grow! We kept them fed and watered and they just grew!  For those of you who have children, you never had to go in the baby’s room and tell Junior it was time to start stretching so he would grow! You just had to keep him fed and watered and he grew!

May I be so bold as to suggest that if we have a healthy organization, it too will naturally grow?  If we build an organization where people want to work and contribute, they will not want to leave and will become a brand ambassador for other people looking for a healthy work environment. And our clients and customers will benefit from their loyalty and will want to purchase as many of our products and services as they can use, and they too will become brand ambassadors for others needing what you provide!

So how do you go about creating that healthy organization?

The Second Law of Growth is you must Plant the Seeds to Reap a Harvest. You can’t just lay the seeds on top of the ground and expect to reap anything on the farm, and you can’t just talk about what you’re going to do, you must actually DO something!

You have to break up the fallow ground, plow it up, loosen the soil, allow it to breathe and accept rainwater! When is the last time you took a long, hard look at how you do what it is that you do? How long have you been doing the same old thing the same old way? Are there parts of your organization that needs the refreshing of a good plowing?

Now, this is not the “just change something to be changing” mantra, but would any of your key people benefit from some additional training or a motivational seminar?  Are there processes that could be changed to produce better outcomes? Would it help to have a consultant or outside advisor come in and give your organization a complete evaluation top to bottom? What would happen in your organization if you pulled your salespeople into work in operations and sent your operations people out to make sales calls – even for a short period of time?

It has been said that a RUT is just a grave with the ends knocked out and ruts can be deadly in an organization if not plowed up!

The Third Law is you REAP what you SOW! This could be a book in itself!  You will reap the ATTITUDE you sow! You will reap the employees you hire! You will reap the character you develop! You will reap the policies you implement!

On the farm, it didn’t cost much more to purchase the BEST seeds, and, in the long run, they always gave the best yield. Might I propose that hiring the best people will, in the long run, be your best bargain? Hiring less than the best is a false economy – you will always get what you pay for!

The Fourth Law is that your Harvest is directly proportional to the care you provide your crops. You have to make sure your plants are receiving adequate water and fertilizer, and your employees must be receiving adequate compensation and training!  Your clients and customers must be receiving high-touch relationships and quality products and services! Start being stingy and your organization will react.

The Fifth Law is you must PULL the WEEDS! If there is someone in your organization that is not contributing, either motivate them, train them or fire them.  If there is anyone sowing discord, fire them immediately. Crops cannot compete with weeds for water and fertilizer and your employees are not going to thrive with negativity in their world.  And dare I say sometimes a client or customer can become a weed.  Don’t be afraid to fire one of them if they are creating more problems than they are worth.

The Sixth Law is you will always reap MORE than you sow!  For every seed of corn you plant, you will reap 2 to 4 EARS of corn come the harvest!  There should be a positive ROI on every employee and every customer, and that ROI is going to be influenced by how well the leader leads. Unfortunately, this law also works in the negative – reaping more grief than was sown.

The Seventh Law is you reap LATER than you sow! There is no magic wand to instantly create a healthy organization.  It takes time for the efforts you put in to produce the results you are wanting, but don’t let that discourage you from starting the process. Consider it motivation to start NOW!  Get a sense of urgency about creating a great organization.

So, in closing, I recall the words of Kevin Costner in The Field of Dreams, you build a healthy organization and they will come! Employees will come! Clients and customers will come! Profits will come!

Ralph Watson

Ralph Watson has a varied and extensive career spanning 45 years of increasingly responsible positions in both sales and operations in a very diverse mix of industry specialties, including food processing, textile and apparel, financial services, and professional management consulting.

Ralph served as a Senior Executive Analyst with a number of international consulting companies focused on the family-owned, privately held market where he distinguished himself as one of the top analysts in a highly competitive field.  In early 2014, he personally coached 10 businesses in Europe.

Ralph C. Watson, Jr.   404-520-1030

Thank you for visiting our blog.

I hope you enjoyed our point of view and would like to receive regular posts directly to your email inbox.  Toward this end, put your contact information on my mailing list.

Your feedback helps me continue to publish articles that you want to read.  Your input is very important to me so; please leave a comment.

Jim Weber – Managing Partner, ITB Partners

 

The 7-R’s of Resiliency

Doug Reifschneider

Building portco resiliency right now 

The current COVID-19 crisis is already changing the economy in extraordinary and unexpected ways. But there are steps private equity firms can help their portfolio companies make to help weather the storm, and recover when the clouds lift, according to Doug Reifschneider, a CMO with Chief Outsiders.

 The world’s best epidemiologists only have models to predict the full depth and breadth of the COVID-19 pandemic, but companies are already feeling the weight of the economic fallout. They’re scrambling to find the best way to respond, and in many cases, survive, all the while being rightly concerned for the health of their families and communities. It’s not easy, and this is no time to pretend otherwise.

Some enterprises might be dusting off contingency plans for downturns or large-scale threats, but this moment requires more than that. It demands a resiliency program, one that’s clear-eyed and proactive. If the outlook is too bleak or too rosy, the result can be the same dangerous inertia. But Doug Reifschneider, a CMO with Chief Outsiders, has a series of initiatives that can counter that.

Building off his extensive experience in the retail and restaurant industries, Reifschneider has devised what he calls the “7 Rs of Resiliency Programs.” It’s a checklist that can help frame and direct the efforts to respond to COVID-19. “It’s based on a mental framework from the US Marines that is centered on three steps in coping with a crisis: improvise, adapt and overcome,” says Reifschneider. “Plenty of people are improvising at this point, but it’s time to look at more constructive ways to adapt and plan for recovery.”

Private equity firms would do well to look within each company of their portfolio and help guide them in executing each one of these steps.

Review costs. “Most people are already doing this, as they’d have to be asleep at the wheel if they weren’t,” says Reifschneider. Still, beyond canceling recurring services that are simply irrelevant, like window washing, it can involve hard calls about labor and supplies. A lot of restaurants, retail brick & mortar and even brand HQ’s are furloughing employees and the current stimulus will help alleviate that pain, but those cuts need to be executed without crippling the resiliency program.

Reassign tasks. Sometimes the best thing a company can do is focus on what it can give back. In the short term, that can be repurposing the business for strictly philanthropic purposes. He cites one restaurant that used its parking lot for a Red Cross Blood Drive. “It doesn’t address the bottom line, but it establishes the business as a partner in the community,” says Reifschneider.

Rethink offerings. For restaurants that never considered takeout or delivery options, this is the time to launch those. For retailers, this can involve more online ordering and curbside pick-up. But creativity is key here. Brazilian steakhouse chain Fogo de Chao was centered around its all-you-can-eat in-house dining experience. “So they became a butcher shop, offering their unique cuts of meat so folks could cook them at home,” says Reifschneider. “It’s a savvy way to redeploy inventory and keep sales from cratering completely.”

Another example is the company Wow Bao, that created a special licensing deal to allow other restaurants to produce and sell its dumplings by selling the ingredients and a few pieces of equipment to do so.

Reconsider sacred cows.  As businesses rethink their offerings, they can run smack into certain “sacred cows” that seem to be integral to their identity. That high-end eatery may balk at delivery options since that fish dish might be ruined in the thirty or forty-five minutes it takes to deliver it. “This is no time for those kinds of pretensions,” warns Reifschneider. “Find a way to make a meal pack, which are popular now, or focus on offerings that can be delivered successfully.” Several restaurants have created pop-up drive-throughs, with no more than a tent and a landlord’s blessing. And the likes of Home Depot have shifted to curbside pick-ups even as it prided itself on counseling customers in the store.

Reschedule Initiatives. Retailers and restaurants that had planned remodeling projects could move those up, but only if they have the resources to do so. “It would take only the best-capitalized businesses to embark on such remodeling projects, but if they can, it’s worth doing,” says Reifschneider. “Instead of closing for that week in August to remodel, do that now.” Of course, such initiatives can still be hindered by government directives that limit non-essential work.

Reconnect. Communication matters more than ever. “We may be keeping our distance physically, but we’ve never been more social,” says Reifschneider. “We have regular Zoom happy hours and contact clients regularly.” B2B companies will have closer relationships since they sell directly to their clients, but B2C companies shouldn’t go quiet either. They need to reach out every few days, so long as they are mindful of tone and content.

Reifschneider cites a recent study by Edelman that surveyed over 12,000 people across 12 countries on brand trust in the wake of COVID-19, which finds that 71% of respondents would lose trust in a company forever if that company is seen as putting profits before people right now.

 

“Every enterprise should take that 71% seriously, and make sure their communications are exclusively about how they’re helping their communities, their customers and their employees cope with the situation,” says Reifschneider. “Striking a tone of generosity and support is crucial.”

Ready the relaunch. There is no reliable guidance for when any company will return to normalcy. However, Reifschneider notes this shouldn’t prevent companies from planning the steps for a reopening. Employees will need to be retrained with new procedures for interacting with customers, and in the restaurant business, there are likely to be new protocols for food prep and increased sanitation. Dining rooms and showroom floors will get dusty during the shutdown, so time needs to be allocated for a deep clean. “This also might be a great time to retrain employees in customer service, stocking shelves, or getting CPUs in line,” says Reifschneider.

However, no one should take any of these steps in a vacuum. Each needs to be tailored to the market reality facing a given enterprise. “At Chief Outsiders, we vet all assumptions, with hands-on research initiatives that capture how customers and peers are thinking and acting,” says Reifschneider. “And we do this even when the market is stable and growing, let alone during a crisis that can change everything overnight.”

So perhaps the first step in any resiliency plan is for a business to get its bearings, and understand exactly where it stands at the moment. It might be all the more important to listen before speaking, to ask, and use that feedback to gauge what to do next. The best private equity firms will already have open channels with their portfolio companies and that level of candor and sense of collaboration should be extended to all stakeholders.

In times like this, humility might be a secret weapon, provided it doesn’t stop a company from acting. Fortune may still favor the bold in times like these, but only if the bold is informed and willing to help.

Doug Reifschneider
Doug Reifschneider

https://www.itbpartners.com/doug-reifschneider/

Thank you for visiting our blog.

I hope you enjoyed our point of view and would like to receive regular posts directly to your email inbox.  Toward this end, put your contact information on my mailing list.

Your feedback helps me continue to publish articles that you want to read.  Your input is very important to me so; please leave a comment.

Jim Weber – Managing Partner, ITB Partners

 

Needed: Agents to Market Cash-Back Benefits Program

Passive Income Opportunity

Phil Davis, of Retail Benefits, is looking for Agents to Market the Retail Benefits Cash-Back Program.

Retail Benefits (RBI) is the leading provider of organization sponsored B2B “cashback shopping” programs.  RBI engages over 4500 on-line retailers in providing an average of 4% to 5% cashback on everyday purchases.  The types of organizations that sponsor RBI include Banks and Credit Unions, Church and Charities, Not-for-profits, Retailers, and other organizations.

Just like newspapers and other media advertising, Cashback programs are designed by retailers to attract shoppers to their online portals.

You may have heard of Rakuten/Ebates, the biggest cashback provider in the direct to consumer space. Retail Benefits, Inc. (RBI), is the biggest provider in the business to business space.

Organizations that sponsor RBI include:

  • Banks and Credit Unions
  • Church and Charities
  • Delivery Services
  • Franchisors
  • Grocery Stores
  • Insurance Companies
  • Multiple Level Marketers
  • Political Parties
  • Power and Gas Companies
  • Resellers
  • Retailers
  • Social Media Providers
  • Unions

People say, “It’s not what you know, but WHO you know that matters.”  Clearly it takes both, but the value of what you know is often realized through who you know.

As we all know, not all relationships are created equally.  The referrals I seek share the following characteristics:

  1. With an organization that regularly communicates to 10,000 or more consumers who may shop on-line.
  2. The Partner’s relationship is with one or more senior executives in the organization. The closer to the C-Suite, the better.
  3. And, it is a relationship of trust between you and your contact.

There are twelve distinct verticals that fit the Retail Benefits, cashback model. We will explore those sectors in the coming months.  Because it’s an election year, let’s focus on “Political Parties.”

A political party that adopts the Retail Benefits cashback fundraising app and makes it their own (The Democrat Cash Back Shopping App) will realize the following advantages:

  • Year-Round Fund RaisingCashback is automatic and on-going. Once the donor signs up and downloads the shopping app, everything happens automatically.
  • No out-of-pocket expense for donors – Cashback donations to the Party are from the money that has always been spent shopping. Therefore, no new donor expenditures are required
  • Drive engagement in the Party – A portion of cashback can be directed to the donor as “donor bucks” to purchase special offers and merchandise (such as hats, shirts, pins, etc.)
  • Designated the donations to multiple purposes –  The donations can be subdivided to support designated candidates and/or party levels (national, state, and county).

For more information about Retail Benefits, please contact Phil Davis at:  pdavishr@Comcast.net  or  678-977-5578.

In our next article, I will be talking about the special advantages of Associations.  Associations is a broad category that includes professional organizations, fraternities and sororities, and college and university fundraising.

 

I the meantime, if you need more information or if you think you might have a referral, contact me so we can explore the possibilities together.

 

Phillip Davis

Philip Davis

Philip Davis

Referral Partner

Retail Benefits, Inc.

pdavishr@Comcast.net

678-977-5578