How to Build a Digital Roadmap That Leadership Will Actually Fund (with Sam Schwartz from Jensen Precast) | Ep. 40

How to Build a Digital Roadmap That Leadership Will Actually Fund (with Sam Schwartz from Jensen Precast) | Ep. 40

Most distributors don't have a digital roadmap. They have a list of projects someone wants to do, a budget fight waiting to happen, and a general sense that they're behind. Kyler Nixon [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kylernixon/] sits down with Sam Schwartz [https://www.linkedin.com/in/samantharschwartz/], VP of E-commerce at Jensen Precast, to walk through a real framework for building one. Sam presented this process at B2BEA in Scottsdale, where the RICE prioritization method she introduced reportedly had every person in the room writing it down. This episode gets into the meat of that: how to actually uncover what customers need, generate ideas worth acting on, attach financial outcomes to those ideas, and then rank them without politics getting in the way. ㅤ 👤 Guest Bio Sam Schwartz [https://www.linkedin.com/in/samantharschwartz/] is VP of E-commerce at Jensen Precast, one of the largest independently owned precast concrete manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Sparks, Nevada. She leads digital strategy for a company that sells complex, spec-heavy products to contractors and public works customers across the West. Sam is a certified B2BEA Coach and a regular speaker at industry events, including B2B Online Chicago and B2BEA's annual conference. ㅤ 📌 What We Cover * Why voice of customer is a spectrum, from five-minute phone calls to Google Analytics, and why you need both ends to make sense of anything * How to write survey questions that reveal actual customer behavior instead of just confirming what you already believe * Why your technology vendors are an underused idea source, including how asking a Shopify rep for a site audit surfaced features the team didn't know existed * How to build a business case when the ROI is fuzzy, using product data enrichment as a worked example * Why presenting conservative, target, and aggressive financial projections is more useful than a single number, especially in front of a leadership team * The full RICE method (Reach, Impact, Confidence, Effort): what each variable means, how to score them, and how the formula produces a priority ranking you can actually defend * Why effort scoring should include every team involved, not just IT * Why roadmapping is a cultural activity, and why change management is the part no framework fully solves ㅤ 🔗 Resources Mentioned * B2BEA (B2B eCommerce Association) [https://www.b2bea.org/] * Jensen Precast [https://www.jensenprecast.com/] * Klaviyo [https://www.klaviyo.com/] * Google Analytics [https://analytics.google.com/] * Shopify [https://www.shopify.com/]

From 1% To 15% AI Traffic In Three Months (with Bob Goodliffe from Cyberweld) | Ep. 39

Cyberweld has been in business since 1938, online since 2000, and is watching AI-referred traffic climb from 1% in February to 15% this month, with 25% expected by summer. Kyler Nixon [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kylernixon/] sits down with Bob Goodliffe [https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-goodliffe-24748042/], fourth-generation CEO of Cyberweld, to get into how a welding distributor builds product pages, runs retention, and survives a platform migration. Bob's philosophy on product copy hasn't changed in 25 years, but it turns out the same approach that helps his customer service reps answer questions is exactly what AI search engines reward. They also get into rewards programs in B2B, email as a retention tool, and the two-year organic hangover from migrating off a legacy platform. ㅤ 👤 Guest Bio Bob Goodliffe [https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-goodliffe-24748042/] is President and CEO of Cyberweld, the online welding supply business operated by J.W. Goodliffe & Son, Inc. Bob is a fourth-generation family employee. His son and daughter are fifth generation. The company started in 1938 in Elizabeth, New Jersey as a traditional welding supply distributor. Bob took it online in 2000 with 50 SKUs and went fully online in 2016 after selling the gas distribution side of the business. Cyberweld now operates from locations in New Jersey and Mesa, Arizona. ㅤ 📌 What We Cover * Why Bob built Cyberweld's product pages for his customer service team and how that same approach turns out to be what AI search wants * The 1995 marketing conference moment that put Bob five years ahead on e-commerce * How AI-referred traffic at Cyberweld went from 1% in February to 15% this month, projected at 25% by summer * A competitor running AI-generated product copy with disclaimers admitting the content may not be accurate, including on a $5,000 welder * Why specs belong in the first 200 characters of a product page and marketing fluff does not * Cyberweld's two-prong retention playbook: phone number on every page plus email replenishment to a 350,000-person opted-in list * The reality of a rewards program on skinny industrial margins and how the math actually works * The two-year organic search hangover after migrating off a 20-year-old e-commerce platform ㅤ 🔗 Resources Mentioned * Cyberweld [https://store.cyberweld.com/] * Episode 15 with Jackson Orrin from Reinders (B2B loyalty program deep dive) * Miller, Millermatic 200 * Kyler Nixon [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kylernixon/] * Bob Goodliffe [https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-goodliffe-24748042/]

You Can't Market a Product You Don't Know (with Rich Ward from AcroMat) | Ep. 38

Most marketers in distribution and manufacturing can write a polished paragraph about a product they barely understand. Rich Ward [https://www.linkedin.com/in/richwardjr/], Director of Marketing at AcroMat, decided early in his career that path had a ceiling. So he made product expertise his first deliverable, before he built a single campaign. ㅤ Kyler Nixon [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kylernixon/] sits down with Rich to talk about how that decision shaped his career and grew AcroMat. They get into how Rich learned the product by sitting in on sales calls, walking the production floor a couple days a week, and cold-calling ergonomics consultants with one line: this is not a sales inquiry, I just want to learn. They also cover why simple before-and-after content has been a steady lead driver for AcroMat against bigger competitors, and how the company thinks about retention when their product lasts five to eight years. ㅤ 👤 Guest Bio Rich Ward [https://www.linkedin.com/in/richwardjr/] is Director of Marketing at AcroMat, a 20-year-old custom anti-fatigue mat manufacturer based in Lakeville, Minnesota. AcroMat makes precision-cut mats to any shape and size for facilities run by companies like John Deere, Toyota, and Boeing. The company has doubled revenue each of the past three years. Before AcroMat, Rich came up as a writer covering healthcare, business, and engineering content, and he's now four years into industrial marketing. ㅤ 📌 What We Cover * Why technical product knowledge is a real career multiplier in industrial marketing, not just a nice-to-have * The exact moves Rich made in his first year at AcroMat to learn the product (sales calls, surveys with webinar gifts, shadowing the production team a couple days a week) * How to cold-call therapists, ergonomics consultants, and 5S leaders without it being a sales pitch, and how those calls turned into blog content and customer relationships * Why AcroMat treats LinkedIn and Reddit as paid-channel substitutes when you can't outspend Uline and Grainger * The simple before-and-after photo format that became AcroMat's steady lead driver, and what makes it actually work * Curling as the most common anti-fatigue mat failure mode, and why open-cell construction is the root cause * Retention strategy when your product is built to last five to eight years (and why segmenting by buying window matters more than reorder cadence) * Kyler's framework for B2B email retention: sales-focused content for buyers inside the buying window, education and nurture for the 90 to 95% who aren't ㅤ 🔗 Resources Mentioned * AcroMat [https://acromat.com] (Rich's company) * Reddit [https://www.reddit.com] and LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com] as primary marketing channels for AcroMat * Uline [https://www.uline.com] and Grainger [https://www.grainger.com] as the larger competitors AcroMat plays against * OSHA [https://www.osha.gov] and Canadian MSD (musculoskeletal disorder) prevention resources Rich studied to learn the ergonomics use case * John Deere, Toyota, and Boeing referenced as examples of AcroMat's manufacturing customer base * Episode with Jeff Felton, Kyler's business partner at Forward Studios, where the buying-window segmentation framework was introduced

They Spent $18,000 on a Mailer and Got $39,000 Back (with Mark Ryan from Plush in a Rush) | Ep. 37

Most distributors spend a lot of time talking about retention. This episode goes the other direction. Kyler Nixon [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kylernixon/] and Mark Ryan [https://www.linkedin.com/in/wmarkryan/] break down a direct mail acquisition campaign that Plush in a Rush ran to find new florist customers before Valentine's Day. The numbers are specific: 22,000 mailers, $18,000 all in, 130 new sales, $39,000 in revenue, and a gross profit of nearly $21,000 on the campaign alone. Not a loss-leader. Not a bet on future LTV. Profitable on the first swing. The conversation also gets into how Plush in a Rush blends D2C-style tactics into a strict B2B wholesale model, why keeping your minimum order quantity up is a feature not a bug, and where AI fits into a 30-year-old stuffed animal distributor's roadmap. ㅤ 👤 Guest Bio Mark Ryan [https://www.linkedin.com/in/wmarkryan/] is Founder and CEO of William Ryan Group, a Dallas-based B2B brand strategy and research consultancy. His career includes over 30 years working with companies like Exxon, Texas Instruments, American Airlines, and McDonald's. He serves as fractional CMO for Plush in a Rush, a wholesale distributor of stuffed animals founded in 1992, and led the development of their "America's Plush Headquarters" brand positioning. ㅤ 📌 What We Cover * How Plush in a Rush built a direct mail campaign targeting florists for their biggest season (Valentine's Day), with a full cost and revenue breakdown: $18,000 spent, $39,000 returned * Why they buy a list of contacts that haven't heard of the company yet, and how they scrub for overlap with their existing email list * What's in the mailer itself: an eight-page, 8.5" x 11" product catalog focused on 50 to 60 Valentine's products, not the full catalog * The first-time buyer offer ($30 off) that doubles as an email opt-in, feeding new customers directly into a Klaviyo welcome series * Why B2B wholesale companies can apply D2C tactics like discount opt-ins and monthly giveaways without losing their B2B identity * The discipline of holding the $150 minimum order quantity and why Plush in a Rush has never broken it to chase retail volume * Todd Steinberg's roadmap for online logo uploading and visual approval for custom-printed t-shirt orders * Kyler's take on building a custom B2B popup tool using Claude Code and Lovable, and why Klaviyo's popup limitations frustrate B2B marketers ㅤ 🔗 Resources Mentioned * Plush in a Rush [https://www.plushinarush.com/] — wholesale distributor of stuffed animals and plush toys * Klaviyo [https://www.klaviyo.com/] — email marketing platform used for Plush in a Rush's welcome series, seasonal campaigns, and popups * Shopify [https://www.shopify.com/] — e-commerce platform powering the Plush in a Rush website * Lovable [https://lovable.dev/] — AI-powered app builder Kyler used to build a custom B2B popup tool * Claude Code [https://claude.ai/code] — Anthropic's coding tool, also used in building the popup tool * William Ryan Group [https://w-ryan.com/] — Mark Ryan's B2B brand strategy and research consultancy

What Are You the Best in the World At? (with Shane Hollenbaugh from ARCH Cutting Tools) | Ep. 36

When a company grows by acquisition, the obvious risk is fragmentation. Fifteen cutting tool plants, each built by an entrepreneur who spent decades doing things their own way, don't automatically speak the same language. The challenge isn't the products. It's getting every part of the business to pull toward the same outcome. ㅤ That's the problem Kyler Nixon [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kylernixon/] and Shane Hollenbaugh [https://www.linkedin.com/in/shane-hollenbaugh-a907594/] dig into on this episode. Shane joined ARCH Cutting Tools in October 2025 as Chief Revenue Officer, five months in when this was recorded, and has already added eight new sales reps, established weekly plant-to-salesforce alignment calls, and built a system around one repeating question: what are you the best in the world at? ㅤ The conversation covers how Shane is deploying a salesforce across 15 manufacturing facilities, how platform-based load leveling cut carbide lead times to two to three weeks against an industry average of ten to twelve, and what actually separates a sales hire that wins from one that doesn't. ㅤ 👤 Guest Bio Shane Hollenbaugh [https://www.linkedin.com/in/shane-hollenbaugh-a907594/] is the Chief Revenue Officer at ARCH Cutting Tools [https://www.archcuttingtools.com], a U.S.-based manufacturer of high-speed steel, tungsten carbide, PCD, and CBN cutting tools with 15 manufacturing facilities across the eastern United States. Shane brings nearly 30 years in the cutting tool industry, including 14 years at MAPAL and 11 years at YG-1 as Executive Director of Sales before taking on the CRO role at ARCH in October 2025. ㅤ 📌 What We Cover * How ARCH's acquisition model created a multi-plant alignment challenge and what Shane built in his first five months to address it * The "best in the world at" framework: why "we're good at everything" is a non-answer, and how pushing business unit managers to name one specialty changes how a salesforce gets deployed * Platform-based load leveling across ANCA, Walter, and Rollomatic grinding plants and how that gets carbide lead times to two to three weeks when the rest of the industry runs ten to twelve * The one interview question Shane asks every sales candidate, and what their body language tells him before they even finish answering * Why a candidate who asks about after-hours time during an interview is already raising a red flag, and what questions signal someone who actually wants to learn * The two rules Shane's first mentor drilled into him thirty years ago, including why being good at golf is grounds for termination ㅤ 🔗 Resources Mentioned * ARCH Cutting Tools [https://www.archcuttingtools.com] - ARCH's website, products, and rep locator * Shane Hollenbaugh on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/shane-hollenbaugh-a907594/] - Kyler specifically calls out Shane's LinkedIn presence as worth following