In this episode, Josh interviews Kris Gramlich, an experienced Amazon FBA seller and entrepreneur. Kris shares practical strategies for building customer loyalty, including using product insert cards with QR codes that lead buyers to claim free gifts in exchange for their contact information and order ID. He emphasizes providing value rather than manipulating reviews and discusses sourcing free sample gifts locally to quickly engage customers. Kris also offers actionable tips on optimizing product images, building an audience, and leveraging influencer marketing, all aimed at fostering long-term relationships and driving repeat business on Amazon.

Chapters:

Introduction to Kris Gramlich (00:00:00)
Josh introduces Kris, his background in entrepreneurship, and his Amazon FBA journey.

Product Insert Cards & QR Codes (00:01:03)
Discussion on using product insert cards with QR codes to engage customers and offer free gifts.

Landing Pages & Customer Verification (00:02:00)
Explaining the process: QR code leads to a landing page, collects customer info and order ID to verify purchases.

Avoiding Review Manipulation (00:04:06)
Emphasizing not asking for reviews to avoid Amazon penalties and focusing on providing value instead.

Free Gift Strategy & Messaging (00:05:15)
Details on the types of free gifts offered, messaging on insert cards, and conversion rates.

Sourcing & Sample Packs (00:05:48)
Switching to U.S. suppliers for faster fulfillment and offering sample packs as free gifts.

Landing Page Experience & Brand Story (00:07:30)
Using videos and storytelling on landing pages to build brand connection and encourage opt-ins.

Gift Relevance & Opt-In Process (00:08:01)
Ensuring free gifts are relevant to the purchased product and using order ID to prevent abuse.

Email Follow-Up & Community Building (00:09:16)
Using MailChimp for follow-up emails, sharing brand story, and building a community around new product launches.

Consumable Products & Customer Satisfaction (00:10:26)
Focusing on consumable pet products, offering alternatives if customers are unsatisfied, and prioritizing customer happiness.

Actionable Takeaways & Listing Optimization (00:11:46)
Josh summarizes three actionable takeaways: optimize listing images, build an audience, and use free samples for subscriptions.

Product Launch Strategies & Influencer Marketing (00:13:55)
Discussing launch strategies: audience outreach, PPC, influencer marketing, and new affiliate software tools.

Where to Find Kris & Closing (00:15:51)
Kris shares how listeners can connect with him and offers a free gift; episode closes.

Links and Mentions:

Tools and Websites
Zapier
Mailchimp
Sellozo.com

Transcript:

Josh 00:00:00  Today I am excited to introduce you to Kris Gramlich. Kris is a professional FBA seller, a podcast host and an account executive at Sellozo. Kris has always been entrepreneurial and enjoyed the thrill of selling items, from selling items at garage sales as a kid to mowing yards and then selling clothes on eBay. Kris learned how to sell physical products on Amazon in 2013, starting out by selling things around the house. He learned the basics of retail arbitrage and started sourcing his own products. Kris launched his first product in 2014 after watching YouTube videos and listening to podcasts. Currently, Kris has four brands and enjoys helping other sellers on Amazon. Kris hosts a podcast with Dustin, another seller, where they talk about industry leaders and other sellers. So welcome to the podcast today, Kris.

Kris 00:00:52  That’s quite the intro there. Josh. That’s pretty good. I’m gonna have to take a couple notes there and kind of implement those on our own podcast. That was really good.

Josh 00:01:00  Hey. Well, you have, you have a good bio yourself.

Josh 00:01:03  I think that’s that’s why it sounds so good to you. So I want to dive in a little bit more with, how you’re building that audience with insert cards. You know, we do the same thing with our brand. I don’t know that I necessarily see that as, like, overly gray. I mean, you look at like a box of, you know, grab some Clorox wipes. Right. What’s on the product label for Clorox wipes? it’s the P&G website. Right. So like and they have like a, you know, they’re not saying like, hey, come register your warranty per se, but like they have links to their social media, right? They have their icons, they have their website on there. So like I don’t think people need to be as scared about that. Right. But what are you seeing working really well when it comes to product inserts?

Kris 00:01:49  Well if anything good out of Covid came, it’s that people were more adapted to QR codes. So people like start to they know what that is now.

Kris 00:02:00  And so QR code like that just not people realize, oh I can scan that. So a QR code insert that is has some type of messaging messaging like so thank you. you know, get your free gift. there’s, there’s things that, that I’m doing now where, somebody scans it, they go to a landing page. in that landing page, they give name, email address, order ID number, and that just kind of verifies that the order matches with Amazon order. So we’re not just getting spammed for free gift. Yeah. And they scan it and we just give a free gift out. And, all they got to do is provide us with their name and their email address. we’re think about adding their mailing address there, just to kind of have that for like a backup plan to do postcards. I get a random side note here, but I bought something Amazon like literally 60 days later, I got a gift. Like a postcard in the mail. Really? How’d this? How’d this guy know to send me this postcard for another item? So, like, reverse engineering? That’s kind of fun for me.

Kris 00:03:07  So I’m trying to figure that out, but, Yeah, the insert scan, QR code landing page. Basic information. No first name, last name, email address, and then the order ID. we’re using a tool called, It’s going away from me. Zapier or Zapier, however you want to pronounce. Okay, that that, links up order IDs so that, when they type in your ID, it matches correctly with the order ID inside your account. and then from there, we send them a free sample and the free sample. You know, it’s just something to, like, get them to engage with us, maybe try another product that we’re thinking about launching down the road. it also just allows them to, like, feel warm and fuzzy. So maybe that when that review request does come and that that review request is done by Amazon, we’re not sending any more like, hey, give us a five star review. We’re just leaving it more like providing value. And whenever they get something from Amazon that says, how would you rate your experience with so-and-so brand? Maybe they think, hey, that was a good brand.

Kris 00:04:06  I’ll leave a five star review, so we’re leaving that alone.

Josh 00:04:09  So you’re not even touching reviews. You’re not.

Kris 00:04:11  Even to touch.

Josh 00:04:12  It. Yep.

Kris 00:04:13  Yeah. Just leaving like just value.

Josh 00:04:15  Yeah. I agree 100% with the, you know, not even touching reviews. We we’ve made the same decision because we have opt in flows and all of that. And everybody’s like why don’t you ask for a review? And it’s like, I’m not even touching it with a ten foot pole.

Kris 00:04:28  Because not anymore.

Josh 00:04:29  That’s that’s the one thing that like is if Amazon’s going to suspend you overnight for something, it’s going to be review manipulation. It’s like that is something you don’t even want to cross. And I think they’re not even like suspending people. I think they’re just like shadow banning like your products now. And it’s like not even going to touch it. Like it’s not worth it. Not worth it.

Kris 00:04:48  Yeah. It’s not worth it. And plus I think there’s enough going on in the background that that Amazon does with reviews and whatnot.

Kris 00:04:54  and the people that buy like we’re all on shoppers. We kind of get the idea that you can leave reviews and we get those emails, and so I’d rather just leave that alone. Get a free sample, give me your email address. And when we launch a new product, we’ll let you know. And we’ll give you a discount code. And you can go buy the new product. So I don’t even I’m with you, I don’t I don’t touch the reviews. Let’s let that be.

Josh 00:05:15  Yeah. Hey going back to so I like the idea of using QR codes and it goes to a landing page. number one question would be like what type of free, you know, gifts are you giving to people when they do opt in? And then secondly would be, you know, what? What messaging do you have on that insert card that kind of draws people in to say, yeah, I do want this free gift, or is it just kind of a mysterious, free gift that they’re after? Right.

Josh 00:05:42  And I’m curious, like what your conversion rates are, in terms of like, people actually scanning it.

Kris 00:05:48  So the free gift, luckily for me, or not, I would say when I did. When I’ve been doing Amazon, I switched all my thought process from sourcing from China and overseas to sourcing here in the States. All my products are here locally so I can get product really quickly. That’s awesome. One cool thing is that I talked to my supplier and I said, look, we’re going to try something here where I’m just going to we’re going to do a free gift and it’s just going to be a smaller version or a smaller quantity of what we’re going to sell in the long run. But I just want to get people to touch it like a sample pack of it, and they’re like, no problem. So that’s, you know, maybe cost me like 4 or 5 bucks, cost my cost to do that. And I am paying a little bit of shipping here obviously, but it’s worth it when you get the email address, especially if you’re going to launch new products.

Kris 00:06:38  So the gift is a product that they’re probably going to use again, or they’re probably going to buy again, or they’re going to have interest in again, you know, come 90 days or 120 days when we fully go live with it. The messaging on the insert card is simple. It’s, you know, thank you. Here’s your free gift and the steps how to claim it. It just says scan for free. Scan QR code for free. Gift. Put your information in. Confirm your email address. Really is all it says. And so okay. And we and we kind of make it, you know, brand centric like tell our kind of our story like how we started this and why we started this brand. When I say we talk about my wife and I, and why we started it, and so that kind of gets them in there like, oh, this is like a small family business. Hopefully like that gets them to commit. They scan it and and when they get to the page I put a video in there.

Kris 00:07:30  So the video on the landing page is like, it’s me again. Like, hey, you know, thanks for taking the time to scan the QR code. to get your free gift, simply just fill out the form below, confirm your email address, and we will get a free gift sent your way. So, and a lot of people reply to those, like I get personal emails back, so it’s kind of nice.

Josh 00:07:49  Yeah. Yeah, that. That’s awesome. So on the landing page, do you ever reference like what free gift they’re that they’re getting or is it just completely random. And they’re just like all right let’s see what you’re going to send me.

Kris 00:08:01  Yeah it’s random. So the products that they’re going to get are going to be in the same niche of the product that they bought. So it’s okay. It’s all going to be in the in the same area. So it’s not like they’re going to buy a silicone spatula and then they’re going to get a water bottle. Like it’s all going to be within the same category.

Kris 00:08:22  just a smaller version. There’s a lot of different variations, which makes it nice for the for the free gift. but the, the opt in rate, you know, all you got to do is just name, email order ID the order ID was something we just added, just to kind of prevent the the spam. yeah. People just coming to the page, because once that gets out there, the page gets shared to all these freebie gifts. Yeah. Next thing you know, we’re giving away a bunch of freebies. So we we did the order idea to kind of verify that, but yeah, it’s super easy. super simple. And then we use, MailChimp to follow up on emails. And we don’t email a lot. We don’t I don’t have like a lot of flows built. the emails are like, thank you for joining the VIP club. and then, you know, maybe two weeks later, we’ll give them an email a ton about our story and why we created the brand and, and what we’re doing, and kind of like a roadmap of products that we’re looking to promote.

Kris 00:09:16  and just kind of keep it casual. And then when we got a new product coming out, I’ll hit up that email list, you know, maybe a month before, let them know, you know, get ready. It’s coming. I like to share, like, photos behind the scenes, a little bit like we’re we’re packing them up or. Yeah, we’re getting ready to mail these out. Kind of let them feel like, you know, they’re part of it, and they are. and then when we go live, that’s the tricky part. I’m sure you’ve had to deal with this, too, is like, Amazon checking in, but it’s not really fully checked in, so you gotta kind of, like, wait for it to be fully checked in. so once it’s fully checked in, we send out a blast. they purchased the item. and then we go from there. But we, you know, the insert, just one part of it. There’s other things I like to do outside of the insert, just to kind of get the momentum going.

Kris 00:10:04  and get those, get those sales going. but the inserts is just part of it.

Josh 00:10:08  Yeah. No, I love that. And I love the strategy that you’re employing with kind of giving somebody like a smaller version of, of a product, with that. So is this kind of like a consumable or is this is something like they’re going to like, use up over time or is it.

Kris 00:10:26  More of a consumable? Is it. Yeah. Yeah. So we’re in the pet niche. I’m in the pet space. So. Okay. Just just think dog treats. And then now, you know, okay. There’s a lot of dog treats. Yeah. So there’s a lot of options. So, you know, we can go all over the map as far as samples go. yeah, but it just allows, like they get it and if they like it, great. And you know, sometimes people are like, oh, I don’t need like, my dog doesn’t like this or we don’t give our dog this stuff.

Kris 00:10:53  It’s like, no problem. we have a whole slew of other products that we can offer you. Let us know what you like and I’ll send you another free sample. Like I rather.

Josh 00:11:01  Interesting.

Kris 00:11:02  I’d rather send 100 samples out to one person and hope like to make them happy. Then just, like, not send them anything else. So, like, you know, one thing I learned at that e-commerce company I worked at was like, we would send out free items just out of nowhere because people said they lost their item in shipping or, the item they sold, the item they bought from us a week ago, all of a sudden broke out a game, and they needed it like so. We just sent them a free item. And so that like that, I had to kind of lower my guard. I was like, we’re just sending people free items. That’s like, we’re losing money here. But in the long run, they’re coming back again and again and again and again and again and again.

Kris 00:11:39  They’re telling their friends about you. They’re coming back. So, you know, whatever. If there’s if that sample doesn’t work, I’ll send you something different.

Josh 00:11:46  Interesting that. That’s very cool. I love to leave the audience with three actionable takeaways from each episode. Here are the three takeaways that I noted. Kris. Let me know if you think I’m missing something. So to begin with, we started our conversation with listing images. So my actionable item for everybody should be to go take a look at your listing images. And if you are not having a professional, whether it be a graphic designer working on them or a professional photographer working on them, or doing 3D renderings, like that’s honestly where you should probably start your focus. and then we kind of layered on to that, like focusing on that main image. How do you make your main image stand out compared to everything else that you see? So when you scroll on mobile, if you see everything’s kind of looking the same, you’ve got to start coming up with creative ways to maybe push the envelope a little, you know, add a few extra features to your product to make it stand out, right.

Josh 00:12:48  Zooming in on a product or zooming out. Adding, you know, if if it comes with multiple items like adding more items or taking away a few items, so that you just want people to click in to that listing. That’s that’s action item number one. Action item number two, I would say is you’ve got to start building that audience, right. And so if you are not figuring out a way or have a strategy to obtain people’s email addresses, their phone number so that you can text them, I’m a big fan of text message marketing. The the opt in rates are good and the, you know, the click through rates are even better than what you see in email because everybody knows their email inbox is just completely full. So figuring out a strategy of how you’re going to attract people there, would be another item. And I think kind of a bonus add on to that would be if you have subscription related products. Consider sending out sample packages of those other products that you have, in the hopes that those people are going to return.

Josh 00:13:55  They’re going to upgrade to the actual, you know, product itself, and then they’re going to become a subscriber and save, you know, customer of yours. So I think that’s a fantastic, like, free gift to be giving people. And it’s just a ton of value. Like, who’s going to complain about receiving an extra freebies in the mail? And then last but not least, when it comes to launching, new products on Amazon, I think there’s three strategies that you can quickly implement. is, number one, reaching out to an audience. Number two, activating PPC from day one. And then action item number three would be incorporating some influencer marketing. And on that note, I think you mentioned, Kris. You know, whether I wish there was like a software tool that could, like, give attribution links to all of these, affiliates or influencers. when I was at the Sell and Scale Summit, I ran into reversion, and I’m actually working to get the CEO of reversion on the podcast, but so far they are the only ones that are claiming that they can give like kind of these affiliate links using your attribution link to influencers.

Josh 00:15:07  So, I need to do my due diligence on that a little bit more, but that’s a new thing. New software that I’ve come across that hopefully will.

Kris 00:15:15  I’m glad you mentioned that. I walked by their booth as well. I walked by their booth as well. What do you guys do here? Like, what’s going on here? And I’m glad you brought that up. yeah, that could be a good tool. if they could do all that, you know, the referral link and bonus and all that good stuff, that’d be nice.

Josh 00:15:32  Yeah. So we’ll see. Fingers crossed. Right. We’ll see. Or maybe it’s maybe it’s on the, the road map down the road. If people want to follow up with you, they want to learn more. Maybe they’re interested in Sellozo. Tell us where they can find you. I think you also have, like, a free gift. You wanted to offer our audience and tell us. Tell us where to go.

Kris 00:15:51  Yeah. So, Sellozo.

Kris 00:15:52  Com. Com. there’s a button on there that says, like, request a demo. It doesn’t have to be a demo. It can just be a call and we can just chat about whatever. as you can tell, I’m pretty passionate about this space. So that’s easy spot to give me if you want to talk to me personally. LinkedIn. Kris, Kris Gramlich I’m on LinkedIn. You can always send me a private message. happy to help. I love talking shop. So if you need if you have questions, I’d love to help out.

Josh 00:16:25  Awesome. Well, Kris, thank you so much for joining us today. we’ll we’ll hope to chat again and see even more strategies as the years evolve and move on. So thanks for joining us.

Kris 00:16:36  Josh thank you. You for great.