CEO Chat with Sam Richardson of the Identity Group

Join Sid for a riveting conversation with Sam Richardson, President and CEO of the Identity Group. Sam's journey to the top is an intriguing cocktail of sports, international living, and a deep dive into the paper and print industry. Prepare to be engrossed as he takes us from his time on the college sports field, to the aroma of paper plants in the southern United States, and his international experience in Brussels, Belgium. Listen as he articulates how these experiences shaped his approach to the contract interiors industry.

Sam shares valuable insights into the evolution of the Identity Group, honed through years of hard work and strategic decisions. A rich narrative unfolds as he details the company's transformation in providing signage services, experiential graphics, and branded environments. This is an opportunity to learn from a seasoned CEO about the importance of seizing opportunities, learning from experiences, and the delicate balance required between personal growth and family commitments when making career decisions.

Finally, Sam unravels the intersection between experiential graphics, furniture, and the disruption in the industry. Revealing the role of SEGD and how the Identity Group is leading the way in transitioning from analog to digital. We also get a sneak peek into a major upcoming revelation from the Identity Group. Be sure to join Sid for this enlightening conversation with Sam Richardson, who continues to shape the future of the contract interiors industry.


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The Trend Report introduction music is provided by Werq by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4616-werq License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Transcript

Sam Richardson: 0:00

We are emotional creatures and, since we're catering to humans, that is the emotion you feel. Are you inspired or are you demotivated, uninspired, and that may sound like a bunch of marketing fluff, but I tell you, as I came over here, I realized how valuable that is for businesses, suppliers, vendors, employees, boosters, trustees. We're all emotive creatures and there's so much connection to that environment. Music.

Sid Meadows: 0:35

Hey friends and welcome to the Trend Report podcast, where we have real conversations with real people about all things contract interiors. My name is Sid Meadows and I'm your host. I'm a business strategist and certified professional coach and a longtime student of the office furniture industry, and I'm excited that you're joining us today, and my hope is that you will gain some insights, inspiration and motivation that will help you grow and your business grow. So let's dive in to today's conversation. Music. Hey everybody, and welcome back to another episode of the Trend Report. I'm really glad that you're joining me today for another installment of our ever-popular CEO Chat series. This time I'm glad to welcome Sam Richardson, the president and CEO of the identity group, to the show today. Hey Sam, how are you?

Sam Richardson: 1:25

Sid, I'm doing great. I'm really excited to be here.

Sid Meadows: 1:27

Well, I'm glad you're here. You're relatively new to me. We actually have not even met in person. We tried at NeonCon and that didn't work out, and, admittedly, I don't know who the identity group is. So me and the listeners are all going to learn a lot today, so I'm excited to have you here. And let's just kick it off with one of the questions I like to ask everybody that I get to meet is how did you get into the furniture business? Well, hang on, let me frame that, because you're actually not in the furniture business.

Sid Meadows: 1:54

Yeah, right how did you get into the contract interiors industry?

Sam Richardson: 1:59

Right. Yeah, I mean we're in a lot of different businesses and we're not making furniture by any means, but we are definitely tapping into the innovation of the furniture channel through independent rep groups and to expand our signage and experiential service graphic services through furniture. But let me take a step back. Yeah, neoncon was awesome. It was a bit of our launch party, if you will. I've been there before with other companies. We had a great booth on the seventh floor. For the first time we were up on the 11th floor with MRL, which was outstanding. We did all of the interiors for the MRL booth and have really started forming new partnerships in this channel as a experiential graphics and sign company. So my excitement for joining you and your listeners is really impressive. Glad to be here.

Sid Meadows: 2:49

Well, so thank you very much. So how did you get to where you are today? Because you spent many years at Hewlett Packard. It looks like selling printing and ink and stuff like that. Let's talk a little bit about your journey.

Sam Richardson: 3:04

Well, my journey is probably not too dissimilar from a whole lot of people. I went to a good school. I'm a Midwest guy from Cedar Rapids, iowa, played college football, and that kind of gave me my first real zest for the very tough life of business. I can be a lot of fun with some wins and also can be really tough to adjust and migrate to those losses as well. But that brought me out to school in upstate New York and from there I went into the paper industry. Like any graduating college student.

Sam Richardson: 3:35

I wanted to make some money and any money was good money, and I knew that I could sell.

Sam Richardson: 3:42

I knew that I enjoyed people and I knew that I wanted to learn more about business after going to a really good liberal arts school in Hamilton College. And so I got my first opportunity working for Champion International in Stanford, connecticut, and that company very quickly got purchased by International Paper, headquartered out of Memphis, and so I worked for International Paper, never living in Memphis but living really all over the US, and then a small period of time about a year and a half overseas as an expat in Brussels, belgium, mostly in the capacity, said, of sales, and that evolved then to operations. At one point I ran a paper plant in Selma, alabama, for a year and a half, with International Paper just continuing to feed my interest level and, I suppose it's fair to say, ambition to someday be a CEO and learn all the aspects of the income statement, the balance sheet, and I've always loved manufacturing of any kind. So that was my first kind of cut of the teeth of corporate America.

Sid Meadows: 4:48

So I have a very strange question for you. I grew up in the South right, and in the South there are paper mills all over the place and it is by far the worst smell that you will ever smell. You know, when you were near a paper plant right, it had to be really difficult working in a plant.

Sam Richardson: 5:10

Well, you get used to it. But I'd say the paper guys or the paper industry folks would tell you that's the smell of printing money.

Sid Meadows: 5:18

Of course they would. I love that, I love that. But if any of you are from the South or ever driven by because there are a lot of paper plants in the South but if you've ever driven by a paper plant, you know exactly the smell that I'm talking about.

Sam Richardson: 5:30

I do, I do. I was just down at Pensacola with my family for a beach trip and a former champion, now International Paper Mill, is just outside of Pensacola and the minute you're 25 miles of the beach you can smell it. Yes.

Sid Meadows: 5:46

I've driven by that specific paper plant so many times. I know exactly what you're talking about.

Sam Richardson: 5:51

Yeah, yeah, it was a fantastic. I call it a classic way to start. International Paper still to this day is one of the most iconic companies 100%.

Sam Richardson: 6:04

But companies all over the country and that really launched me then to stay in corporate America, so to speak, and I went from there to Lexmark in the print industry for three years, again in a sales capacity in the Office Products Channel, calling on Office Max when Office Max existed and now obviously part of Office Depot. And from there I really was always watching what Hewlett Packard was doing and I just have such respect for HP the way it started out of a garage and this company is almost 100 years old and innovation is at its core, true innovation and yes, it's got incredible resources and scale. But I just loved the science and the authenticity behind what they did for their customers in the area of technology. So it was pretty easy for me to jump over to Hewlett Packard and, at a higher level, manage at this point the entire North American commercial operation for their ink and toner business, which is their big driving driver.

Sid Meadows: 7:08

So when was it, Sam, that you realized? You said this a couple of minutes ago. When was it that you realized, in my career path, I want to be a CEO?

Sam Richardson: 7:20

Maybe when I was seven, oh wow.

Sid Meadows: 7:22

Okay, I mean, I don't know.

Sam Richardson: 7:24

I was a young guy and started realizing, you know, what I would like to lead others. And then I mentioned the sports, which maybe is an overused, trite way to say it, but the connections that athletics had for me in adolescence, then through the collegiate level, really was a great onboarding to the business side of things. I think, answering more honestly, I would say I really wanted to try my hand at being a chief executive officer when I was at Fellows. So from each I went to Fellows and Fellows we all know great company, iconic brand, fourth generation ownership through the Fellows family.

Sam Richardson: 8:04

I just have an incredible affinity for Jamie and John Fellows and what they stand for as a business and I think a lot of your listeners would say the same thing. So when I had an opportunity to then go from big public company, a corporate America, over to private family, I really gravitated to that opportunity and I wasn't the CEO, but I was fortunate to work for the CEO and I watched how John managed his business and managed the I think the pressures, quite frankly, of a running a fourth generation family business and this is pre-COVID and it was still really challenging. And so I really started getting excited about either starting my own company, which wasn't in the cards at the time, or running a company and fortuitously maybe providentially opportunities started coming in in 2019 for me to do that. That's awesome.

Sid Meadows: 8:57

So, before we dive into learning about the identity group, because I'm very interested to learn, as I'm sure my listeners are I have a couple of questions about leadership for you, and my first question is how would, how do you define leadership?

Sam Richardson: 9:11

Oh man, it's, it's, it's like the hardest question so far, said the gate works.

Sid Meadows: 9:15

No, just kidding, I think it works.

Sam Richardson: 9:17

I took a. I took a leadership course in Chicago for a year this last year. I just finished it with with a mentor and great friend of mine, henry Give Ray, who who leads a leadership course for not just business individuals but just just people interested in improving their skills to lead others. And you know, what seems to be very simple question that's asked so many times, have so many different subjective answers to it. But ultimately I would summarize it as this I don't think that you're a born leader.

Sam Richardson: 9:48

I think a lot of people believe that it's kind of the, you know, the chicken or the egg type situation. I think I think your environment, your upbringing, certainly adds to it. But I got to tell you, for me leadership is, is a perpetual process. You're never done. You're never done learning and evolving how you view leadership.

Sam Richardson: 10:08

But ultimately I think it rests with how do you make others feel, how do you impact others. It's not about yourself. So what I've tried very hard to do from my innate upbringing and I think it starts with mom and dad and probably genetics, but more so from the environment of experience I've always believed leadership equates to experience your product of your experiences. So, smelling the paper industry and working in a gravel pit yard in steel tow boots, truly in a hard hat, was an experience that has given me the perspective that many people just don't have now in the kind of proverbial corner office as a CEO. So I think ultimately I would answer that is, it's a learned trait, it's one that certainly you can't just be a leader. I think ultimately we use that term too loosely You're ultimately improving the lives of others and influence the lives of others, and that can be a mother, a father, a coach and certainly a CEO.

Sid Meadows: 11:11

Yeah, so I really appreciate that.

Sid Meadows: 11:13

And I have a couple of really important takeaways from what you just said, sam, and one of them was at the very beginning of your answer. You said you had just finished taking a leadership course, and the other one was that you're never done, and I think you underscore someone that is sitting at the head of the table of a large company that is 50 plus years old, just told us that he's never done learning, that he just took a leadership course, and I can't tell you how that echoes with me, because I truly believe that none of us are ever done and if we want to continue to get better, we need to continue to invest in ourselves, and I really appreciate the fact that, as CEO said, I'm not done and I've got more to learn and I'm taking a course, I'm working with a mentor. Those are all things that I think everybody listening needs to take away from them that we need to do the same thing, that we're only going to advance if we truly invest in ourselves and work to become 1% better each and every day.

Sam Richardson: 12:19

Yeah, I mean thank you for saying that. I just I genuinely believe that. I think that you know up on my, as I'm you're not seeing this, but up on my screen in my office here. I just have everybody's got these quotes, I guess, but I really only have one, and if it's not a picture of my kids or a drawing my, my daughters have drawn for me in a pictured frame, I have this, this saying, on my on my computer computer screen, and it's and it's the following you'll remember how many people you developed, how many you helped have a better career because of your interest in them and your dedication to the craft.

Sam Richardson: 12:52

When you're confused about how you're doing as a leader, find out how the people you lead are doing. And I just love that. And that's from Larry Bossidy, a former CEO at Allied signal. So I can't take claim for that, but I posted that thing on my screen just because so oftentimes I think the noise out there you lose sight quickly, lose attention quickly, and I think at these key levels, especially during these last three years, have been so challenging. You're gonna be judged by how people feel around you and I watch how people advance in their career that have either worked with me, for me and sometimes against me as competitors. I think it's really important to measure yourself, very humbly and modestly, against how they do and how they view you years after such a great lesson in that right there.

Sid Meadows: 13:40

Thank you so much. We're sharing that and I think I probably know the answer to this question, but I'm gonna ask you anyway. What advice would you give Sam to emerging or young leaders, especially those that have the desire to continue to exceed in their career path to get to the place that we're at? What advice would you give them?

Sam Richardson: 14:01

You gotta say yes. You gotta say yes. I think there's so many innate things in your brain that are by nature there to try to protect you from risk and failure and we're just made up that way. So facing that fear of failure and saying yes to things when offered the opportunity are really important. I said yes to a lot of things and that evolves. And I would also say not to contradict myself as you get older and you bolt on other people like spouses and partners and children, you have to be less selfish. You really have to balance out what you say yes to and when you say it.

Sam Richardson: 14:43

I think getting a great coach and mentor and continuing those relationships, fostering those relationships and saying yes to opportunities that maybe don't even make sense at the time. You're a product of your experiences and if you can get as many experiences as possible, just by association, you will absorb knowledge, and knowledge is so important because you get to discern boy, I didn't like that, but boy, I learned a lot and I want to pivot over here. Or man, I really loved that, but I saw it in a different way than even the person that brought me into it and I've evolved my thinking because of it.

Sid Meadows: 15:22

So say yes, that is such a great answer and not an answer that I've ever heard before, but it is a really powerful answer to just say yes to the opportunities that are in front of you.

Sid Meadows: 15:33

I think another big takeaway there is pay attention to what you're learning. The listeners have heard me talk about this. But write it down, journal it. Put down the things you've learned, because let me just tell you, from 2017 to 2023, the list of things that I've learned I could write five books about, especially as I compare it to the previous years, and I'm paying attention now, more so than I've ever paid before.

Sid Meadows: 16:00

And for me as a leader, when I make a mistake because we're all human and we're going to make them right we're going to say something that the tonality of what we said did not come across the way we wanted to right. We're going to make a strategic decision that maybe didn't work the way we had hoped it would work right, but I walk away and I ask myself what did I learn from this? And then, if I say I need more help in this, I go find the resources that I need. I'll read a book, I'll listen to a podcast, I will read articles, I'll find a course on something to help me get better, to enhance the learning from the experience that I had, which all ties directly into the things you've been talking about Personal growth. That's right. All right, let's pivot.

Sid Meadows: 16:46

Who is the identity group? Never heard of you guys. When my friend Julie Dillon reached out and said, sid, you got to interview Sam for your podcast, I'm like who's the identity group? So tell us and my listeners are probably asking the same thing who is the identity group? Right?

Sam Richardson: 17:00

Who is this guy talking about? The identity group? I first thought it was like a security, like a personal protection security company, when I heard it. Look, the identity group boiled down in pure simplicity is a signage experiential graphics manufacturer, and let me explain that further. So this company is really a cool company and I'm so fortunate for the last four years to run and manage the business. It started as a office products company which we all can relate and know what those are.

Sam Richardson: 17:30

Back in the 50s and I'm talking about office products like self inking stamps was innovation back then in the mid 1950s and really SC Johnson wax that family started identity group. It was called something else at the time but it started in the ink and self inking stamp world and that carried on all the way through the end of the 1990s in acquisitions, all in office products. It evolved into sticky notes, which we all know about, and business cards and letterheads and envelopes and it really didn't turn into a very focused sign company until late 90s, early 2000s and it still had office products as part of the company. In fact, the name identity group did not get established until, I believe, 2008. It was different company names leading up to that but, like a lot of businesses, a private business, and like a lot of businesses, it's evolved by acquisition and innovation and it's also evolved by different levels of ownership. And where we stand today the identity group since 2008,.

Sam Richardson: 18:38

We have fine tuned to a significant level and elevated capability in signage services, experiential graphics and branded environments, and I'm going to talk about what that means. But we are really no longer an office products company and so what started at the Genesis in the 50s with SC Johnson wax to really 2023, we've divested ourselves the last several years of office products. We tried for decades to jam them together with signage and it just wasn't a marriage that was working. And we've divested and sold those to other companies. We just finished our last divestiture a few months ago to a big company and that has afforded us the opportunity to really be nimble, really be focused on experiential graphics, and we're winning in that space. We're one of the biggest in North America and it's really just given us such a zest. For what does that mean to the consumer and to the business partner?

Sid Meadows: 19:37

Okay, that's awesome and I love the story and the divestiture getting really focusing in on what's important for the future of the company, right, right, so signage and when I think about signage, I think about a couple of different things. Signs on buildings say the name. I would do my research. I saw that Marriott Bonvoie is one of your large customers. There's a lot of signage for them. I also think about the little desk sign or the sign that hangs with somebody's name on it outside on their panel, or outside of hospital room. There's a sign, right, so that's what we know is traditional signage. Yeah, and you talked about experiential graphics and then you used the word. I didn't write it down fast enough design, tell me, give me the other brand Branded environment.

Sid Meadows: 20:22

Branded environment so. I think we all understand signage. So what is experiential graphics? And then talk about the design one please.

Sam Richardson: 20:31

Experiential graphics has been around we didn't come up with that term. It's been around for many decades and it's generated or derived from the design world. There's an industry that the signage companies are all a part of, called SEGD. So the furniture folks probably that listen to you wouldn't necessarily know it, but these two worlds are starting to merge and that's why we are in the position we are today. But SEGD is the Society of Experiential Graphics and Design. Okay, and experiential graphics is really just about what? Yes, signage, but ultimately graphics as well, anything visual and, in many cases, tangible to touch, feel that involves and incorporates even lighting and furniture and decor in any commercial environment. That that's an experience. That's an experience that you use with your five senses, that you're immersed in and you're a part of, versus how still many companies go to market today.

Sam Richardson: 21:33

I would argue that these are companies that are not necessarily in the relevant space of the identity group. Those are companies that will do that cubicle sign, that will do that desk sign, that will do the bathroom, men's and women's sign Guess what? We do that too and we love that business, but it wasn't and isn't where we're headed and ultimately, what's going to produce future value for our shareholders and our employees and our growth. There's a handful of companies I would say that in this market let's call it the US that really have the operational capability and chops to provide an experiential graphics or full branded environment that starts with consultation with the client the client could be a commercial building downtown then moves to the imagination and designs stage. That then certainly has the fabrication capabilities and lastly installs that vision, that physical vision of graphics, signage and branded environments. There's really only a handful and of course I'm biased, but I believe identity group is leading that environment.

Sid Meadows: 22:42

The example that you gave in the very beginning was the my Resource Library showroom on the 11th floor at the merchandise market. I've been in there. I saw it. I don't know that I knew what I was looking at right at the time. But if you went to Neocon and you happen to go by MRL space, if you walk in the door, what you're describing predominantly was on the left-hand side of the showroom.

Sam Richardson: 23:05

Right Was it a logo, it was a whole showroom. A whole showroom. I mean, that's your environment.

Sam Richardson: 23:09

Talk about your graphics 100%, 100%, it was the entire showroom. I mean, certainly it was one full wall of, some would say, boiled down. These are wall graphics, wall decals. One of the innovations that identity group leads with is digitally printed images on magnet board so you can actually pull down the image, kind of like your fathead, that your kid might have in his or her room. It's a crude way to describe it. My engineers would be freaking out that I just said that we will let them listen to this episode then.

Sam Richardson: 23:45

But for CEO, that's about as descriptive as I can get, just when you walk in. So when working with the Carlson family and the ownership of MRL, when you walk in and you have 30 seconds at best to feel something some might say it's 10 seconds you're going to get that through signage, graphics and branded environments 100% Certainly from the floor that you'll walk on to the decor and this was all mostly about furniture what the desk chairs and credenzas look. The lighting is so important. But that signage on the wall is absolutely paramount to an emotive feel. We are emotional creatures. Since we're catering to humans, that is the emotion you feel. Are you inspired or are you demotivated, uninspired? That may sound like a bunch of marketing fluff, but I tell you, as I came over here, I realized how valuable that is for businesses, suppliers, vendors, employees, boosters, trustees. We're all emotive creatures and there's so much connection to that environment.

Sid Meadows: 25:00

So we'll see if we can't find a link to MRL showroom. If not, I'll reach out to Jeff and forget it. We'll put it down in the show notes for everybody to go take a look to see what Sam's talking about. Sam, these products can be sold through our traditional channels, through the independent reps that you're hiring. The dealers can reach out to the rep and really talk about hey, this is what we'd like to do and bring you guys in right.

Sam Richardson: 25:25

Yeah, we go to market, like a lot of companies, many different ways and we really elevate that capability. We're not shutting one channel off to open another. That would be foolish. Our business started and very much is fed from going through channel partners, resellers, wholesalers. In the signage industry. We have some of our biggest clients through those signage exterior companies. But what we've also then continued to have for our go-to-market is direct to hotels, direct to grocery, direct to retail. That's dictated by the client, not by any group. What we were missing and where, for the last year plus that, we've been pivoting much of our resources and focus on, while not turning from the other channels that have fed us, is through furniture dealers and through independent rep groups. Julie Dillon's a friend ambassador and now a representative of our company that's really helped make those introductions, neocon being the launch party, if you will.

Sid Meadows: 26:25

Sure, what I think is interesting about this, and I think the timing of all this is really good because, as an industry that sells what is don't hate on me, listeners, don't hate on me, friends we sell commodity products. I'm sorry that's what we do. Yeah, that's all right. There's dozens of people that sell the same thing. There's always somebody with a cheaper widget or a cheaper gadget, right? But as an industry, especially our dealer community, always looking for other products that they can sell that can enhance the overall buying experience, with their customer getting into different verticals. I know some dealers have gone into selling flooring and carpet, of things of that nature, right, and this, I think, opens the door potentially for dealers to explore how they could work with you to bring in something else and another element to not just new customers but also existing customers that are trying to, as you said, evoke emotion in their spaces.

Sam Richardson: 27:24

Look, I mean a lot of industries I've been associated with have had some disruption. The paper industry that I was a part of for many years. What disrupted it was the iPhone digitization that affected print, which I was a part of with Lexmark and HP. I think what's affected great disruption for all of us. Some did beautifully well with it and that's COVID-19. And those are the folks that Solja Purell hand sanitizer because we thought that we needed that in kegs and buckets when it was really an airborne virus.

Sam Richardson: 27:59

So what's disrupted the sign industry is and I would argue, disrupted the furniture industry post COVID. Is that for good reason? And now it's being challenged. Some of it now is being very forced back. It's providing that safety and security for employees to go home and work from home and it's created an entirely hybrid work environment, which is not a bad thing by any stretch. But now you read almost daily these big companies that are saying, from Disney to JP Morgan Chase, to Starbucks, hey guys, we have this really cool office and these really cool amenities at the office and, by the way, we want you to come back and we want you to come back safely and securely. But we know that our culture will suffer if we don't do that. So I think that's really disrupted the furniture industry because when you look at the commercial lease space in any major market and I'm in Nashville, which is one of the most popular and high demand cities in the world right now the commercial environment is still, from a lease standpoint, is only 48% capacity, 48% leased out. So that means 52% of office space is still empty. And if you look at certain markets like San Francisco, you've got a lot of retailers leaving because of the same disrupted environment and it's really changing the environment of business and commerce as we speak.

Sam Richardson: 29:25

So we took that as an opportunity to not let disruption affect us negatively but really innovate quickly and pivot quickly.

Sam Richardson: 29:34

Hence the divestitures on office products, the double, if not tripled down investment in our sign industry and then connect and bolt onto this independent rep group space, going to the furniture partners and saying look, we're not a furniture company, but in every environment you put, that beautiful chair and desk are signage, whether it's fire, life and safety to get people out of the building during a horrible incident.

Sam Richardson: 29:59

We don't necessarily tout this, but we save lives in the signage industry. We literally had all the signage in the World Trade Center and the World Trade Center. Obviously we know what happened and we feel that we saved a whole lot of lives by having that safety signage that lit up through photo luminescent glow in the dark, if you will, to get people down those stairwells in New York City when the World Trade Center was hit by the planes. So evolving that further, sid, and getting into that experiential signage position and selling that through furniture dealers that are looking for something innovative, fresh and new, we just feel makes a whole lot of sense, because you can't skimp on signage to get employees back, to get vendors and suppliers back and to make the most of your real estate. A big market for us is this commercial corporate enterprise that wants to bring in an experience with signage graphics and immersive branded environment.

Sid Meadows: 30:58

So what I really appreciate about that is it also gives us another reason as furniture sellers I'm not a furniture geek, right, I've always sold furniture. It gives us another reason to call a customer about a conversation that is not about buying a chair, a desk, a filing cabinet or a height adjustable table. It's about something different that, as you said, impacts their space, that impacts their employees. That very well can help bring their employees back to the workplace, and I think that's really important. And the statistics that you dropped if you're really listening to that, they're awful, because we as an industry need people in the office. We need those leasing rates in Nashville to go from 42 or 48 to 68 percent, because that helps our industry. Whether it's a hybrid mix or everybody in at the same time, it doesn't matter. We need those spaces leased out and something happening in those spaces for our industry to continue to grow and thrive. So really, really great points.

Sid Meadows: 31:57

Now, sam, when I was doing more research on you guys, I read that you're doubling down on customer service and technology. Can you share with us what that means? Doubling down on customer service? Start with customer service.

Sam Richardson: 32:11

Yeah Well, I mean, I think it'd be hard to debate that customers are your lifeblood. I don't know anybody that would say they're not. It's not your board of directors, it's not where your stock price is that day on the market and I would even say it's not your financials. It is consumers and their belief in you and their faith and trust in you and ultimately, that is customer service related. So, as general as that sounds, where we have doubled down first mentioned the focus of the company. So when we were trying to jam together office products and signage, it wasn't the best customer experience that went well. The last four years it's been maniacal around signage, graphics, branded environments, okay To elevate beyond that. We knew that we needed to provide that omnichannel experience.

Sam Richardson: 33:01

Signage is a very industrial business. You make it, you install it and then you say thanks, we'll see you, hopefully for another purchase order down the road. So many companies operate that way in any industry, but especially the one that we're in. I knew that that just wasn't going to give us that enterprise value that would separate us from the herd. So we established an e-commerce ordering site, for example. So the technology I learned in my days at HP I've evolved into look. We need to have a good informational website, but we also need to have an e-commerce site, a true e-commerce, where hotels, for example, that order a full 20-floor sign package from us can also then come back 24 months later and order three signs. But they don't have to go through the rigour-ma-ro of a full effort with Identity Group and Project Manage it. They really just need three signs. And so we knew that we needed that outfit for them and they love it and they've been able to see it as an opportunity to archive their artwork.

Sam Richardson: 34:01

So in our world, design is key. A lot of worlds, design is key. So people will design something and then 10 years later, they're going to be like remember that design we did, where is that? That was fantastic. People will literally, as a service, provide the design archive on our website, protected, of course, for the customers to come back and utilize that same design and then, of course, fabricate their signage around that.

Sam Richardson: 34:26

And then very simply said we knew that we need to do a better job of communicating to our customers and not just going one transaction to the next. So we started creating programs where we share in the profits of growth, and what that means is as we grow, with clients, direct or resellers, that provide end users to us, like the NFL and Amazon and Marriott, truest bank that as we grow and generate the profits from that growth that we then share that through programs and rebate structures and unique pricing, even unique services where we'll dedicate project managers just to those clients, we'll put physical bodies inside the buildings of our top resellers, wholesalers and sometimes even our end users. And while that might not sound incredibly revolutionary in the signage industry, in the graphics industry, it really was. And the most important thing is it showed our clients and our partners that we were investing human capital, program capital and strategic capital and not just pulling the transaction button of thanks for your PO, we'll see you next month.

Sid Meadows: 35:37

And unfortunately in our industry and I'm generalizing that transaction happens and then we forget, because when you buy furniture, historically you buy an office full of furniture. You don't really need furniture again in any big way for probably eight to 10 years. You might need a new chair or something here or there, but we tend to just do the transaction and walk away. And I've always said that our next best sale comes from our existing customers. If we would just pay attention to them and go back and check on them once a quarter, once a month, whatever your cadence is, whatever works for you and your business, but stay in touch with them, because if you don't guess what your competition is, right Competition is going to be there. So I love that. Enhancing the overall experience.

Sid Meadows: 36:27

I've talked a lot about customer experience on the show. The listeners have heard me talk about the importance of it and you've taken a really neat holistic approach to it. So I like that. So let's talk about the technology part, because many people have said that our industry will not be disrupted by product. It'll be disrupted by process or technology. So tell me about the technology aspect.

Sam Richardson: 36:48

Well, in our business, the disruption on technology is analog is moving to digital and has been for a very long time. It was more expensive, typically, until that technology becomes more full scale and then prices went down. When I was at HP the history of HP is the first inkjet printer we're talking about it being thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars. Now you can get one for $29 at Best Buy. So as that inkjet technology became more ever present, the prices go down. Something similar is happening right now in our business. As things move from analog to digital, companies that stay in the analog space, I think, are going to see their market share shrink. So, through acquisition opportunities, through innovation that we're using on the product side, but also on the services side, I think you're going to see some things here shortly from an identity group and certainly our partners that are selling for us through the Independent Rep Group channel, some advancements in the inorganic growth space, where we are leading the trend instead of following it on the digitization side for tech.

Sid Meadows: 37:57

Okay, that was very cryptic, by the way. I felt like we just got teased with something really big, coming with fancy words and it's just like hang on, guys, come back in a couple of months and we're going to get. Okay, we will take that. We will all be sure that we connect and follow the identity group to understand what that tease was about. But I really appreciate it.

Sam Richardson: 38:18

Well, yeah, and some things I can and cannot mention, but there are more than thoughts on paper. I assure you. We've always felt that our product and we have several patents that involve indestructible signage, for example we call thermal compression. These are signs that can't be disrupted, that signage that can sit on the outside of a hotel down in the Caribbean and get beat all day long with the hot sun and sea air and never deteriorate. So, when one of our new clients and partners is Sandals and Beaches and they're going through a branding change right now and they're advancing the experience inside their facilities in Jamaica and St Vincent and St Thomas and they like very much what identity stands for and provides in physical product around this indestructible sign thermal compression.

Sam Richardson: 39:07

But beyond that, we know that AI artificial intelligence is here to stay. We know that augmented reality I mean everybody's doing this, from the kids on TikTok to how you're sold on Instagram. We know that digitization is going to continue to evolve and where we are today, we will be tomorrow and I feel that, frankly, that's our responsibility as one of the largest in North America, to provide that innovation to our partners. So, yes, teaser for a reason, but you know what? It's super important that we're there and we will be there.

Sid Meadows: 39:43

So, sam, I have so many more things I want to ask you, but we're out of time. I mean, we got through a lot of stuff, but there's more things that I want to talk to you about, but I can't thank you enough for coming and introducing us to you and getting to know one of the leaders in our industry, but also, equally as important, introducing us to the identity group, to what it is that you do, and that you're adding our channel, if you will, into your business model, hiring independent reps and working with our dealers, giving them another opportunity to go in and create sales and profit and revenue for their businesses. So I really appreciate you being here today. I'll give you one last chance. Any final thoughts you'd like to share with our listeners before we finish up today?

Sam Richardson: 40:24

Well, sid, thank you, and, by all means, this hour went fast because it's a great conversation and we can't thank you for the airtime, if you will we're going to disrupt and we're going to do it in a really fun partnership way. We are here to win, together with the partners in the channel, be it furniture dealers, be it independent rep groups and again, our base core business, which has fed us for many, many decades, and we're going to do it through innovation, we're going to do it through science, we're going to do it through service better than anybody is used to or gets today, and we're going to do it with a really nimble approach. One of the best things about moving over and being a CEO is that I had to kind of look around for a while. I'm like wait, who do I go to for that decision? I'm like, oh, it's me. I was looking at the mirror right you know anything about me.

Sam Richardson: 41:12

I like making decisions and I like doing it as a group and a team, and so you're going to see us make a decisive move in this industry.

Sid Meadows: 41:19

That's awesome. We're excited to watch and follow along. And, sam, if our community would like to get in touch with you, what is the best way for them to do that?

Sam Richardson: 41:27

Identitygroupcom. Check us out. My information is there and my senior leadership team is there and you can reach customer service. They're supposed to pick up within five seconds, so test us out online through chat, but also identitygroupcom. You'll find an e-commerce site on one part of it where you can buy your signs and employ your services, or you can find a whole lot about how to connect with the salespeople and the marketing people that we have out in the market.

Sid Meadows: 41:55

That sounds great. We'll be sure to drop all that down in the show, sam. Thank you again for being here. Thank all of you for hanging out with us for another important CEO chat and this conversation, and we'll see you again in a couple of weeks. Take care, everyone. Thanks for joining me today on this episode of the Trend Report Podcast. I'm glad that you're here and I hope that you got some amazing value out of today's conversation. For more about our podcast and this episode and our other episodes, please visit my website at SidMetalscom. We look forward to seeing you next week and go out there and make today great.