Feb 25, 2016
Eric Tong is coFounder of
Tech Armor which is a leading
manufacturer of mobile device accessories like phone Chargers,
Glass Screen Protectors and protective cases. Eric cut his teeth in
business rising to VP of the Asia Pacific region of Belkin over the
course of 15 years and cofounded 2 previous companies. Tech Armor
has sold over 7 million devices through leading e-commerce partners
like Amazon, ebay , Newegg and many more.
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
- [0:42] Dr. Jeremy’s introduction of Eric Tong,
co-founder of Tech Armor.
- [1:10] Why is the Tech Armor lifetime guarantee
so much a part of what you do?
- [3:00] Where did the idea come from in the
first place?
- [4:38] How did you manage the risks and
concerns regarding the lifetime guarantee?
- [6:33] The process for ensuring product quality
at Tech Armor.
- [9:14] How Tech Armor found the right suppliers
who could provide the quality they needed.
- [11:18] What is discovered during the product
testing phase?
- [13:16] Keeping track of customer feedback and
reviews is vital to the company ethos.
- [15:17] Tools and software used for customer
service.
- [16:39] The “people” side of the customer
service experience (⅔ of the staff).
- [17:36] The hiring process for customer service
and outsourcing.
- [19:30] The “martini” story.
- [21:29] Tips for boosting sales.
- [24:29] Mistakes to avoid in ecommerce
businesses.
- [26:25] The explanation of Tech Armor’s massive
and fast growth.
- [29:04] Customer service mistakes to
avoid.
- [30:20] Eric’s upbringing and early life,
including the influence of team sports.
- [34:46] What Eric learned from earning his MBA
degree.
- [36:42] How Eric wound up working at
Belkin.
- [37:30] The plus and minus of working for a
large company like Belkin.
- [39:38] The product design process and lessons
learned from it.
- [42:06] Lessons learned from launching products
at Belkin.
- [43:47] Leadership challenges and lessons
learned at Belkin.
- [45:09] The things learned at Belkin that
helped launch Tech Armor successfully.
- [46:12] How Tech Armor’s culture is built
around everyone having a voice.
- [48:10] The moment of leaving Belkin: What it
was like and the risks involved.
- [55:09] How Joe (Eric’s partner) and Eric
connected to start Tech Armor.
- [56:40] A TED talk that impacted Eric and Joe
early on.
- [59:02] How Joe and Eric worked through all the
options to launch a first product.
- [1:01:23] Constant iterations in the screen
protector market and the addition of accessories.
- [1:02:20] How decisions were made to add new
product lines.
- [1:05:01] Experiments that worked and
experiments that didn’t.
- [1:06:20] Geographical challenges of product
distribution and sales.
- [1:07:35] E-commerce challenges of
international product sales.
- [1:10:02] Packaging challenges for
international sales.
- [1:10:50] Milestones Tech Armor has
experienced.
- [1:12:20] Good advice from their Amazon
representative.
- [1:14:02] What Eric has learned most from
working with a partner (Joe).
- [1:15:35] Launching new products every month
(at least).
- [1:16:20] The most stressful parts of the
business.
- [1:18:05] Tech Armor’s top sellers.
- [1:18:50] Eric Tong’s speaking opportunities
and the things he speaks about.
- [1:19:48] Mistakes e-commerce businesses make
often.
- [1:20:33] The one question survey that helps
dial in their customer service and product development.
- [1:21:50] Software solutions Tech Armor
uses.
- [1:24:42] Eric’s mentors and the advice he’s
received from them.
- [1:26:05] How to navigate the financing of
physical products - crawl, walk, then run.
- [1:28:32] How to get connected with
Eric.
- [1:29:23] Eric’s biggest tips for e-commerce
businesses.
In this episode…
Tech Armor is one of the hottest
brands in the mobile device accessories niche. They have worked
hard to become the foremost brand and offer a lifetime guarantee on
all of their products. But they didn’t start there. Tech Armor is
the brainchild of Eric Tong and Joe Jaconi, long time friends who
had worked together at Belkin and had always talked about creating
a company together. When each of them resigned from Belkin right
around the same time, the time was right and they began working
toward what has become the Tech Armor of today.
In this conversation, Dr. Jeremy
Weisz chats with Eric Tong about the Tech Armor journey, his own
background, and what it took to build such a rapidly successful
company in a very competitive niche market. These guys are
e-commerce experts, learning many of their lessons the hard way and
constantly refining their approaches and processes.
What makes Tech Armor such a
special company?
As you listen to this
conversation you’ll hear a couple of themes repeated over and over,
and those are the things that have made Tech Armor stand out among
many quality competitors. What are those themes? Excellent customer
service, outstanding product quality, and building a team of
quality people who care about the end user. Eric has so much
valuable information to share, you’ll want to hear this
one.
But you’re also going to get a
load of practical advice in this conversation. Jeremy asks Eric
about the day to day challenges of behind-the-scenes issues that go
into making a successful e-commerce company: international sales,
product development, packaging and user experience, customer
feedback, supplier and distribution chains, and much
more.
Grab your paper and pen (or your
tablet) and get ready to take some great notes. Eric shares a
generous amount of hard learned lessons that can help you make the
adjustments needed in your e-commerce business. And if you like
what you learn, be sure to share this episode with others you know
who could benefit.
Resources Mentioned on this
episode