Meet Gaby, our Marketing Specialist. Her impressive dedication to researching, observing and getting to know our customers has greatly influenced some of the standout products RIP-IT is developing for 2017. Each month, we'll be asking her & her team to share what information they have learned from customer and product development, and we will be sharing it with our On Deck Club members. Sign up at the bottom of the page to get a behind the scenes look!

Photo by: Constanza Ulloa-Colina

Can you tell me a little bit about yourself and what it is you do at RIP-IT?

I am the Marketing Specialist so I work in customer and product development. I spend a lot of time speaking to parents, coaches, and players to understand their interests, as well as their common challenges with products and the buying process.

Photo by: Constanza Ulloa-Colina

Can you walk me through the process of researching and developing that goes into launching a product like softball apparel?

First, we gather our own assumptions from what we see on social media and from what we've seen at tournaments and practices. Once we have our assumptions, we go out and talk to players directly to see if our assumptions were correct or not. Then we take that information and send it to our designer, who will then apply it to sketch designs. Once we receive the sketch designs, we go back out to practices and show them to players to see if any further changes need to be made.

The prototype stage is the longest stage in the process. This is where we have to get cut and sizing perfect or else you just have to keep going back to the drawing board to remake new prototypes. Failing is part of the learning process and it can be hard work, but it is also rewarding and insightful.

Photo by: Constanza Ulloa-Colina

What kind of players, parents, and coaches do you speak to?

I speak to a wide range of parents, players, and coaches. The demographic we focus the most on is 8u through 18u travel teams.

How has RIP-IT changed since you started working here?

RIP-IT used to serve both the baseball and softball markets when I first started working here. After speaking to players, we noticed that the softball market was severely underserved and they weren't getting the products they deserved in comparison to the baseball market. Now RIP-IT is focused solely on softball, which has helped us as a company because we aren't being pulled in so many directions. This decision gave us clarity on what we need to research and produce in order to stand out and deliver the best products.

What have you learned from speaking directly to softball players, parents, and coaches?

From the coaches perspective, we've learned how they purchase for an entire team, what time of year they purchase, and what criteria they consider when outfitting an entire team. From the player's perspective, we have learned a lot about the subcultures they experience so that we can apply those to our products, our marketing, and even the way we relate to them on social media. We learned that parents are a lot more involved in the shopping process than we originally thought, so we've structured our website to tailor their shopping experience.

How many players have you talked to as part of your research?

Here in Orlando, FL I've met with around 35 teams. Nationally, I have communicated via email and phone interviews with around 500 teams.

Photo by: Constanza Ulloa-Colina

Photo by: Constanza Ulloa-Colina

How do you see the sport growing? What impact does RIP-IT have within the softball community?

I definitely see softball growing. If you go to retail stores you can see they are expanding their softball sections. Other companies are noticing too because they've been coming out with more softball products. As a company, RIP-IT is making an impact in the softball community by not only making products softball players will love but also striving to become a company that inspires players to reach their goals on and off the field.

You mentioned that you speak to local and national teams. How do you acquire these teams for your research and development?

These teams are part of our On Deck Club V.I.P

How does a coach or parent join The On Deck Club V.I.P

They have to be willing to commit to testing our products and sharing their honest feedback with us. That’s pretty much it. It’s very simple and it doesn't cost the coaches anything other than their time (only when asked). They also have the opportunity to keep all of the products they test.

Contact Our Product Development Team To Join!