TheGuarantors scaled a 100+ event strategy with strategic swag
How a leading real estate fintech company turned swag from a reactive giveaway program into a structured, sales-driven event engine
About TheGuarantors
TheGuarantors operates in a trust-first category, providing lease guarantee solutions to multifamily owner-operators. Because many prospects are unfamiliar with the service, the team depends on in-person connections at events to win business. As event participation grew past 100 activations a year, the swag strategy had to evolve with it. When Senior Director of Events Marketing Alexandra Nazaire joined in 2022, she inherited a “free-for-all” approach, with items sent to shows without clear targeting or planning, and set out to overhaul it.
Turning swag into a strategic sales tool
Instead of sending the same items everywhere, TheGuarantors plans its full event calendar early in the year and maps merchandise to each type: trade shows focused on new lead generation, management conferences centered on relationship building, and internal sales summits and employee recognition events. Rather than sourcing new items for every show, the team relies on proven selections and restocks strategically.
“It’s a lot less work to just ‘restock and go’ versus reinventing the wheel every time,” Alexandra says.
Scaling 100+ events with a lean team
TheGuarantors activates roughly 60 to 70 trade shows and 30 or more management conferences and industry events a year. For several years a marketing team of two, recently grown to four, managed that cadence: overlapping shipments, strict convention center receiving windows, inventory between events, and no adequate swag storage in their New York City office. To scale, they needed a working swag infrastructure, not just product sourcing.
Today Swag Pro stores inventory in a central warehouse, ships directly to convention centers, controls delivery timing to match venue restrictions, and adds booth-specific labeling for smooth receiving. “Being able to choose when swag shipments arrive is key,” Alexandra says. “Having a [scheduling feature] has been integral, as well as a dedicated account manager.”
Premium swag as a trust signal
Because the service requires confidence and credibility, swag quality directly affects brand perception. Alexandra prioritizes practical, higher-quality items that property owner-operators will use in their offices, such as durable water bottles and notebooks. “Trust is critical,” she says. “If I’m offering swag at my trade shows, I want to ensure the products reflect our brand.”
Attendees frequently mention they still use items from prior years. “We’re not giving you cheap things that fall apart or weren’t carefully selected, and customers notice the difference,” she says. To protect strict brand guidelines, she works with her account manager and merch manager to source premium alternatives, iterate on design revisions, and match colors exactly. “They understand our brand very well in terms of how we like the logos placed and the sizing.”
Using swag to drive sales conversations
At trade shows, swag is not handed out indiscriminately. Sales reps assess lead fit on the spot, by title, seniority, and other criteria, and use merchandise to incentivize demos. “Swag can absolutely be used as a sales tool,” Alexandra explains. “You want to be conscious of making sure higher-cost items go to qualified leads, but that you also have at least something of quality to offer everyone.”
Swag supports internal culture too. For the company’s annual multi-day sales summit, Swag Pro supplies employee versions of the popular event items, and in January 2026 Swag Pro signed on as a summit sponsor. “The sales team is the heartbeat of our organization and the reason why we have swag at trade shows, so it’s important to me to celebrate them,” Alexandra says. “We’re grateful for Swag Pro’s support in this recognition.”
The business impact
For TheGuarantors, swag is no longer a box to check before trade shows but a structured part of the events strategy: a scalable infrastructure that strengthens in-person engagement across 100+ annual events and starts key sales conversations.
- Smarter budget allocation. Annual planning and restocking of popular items make cost-per-lead and inventory predictable.
- Operational scalability. Central warehousing and direct-to-event fulfillment let a lean team run 100+ events a year.
- Stronger brand credibility. Premium, carefully selected items reinforce trust where credibility wins business.
- Reduced logistical stress and higher merch retention. Precise delivery timing and labeling remove convention-center headaches, and attendees keep items for years.
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