Smart Growth
Keeps Costs in Check
Paris
Business Products’ customer-oriented approach
generates sales, and its cost-conscious culture builds
efficiency.
Paris Business Products, Westampton, N.J., generated
$61 million in sales last year with only 102 employees,
an average of $598,039 per employee. The company’s
combination of cost-consciousness and commitment to
customer service boosted it to No. 1 on the Top 100
Manufacturers’ Highest Sales Per Employee list.
Paris manufactures laser cut sheets, checks and other
security documents, continuous computer forms, custom
forms and roll products.
“The management
of the company is focused on becoming more modern and
more efficient,” says Steve Rosenman, Paris’
commercial marketing manager. “You grow, so you’re
going to get bigger. But at the same time, if you do
it smart, you can stay pretty small and reduce costs.”
A fundamental
part of the company’s strategy is to sell to distributors
only. The company’s customer service representatives
handle support calls from distributors more efficiently
than if they worked directly with end users, Rosenman
says. “Dealing with end users, you can get a ton
of different questions per day, whereas when you’re
dealing with a reseller, they pretty much know what
their customers’ needs are already,” he
says.
Providing superior customer service to distributors
is a key to Paris’ success. The company’s
managers carefully choose and thoroughly train CSRs.
“We won’t hire somebody if we don’t
know they’re the right person,” Rosenman
says. “It needs to be someone who’s good
not only for Paris, but for our distributors.”
Finding qualified candidates can be challenging, but
the manufacturer has found employees suited to its culture,
he says. Rosenman also points to the company’s
practice of promoting from within, resulting in a workforce
with minimal turnover and longstanding knowledge of
the company’s products and business practices.
When the company recently moved to a new manufacturing
facility and headquarters, employees’ dedication
to customer service was clear: They responded to customers’
needs and filled orders even as the move took place.
To build a superior customer service team, Paris conducts
a training program that works directly with its sales
and marketing departments. Representatives quickly become
familiar with products, pricing and promotions. “I
think that’s one of the benefits of having an
organization this size,” Rosenman says. “We’re
big enough to handle the customers, but we’re
small enough so that sales, marketing and customer service
can all work together. That’s always been essential.”
The goal for representatives is to know products well
enough to recommend the best ones to customers.
For example,
when banks began implementing Check 21 standards, Paris
contacted them to learn everything they could. Customer
service representatives prepared to answer questions
from distributors about the Check 21 Act. “We’ve
been able to help out because they get questions all
the time from their end users, and end users right now
are really confused about Check 21,” Rosenman
says. “Distributors being able to ask us what’s
going on and get a clear, definitive answer, because
we’ve done so much research, has been a real success
story.”
Technology Aids Employees
Customer
service representatives are backed by state-of-the-art
software systems, allowing fewer employees to handle
more work. Paris’ manufacturing and distribution
facilities are outfitted with sophisticated inventory
and tracking systems so representatives and management
can monitor current inventory and order statuses. “Being
a pretty lean organization, it’s very important
that we know what we have on hand, so that we can plan
and forecast for customers and have what they need when
they want it, so they don’t go somewhere else,”
Rosenman says. “When we have customers or prospects
who know we have items in stock and can rely on us,
it’s a much faster ordering process.”
Paris also taps the power of the internet to cost-effectively
market to its customers. The company emails regularly
a newsletter announcing promotions, industry news and
trends. For example, a newsletter reminded distributors
that college semesters were starting, Rosenman says.
The newsletter listed products distributors could sell,
including schedules, grade reports and security documents.
The company also offers full-color, 2-sided print and
electronic sell sheets to distributors for free. Products
featured on the sheets are tailored by industry, including
medical, educational and banking. “We’ve
really segmented these industries…and it’s
allowing customers to go out there and target all sorts
of business, but in a very efficient way,” Rosenman
says. For instance, one distributor sold 5-hole top
laser cut sheets to a hospital for medical charts. “He
was able to use our medical vertical sell sheet and
go out to the field and secure business from the hospital
by showing them all the different items that were available,”
Rosenman says.
Andrew Brown is assistant editor of Print Solutions.
Email him your comments at abrown@PSDA.org.
Company:
Paris Business Products Inc.
Headquarters:
Westampton, N.J.
Founded:
1946
Principals:
Gerry Toscani, CEO
Employees:
102
Business
in Brief: Paris Business Products produces laser printer
paper, security paper and specialty computer papers.
The company also specializes in the design and manufacture
of custom forms. Its commercial papers and custom forms
have national distribution with paper merchants and
distributors, and its consumer products are offered
in more than 37,000 retail stores.
