Unlike many document industry distributors, Pat McKay didn't start at Moore or Standard Register. In fact, five years ago, he spent his days negotiating sales contracts for a national medical manufacturer. When McKay was promoted, however, his job became less than ideal. "The company was unique in that the higher up in the company you went, the more you traveled," McKay says. "At the time, I had a 2-year-old and our second baby was on the way. I was just never home."
McKay decided that starting his own company was the only way to ensure a good income without having to travel. After earning an MBA at Lincoln Memorial University in Hargate, Tenn., he began looking to start a business with "unlimited market potential," he says. McKay found the document industry and soon launched distributorship PrintOne Inc. in Knoxville, Tenn.
Conquering the Learning Curve
Although McKay has worked in the document industry for only three years, he sounds like a long-time industry veteran. He talks about the "nightmare" of obtaining camera-ready artwork, adding value instead of selling on price alone and achieving his company's goal of being a total-solutions provider. McKay is a fast learner. "You have to be when you have a wife and three kids," he quips. McKay also credits his short learning curve to help from a friend--a distributor in Nashville, Tenn.--who acted as a mentor. (McKay paid the distributor as a consultant during PrintOne's first two years in business.) "When I started, I didn't know the difference between 80# cover and 80# text," McKay says. "He provided a lot of the knowledge and a lot of the direction....He was a tremendous help. I couldn't have done it without him."
Today, PrintOne targets retailers, manufacturing firms, insurance companies and medical firms, and offers business forms, commercial printing, security documents, promotional products, labels, tags and signage. The distributorship also offers graphic design services and fulfillment. "The impetus behind our company is 'one company, total fulfillment,'" McKay says. "If a customer needs a bar of soap, we'll try to find it for them."
In June, PrintOne relocated from a 2,000-square-foot facility to a 10,000-square-foot facility with a 4,000-square-foot warehouse that enables the distributorship to handle large warehousing jobs. For example, the distributorship will provide a manufacturing client with 2.5 million slip sheets during the next 10 months. It warehouses a 6-month supply and issues weekly releases.
PrintOne's focus on service is one key to its success. The distributorship aims to reduce client costs, improve their efficiency and fulfill their needs, McKay says. "When one of my sales reps makes a delivery to one of his medical customers, he doesn't just take a truck and back it up to their dock," he says. "He personally brings it in and puts it on their shelves." What's more, clients know they can count on PrintOne in a pinch. It's not uncommon for a customer to call on Monday for something it needs on Tuesday or Wednesday, McKay says.
Flexibility is another key to PrintOne's success. "Customers like to say, 'Pat, here's our goal. Make it happen.'" McKay says. "And that's probably what we do best." One of the distributorship's largest clients is Dallas-based eSports Partners Inc., a sports and entertainment service provider that offers e-commerce technology, merchandising, game-day operations, marketing, fulfillment and customer service solutions to professional and collegiate sports teams. The customer's client roster includes the Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Miami Dolphins, Washington Redskins, Minnesota Vikings, Buffalo Bills, Detroit Lions, Tennessee Titans, Baltimore Ravens, Indianapolis Colts and Arizona Cardinals. PrintOne partners with eSports Partners to provide the teams with post cards, catalogs, game-day fliers and promotional products. For example, the distributorship recently provided imprinted key chains, tote bags and buttons for the opening day of football practice at Texas A&M University. The items promoted the team's web site.
Focus on Marketing
"Our customers help us evolve every day," McKay says. Thanks to McKay's sales and marketing background, PrintOne is evolving into a marketing firm.
Approximately 2 1/2 years ago, McKay made a cold call to a local furniture maker that sells primarily to retailers nationwide. Within a few months, the company asked PrintOne to produce its newsletter, which it sends to its retail clients. Today, the distributorship fulfills most of the company's printing needs.
Shortly after winning the newsletter order, McKay began studying the furniture maker's marketing efforts. Noticing the client used circular promotions and television commercials only, McKay recognized an opportunity. Last year, PrintOne approached the client and proposed a 2-year, total marketing campaign that would include post cards, circulars, and television and radio advertisements. To encourage retailers to carry its product lines, the furniture maker would provide marketing materials at lower costs than the retailers could obtain on their own. The client loved the idea, McKay says.
PrintOne's marketing plan includes a month-by-month timeline that explains when specific marketing vehicles will be used. The distributorship provided each of the client's sales representatives with a binder with 12 tabs, labeled January through December. Approximately once a month, PrintOne sends the sales representatives packets with materials for the upcoming promotion. Packets can include items such as sample post cards and brochures designed by the distributorship. The sales representatives then present the packets to their retail accounts. Each store then decides whether to participate in the promotion.
PrintOne first provided 500,000 5 1/2 x 11-inch post cards promoting a "Scratch & Win" sale. Designed by the distributorship, the post cards were customized with the logos of each participating retailer. Some retailers provided their own mailing lists, while others asked PrintOne to provide them. The cards were mailed nationwide.
The distributorship also provided participating retailers with approximately 500,000 2 x 3-inch scratch-off cards to give to shoppers as they entered the stores. Shoppers scratched off portions of the cards to reveal prizes such as free sofas and 10-percent and 5-percent discounts on future purchases. "Producing those 'Scratch & Win' cards was an educational process," McKay says. "There are more legalese in 'scratch & win' promotions than you can possibly imagine. We had to a hire an attorney in Boston just to make sure everyone was protected."
Soon after, the distributorship provided approximately 300,000 4 1/4 x 6-inch post cards promoting a "Red Tag" sale. Designed by the distributorship, the post cards were customized with the logos of each participating retailer. PrintOne mailed half of the post cards using mail lists provided by retailers and ones it created for others; 48 percent of the pieces were mailed using the retailers' own mail houses; and 2 percent of the pieces were inserted in retailers' local newspapers or handed out to customers at their stores.
PrintOne also provided 100,000 circulars for the grand opening of one of the furniture maker's retail customers. Designed by the furniture maker's graphic design department, the circular was inserted in the retailer's local newspaper and promoted specific furniture pieces. This month, PrintOne provided 1 million circulars promoting Christmas sales. The circulars were inserted in retailers' local newspapers.
Additionally, PrintOne worked with the furniture maker to produce four TV ads and four radio ads promoting several sales events. Learning about TV and radio production was a "feat," McKay says. "Knoxville is the third largest TV production city in America," he says. "New York and Los Angeles are the only other cities that do more TV production, so there are a lot of good production companies here."
To produce the commercials, PrintOne partnered with an independent advertising representative who wrote the scripts and created the storyboards. The distributorship hired actors to star in the TV commercials, then partnered with a TV production company that shot the footage. (Unfortunately, the actors originally selected for the commercials became unavailable the day of the shoot, so PrintOne used one of the client's employees.) PrintOne then hired actors to create the TV and radio voiceovers. Finally, the commercials were edited and dubbed. The distributorship provided 25/5 (retailer name and contact information added at the end of the commercial) and donut (dealer name, pricing, contact information added in the middle of the commercial) TV commercials. They began airing in September.
Last year, the furniture maker named PrintOne its vendor of the year. "You don't have to be a rocket scientist to go out there and sell a form or a catalog, but to do it well, retain the customer and not live and die by price, you have to add value," McKay says.
Kara S. Carpenter is assistant managing editor of Print
Solutions. Email her your comments at kcarpenter@PSDA.org.
