Print Solutions Magazine, February 2005 -- Case Study: Tags

Industry Veteran Finds Right Material

After sampling synthetics, sifting through paper and testing 25 raw materials to find a temperature-proof tag for a metal fabricating company, Mason Robinson settled on an old industry standard: starched cloth.

“I’m talking about starched cloth that has been around for more than 100 years,” says Robinson, president of LM Robinson, Richmond, Va. “In modern times, cloth is not something that we sell very much of. Cloth is cloth—it’s an old product, like seed cloth.” Approximately 25 percent of the print provider’s tag sales are synthetic/paper blends, he says.

Tried-and-true materials have helped LM Robinson secure sales from long-time customers. When a manufacturer Robinson had been selling to for 35 years decided to add bar codes to its metal tags, he swapped his sales hat for a thinking cap. “When a salesperson realizes he will lose a customer because a product is not doing the job, certainly he will work hard to come up with a product that will work so he doesn’t lose the business,” he says.

The metal tags fixed to the manufacturer’s product racks were exposed to a high-temperature, 5-hour curing process. The application worked fine before the addition of bar codes, which required material that could stand the heat.

“The customer came to us and said, ‘How can we bar code this tag, scan it and run it through our computer,’” Robinson says. The manufacturer wanted to print bar codes on tags through its dot matrix printer. The firm was willing to let Robinson experiment with different tag materials. “They opened their door to me and we got together to come up with a material that worked,” he says.

Essentially, Robinson set up a lab to secure the sale. He tried paper tags, which turned crispy or crystallized like autumn oak leaves. Synthetic tag samples curled and melted. “It only took eight hours to find out exactly what would happen to the material when it was exposed to extreme heat,” Robinson says. “A lot of the tags just disappeared and fell off [the products].”

The answer: cloth tags with flattened metal eyelets, which the company could run through a dot matrix printer. “Even though the cloth turned a light tan in the heat, it was scannable and worked great. Some of the older products can work better than newer products, depending on the application.”

Robinson learned a few valuable lessons that guide his tag sales technique today: change with your customers, search for solutions, and think outside the latest and greatest technologies. Advanced technology doesn’t always equate to the best answer. “You have to look at the application, find out what the company needs and then match the raw material to that application,” Robinson says. “From a sales point of view, it was a great learning experience. We had to look at what happens to synthetic materials such as DuPont Tyvek®.

Robinson says tag sales have provided comfortable profit during his 35 years in business. And after eight years and more than 960,000 tags sold, the back-to-the-basics solution for the metal fabricating company surprised him. “I thought surely some of the tag stock would work much better than cloth,” he says. “Cloth was probably my last choice.”

LM Robinson’s successful application has spearheaded cloth tag sales to other companies with similar temperature challenges. “I use this tag as a sample when I show customers the process,” Robinson says. “Another company didn’t believe the cloth would work, so the manufacturer opened their doors and let the competition see how the product worked.” Robinson landed another sale, and his long-time customer earned kudos.

—Kristen Hampshire

Tips

Ask customers specific questions. Here are two important ones: What conditions must tags withstand, including heat and other environmental elements? Must material be scanned or run through a printer?

Consider alternatives. While the latest technology or trendy material might make an appealing sales presentation, first consider customers’ applications. For Mason Robinson, president of LM Robinson, Richmond, Va., cloth tags have been a heat-resistant answer.

Show and tell. Turn an innovative solution into a sales pitch to secure new clients. When Robinson discovered cloth tags worked in high-temperature manufacturing facilities, he parlayed the project by showing the successful tags to similar companies.

Quote

“You have to look at the application, find out what the company needs, and then match the raw material to that application.”

Mason Robinson, President

LM Robinson, Richmond, Va.